Medical Issues (Injury & Error)

Federal suit: Baylor failed to stop cocaine-using surgeon from harming patients

By Miles Moffeit mmoffeit@dallasnews.com 9:01 am on January 30, 2014 | Permalink A federal lawsuit is accusing Baylor Health Care System of failing to properly monitor or investigate a Plano neurosurgeon – recently barred from practicing in Texas – despite repeated warnings about his “drug problem” and “lack of competence.” Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano didn’t seek Dr. […]

Drug Abuse Among Doctors: Easy, Tempting, and Not Uncommon

Shelly Reese January 29, 2014 Tomorrow — Tomorrow, I Will Stop That’s what Marc Myer, a family practice physician in Minnesota, told himself each day as he stole prescription opiates from his patients to feed his addiction. A Long History of “Self-Medicating”But for Dr. Myer and many physicians like him, “tomorrow” was a long time […]

Does HRT Boost Pancreatitis Risk?

Published: Jan 28, 2014 By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Full Story Full Text Article Download from MedPageToday Action Points Use of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy was associated with increased risk of acute pancreatitis, researchers found. The risk did not differ by current or past use, but it seemed to be higher among women […]

This Poke Cuts Antibiotic Rx

Published: Jan 27, 2014 | Updated: Jan 28, 2014 By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Full Story Action Points A behavioral “nudge” significantly cut inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory infections in primary care clinics. Note that displaying poster-sized commitment letters in examination rooms was simple and inexpensive, but had an effect “comparable […]

Medscape Physician Lifestyle Report 2014

Carol Peckham January 23, 2014 Do physicians live healthy lifestyles? Slide Show

A case report offers a lesson in how physicians need to broaden their diagnostic thinking as girth across all patient age groups also broadens.

01.21.2014 Rheuminations: A Cautionary Tale by Nancy Walsh Staff Writer, MedPage Today A case report recently published in Pediatric Rheumatology offers a lesson in how physicians need to broaden their diagnostic thinking as girth across all patient age groups also broadens. A 15-year-old Hispanic boy was seen in the orthopedic surgery department for pain in […]

Medicine Or Mass Murder? Guideline Based on Discredited Research May Have Caused 800,000 Deaths

Medicine Or Mass Murder? Guideline Based on Discredited Research May Have Caused 800,000 Deaths In Europe Over The Last 5 Years Forbs.com PHARMA & HEALTHCARE | 1/15/2014 Full Story Last summer British researchers provoked concern when they published a paper raising the possibility that by following an established guideline UK doctors may have caused as […]

FDA Asks Docs to Limit Acetaminophen in Prescription Meds

Megan Brooks January 15, 2014 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking healthcare professionals to stop prescribing combination prescription pain relievers that contain more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per tablet, capsule, or other dosage unit, citing the risk for liver damage. The action targets prescription analgesics that contain both acetaminophen and another […]

Big Pharma Exposed – Again

By Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher Dynamic Chiropractic – January 15, 2014, Vol. 32, Issue 02 How would you feel if you learned your elderly mother or your child was being treated with a drug never intended to be used as medication for their illness? Or that they had been prescribed a […]

Girl falls asleep 30 times a day since taking the flu vaccine

JANUARY 06, 2014 IT WAS supposed to be a simple vaccine against swine flu, but since she had it, Chloe Glasson’s life has been like a bad dream. Just four months after being given the Pandemrix injection, the 15-year-old schoolgirl developed the sleeping disorder narcolepsy. Now, without warning, she falls asleep up to 30 times […]

Do NSAIDs Cause More Deaths Than Opioids?

Practical Pain Management Volume 13, Issue #10 November/December 2013 Full Story:  http://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/pharmacological/opioids/ask-expert-do-nsaids-cause-more-deaths-opioids Question: I have recently read a lot on Twitter that NSAIDs cause more deaths than opioids. Can you clarify if that is true? Answer: Balancing the benefits of well-controlled pain with the risks of analgesic use is complicated and often challenging for health […]

GI Injury: Common With New Antiplatelets and Anticoagulants?

Devada Singh-Franco, PharmD December 26, 2013 Question How common is upper gastrointestinal injury associated with the newer oral antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants? Between 1998 and 2005, more than 1.4 million hospitalizations were the result of peptic ulcer disease, with an average age-adjusted hospitalization rate of 63.6 per 100,000 population.[1] Age was a factor: The estimated […]

Start Warfarin, Have a Stroke?

12.20.2013 by Todd Neale Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Starting warfarin for preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation appeared to be associated with a transiently increased risk of ischemic stroke before the preventive effects kicked in, a large case-control study showed. Compared with not taking any antithrombotics, initiating warfarin was associated with a greater […]

NEJM editor: “No longer possible to believe much of clinical research published”

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Carolyn Thomas Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Marcia Angell is the author of The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It. But more to the point, she’s also the former Editor-in-Chief at the New England Journal of Medicine, arguably one of the most respected medical journals on earth. But after reading […]

Oakland Teen Declared Brain Dead Days After Routine Tonsil Surgery

December 16, 2013 7:40 AM SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Family members of 13-year-old Jahi McMath are holding out hope for a miracle recovery after a routine procedure has left the girl brain dead. Last week, McMath went in to Children’s Hospital Oakland to get her tonsils removed. She was supposed to go home the […]

Rogue-Surgeon Case Raises Question of Who Knew What

Robert Lowes December 12, 2013 The actions of a rogue orthopedic surgeon in Hopewell Junction, New York, is embroiling 2 hospitals and a large multispecialty medical group in a legal mess that raises the question of who knew what. Spyros Panos, MD, pleaded guilty last month in federal court to a healthcare fraud scheme in […]

Glucose Control Better With Pharmacist Help

12.11.2013 ORLANDO — Diabetic patients who were counseled by pharmacists did better at managing their blood sugar over a 2-year period than patients in standard treatment, researchers reported here. Diabetic patients who worked with pharmacists experienced mean reductions in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of -1.24, which were sustained for 2 years, compared with smaller average reductions […]

Substance Abuse in Medical Residents Rising

Deborah Brauser December 11, 2013 Substance use disorders (SUDs) are increasing among medical residents, with the risk for relapse “very high,” new research suggests. A retrospective cohort study of more than 44,000 anesthesiology residents who began training programs between 1975 and 2009 showed that 384 (0.86%) had a confirmed SUD during their training. Of these, […]

Why MDs Abuse Prescription Drugs

Deborah Brauser December 09, 2013 Doctors who report they abuse prescription drugs cite self-medication to help manage physical pain and emotional problems as the number 1 reason for this habit, new research shows. In the study, substance-impaired doctors participated anonymously in guided group discussions as part of a monitored state physician health program (PHP). In […]

Cardio-Chaos: New Statin Guidelines Cause Consternation

Tuesday, 26 November 2013 23:53 By August West, Contributing Writer  Earlier this month, in a move that rattled the cardiology world, the same organizations published new guidelinesinsisting that doctors no longer need to measure LDL or other lipids, and that pretty much anybody who looks like they’re at risk for CVD should automatically get a statin […]