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The Swedish study with its positive findings should be scrutinized, yes, but no more or less than the other papers on the same subject that have been highlighted, selectively, in the media. How journalists cover mammography studies, and that they do so with an open mind, matters a lot. See more Notes on the 2010 Swedish Mammography Report, and the Press Maybe, one good application of Telemedicine would be in the sharing of digital mammography images, so that any woman’s breast films could be checked by a radiologist who works at a cancer imaging center and specializes in breast imaging.…there’s every reason to think that the incidence of false positives in screening mammograms is going down and will drop further… See more Why It’s So Hard to Assess False Positives, and How We Might Reduce Them Breast Cancer | cancer screening | health care costs | health care delivery | Medical Ethics | Oncology (cancer) | Policy
If physicians’ potential profit motives cloud the mammography debate, as the authors contend, that doesn’t mean that mammography is ineffective. Rather it signifies that doctors and scientists should analyze data and make clinical decisions in the absence of financial or other conflicts of interest. See more It’s Not About the Money Future of Medicine | health care costs | health care delivery | Medical Ethics | Policy | Public Health
What is comparative effectiveness research and why does it matter? The idea, basically, is to inform medical decisions with relevant data derived from well-designed clinical trials. This sort of research will provide the foundation for evidence-based medicine (EBM). See more News, and Thoughts, on Comparative Effectiveness Research Breast Cancer | cancer awareness | cancer screening | cancer survival | Diagnosis | Medical News | Oncology (cancer)
I’d say the opposite is true: It’s precisely because there are effective treatments for early-stage disease that it’s worth finding breast cancer early. Otherwise, what would be the point? Metastatic breast cancer is quite costly to treat and, even with some available targeted therapies, remains See more What’s Missing in the Recent Mammography Value Study Breast Cancer | cancer awareness | cancer screening | clinical trials | health care costs | Medical News | Oncology (cancer)
A question central to today’s discussion – which does at least acknowledge the decline in breast cancer mortality – is the extent to which mammography is responsible for this trend, as opposed to other factors such as increased awareness about cancer, better cancer treatments and other variables. Communication | Future of Medicine | health care costs | health care delivery | Health IT | Policy | Public Health
“This caught my interest because it doesn’t diminish physicians’ autonomy,” Blumenthal said. It just enables them to make decisions for their patients in the context of additional, current information. “The end goal is not to adopt technology, but to improve care.“ See more No More Clipboards Unabashedly, Sacks details his own mishaps in recognizing people he’s met and finding his way; it’s a life-long, inherited affliction that requires he remember individuals by things other than So while this little debate might seem minor and technical, reflecting some pettiness and distinct personalities among the various physician-bloggers, it bears on a serious issue for medicine, which is not so easily resolved: what are the tasks that we really want doctors to do, and not to delegate. This discussion relates to a recent editorial in the New York Times on whether we really need physicians to administer anesthesia…It bears also on simpler matters — whether doctors should spend time calling patients themselves about routine test results, adjust coumadin and other drug doses … See more Big Implications of Blog-Bickering About What Doctors Should Be Doing Annals of Pink | Breast Cancer | cancer awareness | cancer survival | Life as a Patient | Life in NYC
“You can get discomboobulated in this place,” a NYC police officer told me today. This morning, some 25,000 or so men, women and children converged on Central Park for the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s 20th annual Race for the Cure. It was my first time witnessing the event: See more A Walk, or Race, for the Cure  In some ways this seems like a pro-active, well-intentioned policy that could save lives. On the other hand, as discussed in the NEJM piece, the new screening policy raises a host of challenging issues: * how will colleges inform minor players’ parents about results? * how will the schools handle players’ privacy?… See more Perspective on Screening for Sickle Cell Trait in Student Athletes  For two days I’ve been traveling on a short road-trip with my family in Upstate New York. As far as this turning to a medical lesson, all I can say is that for the first time in my life I witnessed, first-hand, the vaguely digital, elongate and eponymous geography of the fine Finger Lakes… See more A Visit to Suffragette City  … this egg story reminds me of a gradual change in how we practiced medicine in the years after the start of the AIDS epidemic. In 1983, when I entered medical school, few doctors wore gloves except when they were performing surgery…A few years later, when I was a resident physician and pregnant fellow, the concept of universal precautions came into widespread practice. Doctors and nurses learned – had to be instructed — to don gloves whenever they drew blood or potentially came into contact with any patient’s body fluids because, the idea emerged, anyone might have … See more Cooking With Universal Precautions Empowered Patient | health care costs | health care delivery | Ideas | Life as a Patient | Patient-Doctor Relationship | Physical Examination
 …the office has expanded and become so systematized that when I go there I don’t feel like I’m visiting a doctor, the kind of professional who sincerely cares about my health. Instead I feel like a commodity, which I suppose I am. See more Eye Care Breast Cancer | cancer treatment | Communication | Medical News | Patient Autonomy | Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
The reality is that many women, particularly poor women without newspapers or internet access in their homes, don’t know about any of this. They don’t know their insurance covers pretty much all of these options, by law. Now they will, or should as of Jan 1, 2011. Good. The other curiosity is that … See more New NY State Law on Information for Women Undergoing Mastectomy cancer awareness | Communication | Informed Consent | Oncology (cancer) | Patient Autonomy | TV | Women's Health
 The Big C’s plot includes at least two “atypical” and potentially complex features. First, Cathy chooses not to take chemotherapy or other treatment. This intrigues me, and may be the show’s most essential component – that she doesn’t just follow her doctor’s advice. Second, she doesn’t go ahead and inform her husband, brother or son about the condition, at least not so far… See more First Take On the Big C |
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