Video Introduction to Critical Decisions
Here is my latest Critical Decisions video. This one gives a broad introduction to the reasons I wrote the book.
Similar Posts
Doctor, First Tell Me What It Costs
ByadminIf an antibiotic would cure your infection, your doctor would probably still warn you about the chance of sun sensitivity before prescribing the pill. But even when the costs of a medical intervention might force patients to choose between paying the bill or keeping up with their mortgages, American physicians rarely discuss that serious side effect with…
A Quick Q&A About My Upcoming Book
ByadminCritical Decisions is officially released right after Labor Day. Here is a Q&A on Duke Today to whet your appetite in the meantime. Q: We’ve probably all been there. You are sitting in a paper gown as a doctor describes your prognosis. Sometimes the next steps are treatable and straightforward. Other times, decisions can literally be…
The Way Physicians Break Bad News is Broken
ByadminImagine picking up a telephone and hearing your doctor tell you there is a “999 out of 1,000 chance that you’ll be dead within a decade.” That’s what Leonard Mlodinow experienced in 1989, when his routine HIV test didn’t turn out the way he expected. Mlodinow tells this story in his 2008 book, The Drunkard’s Walk,…
Hear My Discussion with Joe and Terry Graedon on People's Pharmacy
ByadminHere is a link to a podcast of my recent appearance on People’s Pharmacy, an NPR show that hopefully reaches you where you live. (If it doesn’t, you should ask your radio station to pick it up. It is a great show.) In this podcast, Joe and Terry lead me on a wide ranging conversation,…
Should Your Doctor Pray With You?
Byadmin“I can fix this.” The neurosurgeon was nothing if not confident. “The cyst is pushing on your spinal cord. If it continues to expand, it will damage your nerves and you may lose the ability to walk. But I can remove the cyst, and cure you.” The patient was a business school professor, a man…
The Wrong Way To React When Terminally Ill Patients Cry
ByadminJust three weeks earlier, she had noticed something strange about one of her breasts. An irregular shape. Her daughter brought her to the doctor, and soon the patient, I’ll call her Amanda, was diagnosed with breast cancer, stage “to be determined.” In fact, she was now in an oncologist’s office, learning what tests she would…