When hospitals run out of essential drugs, the results can be extremely grave. It is happening far more often now than in the past. A recent perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine (Aug. 26, 2010) highlights a critical... (Read More)
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Editorial
Communication could be the riskiest procedure in medicine. Researchers estimate that nearly eight million drug side effects could be prevented or resolved each year if doctors and patients communicated better (Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 24, 2005). They encourage doctors... (Read More)
The driver was weaving her car across lanes. She eventually veered off the side of the road and hit a child on a bicycle. When the police arrived, they suspected she had been drinking. Not only had her driving been... (Read More)
Americans like simple solutions to complicated problems. This is especially true in medicine. Two fundamental "truths" of health advice are 1) calcium builds strong bones and 2) saturated fat clogs coronary arteries. Both may turn out to be wrong. The... (Read More)
Hospitals can be dangerous places. The sickest people with the nastiest infections get treated there. But a lot of people catch bad bugs while they are in the hospital. An estimated 100,000 people die every year because of infections they... (Read More)
Do you and your doctor speak the same language? You probably think so, but if you peeked at his clinic notes you might wonder. Doctors like shorthand. It's faster to scribble q4h instead of writing out "Take every 4 hours."... (Read More)
Anyone who has ever driven an old jalopy knows that eventually things break down or wear out. Keep a car long enough and you will have to replace the fuel pump, hoses and belts, not to mention the transmission. Older... (Read More)
E-mail has become essential for modern communication. Love it or hate it, most of us spend some part of our day communicating with business colleagues, family or friends on e-mail. It's an efficient way to interact. One area where e-mail... (Read More)
Statins are the most successful drugs in history. It's estimated that more than 20 million people take drugs like Crestor, Lipitor, lovastatin, pravastatin and simvastatin. Over the past decade, sales have reached hundreds of billions of dollars. For people with... (Read More)
Customer satisfaction is important if you want repeat sales. Many hotels are so interested in guest responses that they monitor social media such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs. If someone is dissatisfied, some hotels instantly apologize and upgrade the customer... (Read More)
Tylenol is one of the most familiar and trusted brand names in America. In fact, commercials for the popular pain reliever used to proclaim: "Trust Tylenol. The pain reliever hospitals use most." Does Johnson & Johnson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit... (Read More)
Home remedies have been a mainstay of healing for most of human history. People turned to specialists like bonesetters or doctors only when they didn't really know what to do for themselves. These days we rely much more on physicians,... (Read More)
There's a popular stereotype that guys have only one thing on their minds. SEX! The implication is that women have to fend men off and that they are much less interested in making love. Based on our unscientific sample, however,... (Read More)
It's called acne rosacea, but the name is confusing. This skin condition is nothing like your teenager's pimples. Rosacea affects women more than men and usually strikes during middle age. It causes redness of the cheeks, nose and forehead. Fine... (Read More)
Americans are passionate about food. We're not suggesting that they are fanatical about gourmet cooking like the French. After all, the U.S. is the home of fast food. What gets Americans excited is dietary dogma, especially if it disagrees with... (Read More)
There was a time when people treated heartburn symptoms with simple remedies. A half-teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water was one standby. If you wanted to get a little fancier you could chew a few Tums or... (Read More)
Doctors should study golf more seriously, especially putting. If you are trying to sink a putt, you have to hit the ball just right. Too hard and the ball goes sailing past the hole. Too soft and you fall short.... (Read More)
According to the FDA, "Medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people annually in the United States." Such statistics are too overwhelming to comprehend, so we tend to ignore, reject and deny them.... (Read More)
Years ago, the local neighborhood drugstore was a gathering place for people in the community. The pharmacist frequently offered homespun advice and compounded concoctions as well as dispensing prescriptions. In our community there was a pharmacy that was known far... (Read More)
How safe is your medicine? To answer that question you might ask your physician when she prescribes a new pill what side effects it causes. But how reliable is the information she depends on to answer your question? Most doctors... (Read More)
Nobody's neutral when it comes to the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins. Some doctors are so enthusiastic about these powerful medications that they would almost consider putting them in salt shakers or tap water. Some patients who have experienced severe... (Read More)
When you think about big heists, what comes to mind? Diamonds? Cash stolen from an armored car? Perhaps a priceless painting from a museum? Prescription drugs turn out to be a growing target for thieves. It's hard to imagine that... (Read More)
The history of treating blocked heart arteries is tale of two steps forward and one step back. People who suffer severe blockage in a coronary artery often experience chest pain or angina. The original solution was coronary artery bypass graft... (Read More)
Desperate parents are willing to try almost anything to rid their children of lice. Lice shampoo and nit combs are staples of the school year, but unfortunately in the past decade or so, lice have developed resistance to many of... (Read More)
Boomerang: n. 1. (Australian) a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower. 2. A miscalculation that recoils on its maker. This definition from Webster's Online Dictionary describes the unanticipated consequences of certain medications. When doctors prescribe... (Read More)
In Aesop's fable about the shepherd boy, the youngster yelled wolf just to amuse himself and have the villagers come running. After he did this a couple of times when there was no wolf, they got fed up with him.... (Read More)
Hypertension is boring. Although roughly one in three adults has high blood pressure, most people don't get very excited about it. But they should. A new report from the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) says that hypertension is one of... (Read More)
Having a brand name that consumers trust is like money in the bank. Drug companies put a lot of effort into building brand name recognition. Over the years companies have advertised products like Maalox and Tylenol so aggressively that they... (Read More)
Stents are back in the news because of Bill Clinton's cardiac "event." Although the former president did not suffer a heart attack, discomfort and pressure in his chest prompted him to seek medical care. He'd undergone quadruple bypass surgery in... (Read More)
This is the cruelest time of year for your delicate dermis. If you have been following public health recommendations to wash your hands every time you touch something like a doorknob, an elevator button or an ATM touch pad, your... (Read More)