MD Whistleblower

Jingle Bells, jingle bells, Romney cracks a smile, Oh what fun it is to watch The Gingrich pompous style. Bachman bleats, Cain retreats, Huntsman tries to please. Oh what fun it is to watch, When Perry’s brain goes freeze! Ron Paul’s weird, Very weird, Santorum has no chance, Oh what fun it is to watch His Tea Party romance. Who will win? Who will Spin? Who won Debatorama? The winner dancing in the streets Is Barack Obama! Wishing you Joy & Peace

The Cleveland Browns have been in the news this week, and not because of newfound success on the gridiron. While sports is not among my highest priorities, I have developed increasing interest over the years since professional sports is religion to so many here in Cleveland and in Ohio. Cleveland sports teams all enjoy great success, provided that success is not defined by victories. It’s not if you win or lose but how…  I watched the Cleveland Browns compete against the Pittsburgh Steelers two Thursdays ago. I cringed as I witnessed our young quarterback, Colt McCoy, take a blow to the head that could have landed the perpetrator a 10 year prison sentence had this act occurred on the street. I wasn’t worried that McCoy would have to miss the rest of the game. I feared that he might have to miss the rest of his life. Violence sells tickets. If an activity requires a participant to don a helmet and a coat of armor, then clearly it is an unwise activity for a human to engage in. M...

Garden Hoses in Assorted Colors A few times each month, a patient asks me for my opinion on colonics. They ask me because I am a gastroenterologist, and I am supposed to know this stuff. After 2 decades of performing colonic intrusions, I should be well qualified to respond to these alimentary inquiries. To those who are unfamiliar with the concept of colonic detoxification, I offer a brief rationale of the procedure. Those who have been lured into the Fraternal Association of Rare Toxins (acronym not provided) have been persuaded that stagnant stool within the colon is a source of toxins that seep into the body causing disease. According to the anti-toxin crowd, when stool overstays its colonic welcome, it can lead to chronic fatigue, lassitude, restlessness, irritability, mood disorders, skin rashes, arthritis, cardiac rhythm disturbances, seizures, allergies, dementia and the murky diagnosis of candidiasis, or yeast infection. This symptom list could apply to half of my medical ...

This blog has tried to support the virtue of personal responsibility. If you smoke, don’t blame Joe Camel. If you surrender to Big Mac attacks, don’t go after Ronald McDonald. If you love donuts, and your girth is steadily expanding, is it really Krispy Kreme’s fault? And, if you suffer an adverse medical outcome, then… Medicare aims to zoom in on hospitals, suffocating them with a variation of the absurd pay-for-performance charade that will soon torture practicing physicians. Of course, a little torture is okay, as our government contends, but pay-for-performance won’t increase medical quality, at least as it currently exists. It can be defended as a job creator as several new layers in the medical bureaucracy will be needed to collect and track medical data of questionable value. Medical quality simply cannot be easily and reliably measured as one can do with a diamond, an athlete or a wine. Most professions resist being graded or claim that the grading scheme is a scheme. T...

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m in an undisclosed location drinking a fabulous cup of coffee while turning the pages of The New York Times, knowing that ink and newsprint will be vanishing too soon. Yes, I do have an iPad now, but I haven’t figured out how to blog on it. Any suggestions? Buried in the first section of the paper is an article on stool, which in my view as a gastro specialist, should have merited front page placement. Yes, we all know the adage, ‘one’s man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, but stool - as in excrement - should be prized by everyone. Perhaps, as a gastroenterologist, I have a jaundiced view on this issue, which explains my dyspeptic reaction. All Whistleblower posts have an accompanying image, and I wonder what visual would be appropriate here.  I opted against my first choice, and chose instead a photo of our beloved Labrador Retriever, Shoshie, of blessed memory. The Times reported a new program to trace canine unscooped poop back to Spo...

When lawyers talk, I listen. Two attorneys penned a piece on medical malpractice reform in the April 21st issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the most prestigious medical journal on the planet. Here is an excerpt from their article, New Directions in Medical Liability Reform. The best estimates are that only 2 to 3% of patients injured by negligence file claims, only about half of claimants recover money, and litigation is resolved discordantly with the merit of the claim (i.e., money is awarded in nonmeritorious cases or no money is awarded in meritorious cases) about a quarter of the time. This is not self-serving drivel spewed forth by greedy, bitter doctors, but a view offered by attorneys, esteemed officers of the court. Apply the statistics in their quote to your profession. Would you be satisfied if your efforts were benefiting 2-3% of your customers or clients? Would this performance level give me bragging rights as a gastroenterologist? Perhaps, I should attach ...

As a gastroenterologist, I know a few things about scoping. Indeed, every working today I am tunneling through either end of the alimentary canal. These exercises are literally and figuratively enlightening as I seek new information that will make patients’ lives better or keep them well. Endoscopy is an example of prospective scoping, meaning the result of the scope is not yet known because the diagnostic study had not yet been done. This contrasts with the concept of retroscopy, which describes the concept of looking backwards at events that have already transpired and then making judgments on these events. In the vernacular, retroscopy is known as ‘Monday morning quarterbacking’. While I am not officially credentialed in retroscopy, and received no training in this procedure during my gastroenterology training program, I am quite familiar with the technique. Retroscopy is one of the main tools wielded by medical malpractice plaintiff attorneys who sue physicians for alleged ...