About Those Skipped Heart Test Results

Harlem Hospital Center stands just three miles or so north of my home. I know the place from the outside glancing in, as you might upon exiting from the subway station just paces from its open doors. The structure seems like one chamber of its neighborhood’s heart; within a few long blocks’ radii you’ll find rhythms generated in the Abyssinian Baptist Church; readings at the Schomburg Center and artery-clogging cuisine at the West 135th Street IHOP.

So I was saddened to hear about the missed heart studies. Or should I say unmissed? No one noticed when nearly 4,000 cardiac tests went unchecked at the Harlem center,

Posted in Cardiology, Communication, health care costs, health care delivery, Ideas, Life in NYC, Medical News, Patient Autonomy, Under the RadarTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on About Those Skipped Heart Test Results

DNA Comes Home, or Maybe Not

Earlier this month employees at most of 7500 Walgreens pharmacies geared up to stock a new item on their shelves: a saliva sampler for personal genetic testing. On May 11, officials at Pathway Genomics, a San Diego-based biotech firm, announced they’d sell over-the-counter spit kits for around $25 through an arrangement with the retailer. A curious consumer could follow the simple package instructions and send their stuff in a plastic tube, provided in a handy box with pre-paid postage, for DNA analysis.

Posted in Diagnosis, Empowered Patient, Future of Medicine, Genetics, Medical Education, Medical News, ScienceTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on DNA Comes Home, or Maybe Not

Why Blog on OncotypeDx and BC Pathology?

I can’t even begin to think of how much money this might save, besides sparing so many women from the messy business of infusions, temporary or semi-permanent IV catheters, prophylactic or sometimes urgent antibiotics, Neulasta injections, anti-nausea drugs, cardiac tests and then some occasional deaths in treatment from infection, bleeding or, later on, from late effects on the heart or not-so-rare secondary malignancies like leukemia. And hairpieces; we could see a dramatic decline in women with scarves and wigs.

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, Communication, Diagnosis, Empowered Patient, health care costs, Informed Consent, Pathology, Patient AutonomyTagged , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on Why Blog on OncotypeDx and BC Pathology?

More News, and Considerations, on OncotypeDx

This week I’ve been reading about new developments in breast cancer (BC) pathology. At one level, progress is remarkable. In the 20 years since I began my oncology fellowship, BC science has advanced to the point that doctors can distinguish among cancer subtypes and, in principle, stratify cases according to patterns of genes expressed within […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, clinical trials, Diagnosis, Informed Consent, Oncology (cancer), Pathology, Patient AutonomyTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on More News, and Considerations, on OncotypeDx

The Checklist and Future Culture of Medicine

…Poka-yoke, a Japanese term for rendering a repetitive process mistake-proof, is familiar to some business students and corporate executives. This concept, that simple strategies can reduce errors during very complex processes, is not the kind of thing most doctors pick up in med school. Rather, it remains foreign.

Posted in Future of Medicine, health care costs, health care delivery, Life as a Doctor, Medical Education, Policy, Public HealthTagged , , , , , , , , 6 Comments on The Checklist and Future Culture of Medicine
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