MD Whistleblower

Although I have confessed that I am not a seasoned expert in this field, here are some tips and pointers I’ve gleaned over the years. Slow and Steady Wins the Race! Avoid gimmicks.  We’ve all seen ads and telemarketing pitches that promise to melt off pounds by the hour.   These products are very effective for the companies, but not for you.  They don’t work.  Yes, you may enjoy some short term weight loss for as long (or short) as you can stay motivated, but the chance of keeping the weight off is vanishingly small.  You don’t have to be perfect.  Allow yourself some backsliding and seek continued motivation from these events.  The path to your successful destination may include some zigzagging. Weight loss medications don’t work well.  Of course, the notion of a pill solving any medical problem is seductive, but the history of weight loss medications includes an array of side effects and relatively modest results.  Ba...

Bariatric surgery, including gastric bypass surgery, has become a popular remedy for obesity in this country.  Hospitals have weighed in on this issue and are marketing this service directly to the public who are ever willing customers of this slenderizing surgery.  I have many patients who have undergone the procedure and the results have been variable.   It’s too dismissive for me to refer to gastrointestinal bypass (GIB) as a ‘procedure’ as it is major surgery with major potential complications.  There are several types of bariatric surgery available today, but GIB is the standard surgery performed. It profoundly reroutes the guts and changes every day of your life.  This is not like undergoing a heart bypass surgery when after a period of recovery you resume your normal life.  After GIB, there is no normal life afterwards.  Your life is irrevocably altered.  Meals are such a significant and personal part of our lives.  Think of a...

If losing weight were easy, we'd all be skinny.  If exercise were fun, we'd all be doing it.  If quitting cigarettes were effortless... What should our response be toward rising societal tonnage? A Weighty Issue Photo Credit Pass laws restricting access to the wrong type of food.  Former Mayor Bloomberg got stiff-armed on this approach by the courts.  It's also always fun to watch folks argue over the definition of a 'wrong food'.  The debate on which foods warrant prohibition at least brings some entertainment into the public square.  Imagine trying to achieve consensus over 20 or so food items that should be banned.  If this task were actually accomplished, cigarettes and alcohol would still be legal.  Make sense? Initiate a massive public education campaign to scare us skinny. Show ads of scary pictures with scary music reminiscent of an iconic anti-drug ad (This is your brain on drugs...) from a few decades ago.  ...

Last week, a female patient saw me in the office for the first time to discuss her chronic digestive issues. Luckily for her, my recommendations did not include probing into her alimentary canal with the endoscopic serpents that we gastroenterologists rely upon. As the visit concluded, she advised me that she intended to have a gastric bypass (GIB) procedure performed, and even used the medical term of bariatric surgery. I suppose that she mentioned it because the issue falls within my specialty, and she wanted my reaction to her plan, although she didn’t directly solicit my opinion. Nevertheless, she received it. I am not surprised anymore when the critical medical issue emerges at the end of the office visit. Every physician has this experience regularly. “So, Mrs. Fleets, I think that this new medicine will really help your constipation. My nurse will be happy to arrange your next appointment. Do you have any questions?” “How come I now have trouble breathing when I walk ...