MD Whistleblower

Several times each week, I am asked about the value of probiotics.  Many of my patients are already on them, based on a personal recommendation or an advertisement.  As a gastroenterologist, I routinely treat patients with all varieties of diarrhea conditions, such as irritable bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, lactose intolerance, celiac disease and the highly feared gluten sensitivity.  Many of them arrive in the office with a probiotic in hand waiting for me to pass judgment.  These patients look to me as a Digestive Supreme Court Justice as they sit on the edge of their chairs waiting for my ruling in the case of Probiotics vs Disease.   First, let’s all be clear on what a probiotic is.  Probiotics are bacteria that provide health benefits when consumed.   Stop a moment and consider how bizarre this concept is.  Physicians have been fighting germs since the days of Louis Pasteur.  We have taught the public for ...

Am I referring to Obamacare here or Obama himself? I am glad that we have a new president.  Like most of the country, I was ripe for a change of direction and a new approach to foreign and domestic affairs – and we are certainly getting that.  New readers here might erroneously suspect that I voted for Trump.  I didn’t.  For the first time in my presidential voting history, I wrote in my choice for our top two office holders. I have written multiple posts on my unfavorable views of Obamacare since it was jammed through congress without a single Republican vote.  (Do I sound slightly partisan here?)  Interested readers are invited to peruse posts on this blog within the Health Care Reform Quality category, if you dare. There are two kinds of people who oppose Obamacare Folks who believe it is wrong on policy grounds Folks who wield it as a political cudgel to bash Obama. Some opponents are a hybrid of both of the above. I was also...

When I was a kid, it was fun to get mail.  Now, not so much.  My mailbox at home is a receptacle for junk mail, various solicitations for services I will never need, and bills.  Office mail is not much more fun.  Each day I look through the stack and separate them into 3 categories. Important stuff Garbagio Not sure The latter category is the most vexing.  Some stuff is cleverly designed to appear important when, in reality it is drivel and nonsense.  We’ve all seen this stuff.  Sometimes, the envelope will include a teaser label, such as ‘Time Sensitive Material’, or ‘Signature Required’.   Once I have been duped to open up the envelope, I’ve lost the game.  Then, I am forced to scan the printed page as fast as my retinas can process the image with the hope that in a few nanoseconds I can send the page sailing into the waste bin.  Sometimes, however, even after reading the entire page, I simply can’t determine if the d...

Physicians now practice in the era of patient autonomy.  Most agree that the era of medical paternalism should not be resurrected.  During those days, doctors simply told patients what to do, and patients complied.  The informed consent process then was a shadow of what it should have been.  In general, physicians did not proffer medical options and alternatives for patients to ponder over.  They were told, ‘you need a hysterectomy’. Sometimes, I think we physicians today have  over-corrected  for past arrogance.  Yes, I believe in informing patients, but I often wonder if many patients today really only want us to tell them which path they should pursue.  Even the most informed patients are not medical professionals who can grasp every medical nuance or ramification of a decision.  It can be vexing for them to choose among different medical options that are presented to them in an effort to meet our obligation to apprise patients of ...

The Whistleblower wishes all readers all good things for the coming year.  2017 will launch us into uncertain times where many of us are a mélange of hope, worry, fear, resignation, optimism, anger, skepticism, validation and self-doubt.  Will the ship of state sail straight and true or will we find the nation steaming off course into dangerous waters?   I suspect that it will not be simply one path or the other.  There will be times when we will stray and other times when we will more closely hit the desired target.  This is how every government, and indeed every person, lives and breathes. Off Course or On Target? We can accept the inevitable zigzagging with the hope and belief that the overall trend will take us forward.  Let us celebrate our successes and exercise some forbearance when we or others miss the mark despite good intentions. This blog enriches and challenges me and I hope it brings some small measure of delight to...