Pap Smears, Guidelines, & “Churning”
A friend called me to say that his wife had just received a rather concerning message after a...
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Author: SkepticalScalpel
Does Anger Management Work for Disruptive Doctors?
A recent Washington Post/Kaiser Health News story about anger management led with an anecdote about a surgeon who broke a scrub tech’s finger by slamming down an improperly loaded instrument. The surgeon was suspended for...
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‘NOTES’ Cuts Out Appendectomy Scar
A study in the British Journal of Surgery says that removing an inflamed appendix via the...
Read MoreNew Weapons in the War on Obesity
Just when you think you’ve seen everything, along comes the AspireAssist. This device, not yet FDA-approved, consists of a tube implanted in the stomach, which leads to a port that is exposed on the surface of the abdomen. Now,...
Read MoreLaw Schools Start Firms to Employ Graduates
The New York Times reports that law schools in the U.S., already smarting from the collapse of the market for lawyers, are establishing law firms so they can hire their graduates and give them something to do. Regarding such a...
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Is Supplemental Oxygen a Performance-Enhancing Drug?
You often see a football player on the sidelines breathing oxygen after running a long distance or...
Read MoreDoes Anger Management Work for Disruptive Doctors?
A recent Washington Post/Kaiser Health News story about anger management led with an anecdote about a surgeon who broke a scrub tech’s finger by slamming down an improperly loaded instrument. The surgeon was suspended for...
Read MoreUnnecessary Pre-Op Tests & Evidence-Based Guidelines
Another paper on the subject of unnecessary preoperative laboratory testing appeared not long ago. A group from the University of Texas Medical Branch looked at more than 73,000 elective hernia repairs in the National Surgical...
Read MoreWhat Goes On At a Real M&M Conference
If you’ve read my reviews of the new medical TV show “Monday Mornings” (here, here and here), you’ll know I’ve been critical of many things about it. I was particularly disappointed with the way the show handled one of its...
Read MoreWhen and How to Ask Your Doctor Questions
A patient wrote to me and asked when he should speak up and how to ask his doctor questions. I’m not sure I have all the answers. I hope some of my physician colleagues will comment. There is a fine and very fuzzy line between...
Read MoreMedical Achievements Going to the Dogs
First of all, this post was not lifted from The Onion. Do you think the economy is bad? Do we spend too much on healthcare for people? Let me introduce you to “Neuticles,” which are, no kidding, testicular prostheses for...
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Study: Women With Severe Endometriosis More Attractive
Some researchers from Milan, Italy [it had to be from Italy] say that women with the most severe...
Read MoreHow Not to Run an M&M Conference: Why I Don’t Watch Medical TV Shows
On my personal blog, I wrote about an incredibly bad medical television show called “Do No Harm” that premiered on NBC last week. I won’t reiterate here but if you want to know just how bad it was, here is the link to my blog....
Read MoreMedical Podcast Poll
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Read MoreJury Duty? I’ll Gladly Serve
Not long ago, I was called for jury duty. Although I was busy, I consider jury duty to be part of my civic responsibility and I did not try to avoid it. Well, another reason is that in my state, it is just about impossible to...
Read MoreNew Rules for Paying MDs Proposed in NY
New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), which runs 11 hospitals in four of the five boroughs of New York, is negotiating a new deal with the union representing some 3,300 salaried physicians. The corporation...
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Patient Satisfaction Surveys Are Useless —Take #2
Patient satisfaction surveys are theoretically good things. After all, hospitals and doctors...
Read MoreLaw School Applications Down; Are Med Schools Next?
The number of people applying to law schools is in steep decline. So says a recent post on a website called “The National Jurist.” The post cited some remarkable data from the American Bar Association. In 2012, law school...
Read MorePatient Satisfaction Surveys Are Bogus
Patient satisfaction surveys are flawed in many ways. Here are just a few: 1. Sampling is a huge problem. A description of why sampling is an issue can be found here. It’s a bit complex. To summarize, the validity of a survey is...
Read MoreDo EMRs Make Documentation Too Easy?
There are many interesting unintended consequences of electronic medical records (EMRs). I was reminded of this by a recent blog I wrote about what interns really do when they are on call. According to a study from a VA hospital...
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