It is not an easy time to be a physician in the United States. Attempt to order an expensive test for a patient and an insurance company is likely to second guess your decision. Try upholding the bottom line for your medical practice and the government will probably start questioning whether you are overcharging for…
A cranky customer snaps at his barista, lodging an unjustifiable complaint about the service, the temperature of the drink…about anything and everything. He came into the store angry (and in pain from a chronic illness) and he needed something–or someone!–to take it out on. He is met by a well-trained smile, the barista doling out…
Dr. Smith Townsend knelt on the filthy train station floor, the patient lying in front of him with a bullet wound in his back. The patient was clinically stable for the moment, so Townsend turned his attention to the wound, convinced a quick removal of the bullet would offer his patient the best chance of…
Put simply, shared decision making is the gold standard — the sine qua non* — for how medical decisions ought to be made. The pipe medical choice is rarely a function of medical facts alone. Tough decisions require value judgments, and it is the patient’s valuesthat often determine which choice is best. An operation cannot…
JoAnn Pushkin’s breast cancer was diagnosed at an advanced stage because the density of her breasts obscured the tumor on her mammograms. That was shocking news to Pushkin, who only learned that her breasts were radiologically dense at the time of her diagnosis. Activated by this revelation, she has become a leading advocate of legislation,…
Charlotte Scott had an eye for madness—for just the right amount of madness. As a booker for The Springer Show, her job was to find—and forgive me if I’m getting too technical here—minor nut jobs, the kind of people who were just unbalanced enough to make for entertaining T.V. but not so wacky that they would…
Facing advanced cancer, who among us wouldn’t look to our oncologist for expert advice on whether another round of chemotherapy makes sense? But do you know what your oncologist cares about, and can you be sure her recommendations map onto your own treatment preferences? … (Read the rest and view comments at Critical Decisions)
All too often the most powerful illusions seduce us through truthful whisperings. Let’s start with an obvious truth: Living a long and happy life after a cancer diagnosis is better than living a short miserable one.
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Who doesn’t want to get smarter? The Brain Gym Company claims to have found a number of ways people can attain all these goals. But their wacky mixture of pseudo-science and balderdash is more a function of bamboozlement through jargon than of any real proof that the program works.
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LeBron James exploded past his defender and raced towards the lane. Serge Ibaka, the Thunder’s mountainous center, planted his feet and raised his hands straight up into the air. LeBron ducked his left shoulder and plowed right into Ibaka, who went crashing backwards into a nearby cameraman.
Offensive foul?