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Skeptical Scalpel

A Closer Look at Medicare’s Doctor Payment Data

Journalists have had a good time with the Medicare data on payments to doctors. The most recent exposé is headlined “Taxpayers face big Medicare tab for unusual doctor billings” by the Wall Street Journal. Because of...

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I’m Thirsty. What Should I Drink?

Let’s look at a few choices. Diet soda? There have always been questions about the possible negative effects of diet soda and sugar substitutes. A paper, “Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering...

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Attack of The Scribes

The emergence of the electronic medical record (EMR) has spawned a new occupation—the scribe. A scribe is someone who accompanies a physician and documents the interchange between the doctor and patient. This enables the doctor...

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Do More Hospital Resources Equal Better Care?

It would appear that this is true for surgical patients. A study from England found that mortality rates for patients admitted with high-risk general surgery diagnoses were significantly lower in National Health Service Trust...

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Expelling a Med Student for Unprofessional Behavior?

A few weeks before graduation, a medical school tried to expel one of its students on the basis of unprofessional behavior. What happened? According to Cleveland.com, a US District Court judge ruled that the student could not be...

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The UK 48-hour Trainee Work Week Is a Sham

“NHS junior doctors have little time to eat or sleep.” Said the headline of an article from the Herald in Edinburgh, Scotland. It described a NHS (National Health Service) manual—no longer posted on the...

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1 in 20 Americans Are Misdiagnosed Every Year

Really? A paper published in April found that about 12 million Americans, or 5% of adults in this country, are being misdiagnosed every year. This news exploded all over Twitter. Anxious reports from media outlets such as NBC...

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