Why Not Tweet When You Are In the Hospital and Not Feeling Well?

Being isolated in a hospital room leaves you vulnerable to doctors who may be inappropriate, rude and even abusive. You might consider that having the capacity to call for help – to Tweet – is empowering. Health care #911, and very public! But…

Posted in Blogs, Communication, Empowered Patient, Future of Medicine, health care delivery, Life as a Doctor, Life as a Patient, Media, Privacy, Social MediaTagged , , , , , , 4 Comments on Why Not Tweet When You Are In the Hospital and Not Feeling Well?

The Trouble With Placebos

The latest NEJM features a big story about a small trial, with only 39 patients in the end, on the potential for placebos to relieve patients’ experience of symptoms. This follows other recent reports on the subjective effectiveness of pseudo-pharmacology. My point for today is that placebos are problematic in health care with few exceptions. First, […]

Posted in Informed Consent, language, Medical Ethics, Medical News, Patient Autonomy, PseudoscienceTagged , , , , , , Leave a Comment on The Trouble With Placebos

The King’s Speech is Not Just About Stuttering

Over the weekend I went to see the King’s Speech. So far the film, featuring Colin Firth as a soon-to-be-King-of-England with a speech impediment, and Geoffrey Rush as his ill-credentialed but trusted speech therapist, has earned top critics’ awards and 12 Oscar nominations. This is a movie that’s hard not to like for one reason […]

Posted in Communication, Medical History, Movies, Patient-Doctor Relationship, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on The King’s Speech is Not Just About Stuttering

It’s Not About the Money

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.

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer screening, health care costs, health care delivery, Medical Ethics, Oncology (cancer), PolicyTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on It’s Not About the Money
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