MD Whistleblower

How many times each week do we hear the phrase, 'if you're not completely satisfied, we'll refund the purchase price - no questions asked." This is more often a marketing ploy than a true money-back guarantee.  I have a sense that trying to obtain a promised refund on an item that dissatisfied us is about as easy and carefree as changing an airline ticket reservation or reaching a live human when our home internet service is down.   So, when the weight loss pills don't really melt the pounds off, don't be shocked if the check isn't in the mail when you mail back the placebo pills to a post office box several states away.  And, of course, you won't recover the shipping and handling costs. Send Stuff to P.O Box in Southeast Asia Photo Credit This is my opportunity to ask for help from my erudite readership.  What exactly is shipping and handling?  Doesn't postage already cover the 'shipping'?  $8.95 seems pricey for a 'han...

I just deposited a check into my bank account by photographing the check with my iPhone and zapping it through cyberspace.  I realize this is ho hum to the under 35 crowd.  Soon, there won’t be any paper checks as the entire transaction will occur electronically.  As a member of the over 35 crowd (plus 20 years), I am wowed by this process.  I remember being astonished when my kids told me how they performed this same process months ago.   It’s the same amazement I experience when I first read about a new piece of technology called a ‘fax machine’. You mean you slide a document into a machine and an exact copy emerges elsewhere? In my younger days, depositing a check into a bank account meant waiting in line with my bank book in hand waiting for a living, breathing human to count and record my allowance and snow shoveling earnings.   The bank that my kids use has no physical offices.  It is entirely in the Twilight Zone. Medicine ...

  Recently, I was with a group of good friends whom I have known for 20 years.  They are a spirited group of unabashed liberals.  I doubt any of them have ever voted for a Republican, or ever would.  Of course, we have a secret ballot in this country so we never know for sure.  Publicly, at least, they profess unwavering fealty to the Democratic Party. I regard myself as a political independent, although I tend to vote Republican.  However, when I am amid this group of left-leaners, they look to me for the ‘far right’ view on the issues of the day.  Yes, we have different views on the proper role of government and the judiciary, but I don’t look to Ted Cruz or Sarah Palin for political inspiration. During our conversation, the recent Rolling Stone journalistic debacle that detailed an alleged rape at University of Virginia came up.  Immediately, the prevailing liberal talking point was offered up to the g...

When moved to do so, I wander off the medical commentary pedestal to share thoughts with readers.  This is one of those occasions.   I had a singular experience last weekend that impacted me. Most of us can agree that there is a paucity of silence in our world.  There is noise and static everywhere filling our time and space with cacophony.  Television news shows have become performances where we watch panels of pundits who appear as clucking hens.  Try to find a coffee shop that isn’t blaring music.  Even sports games on television have every nanosecond filled with barkings from commentators.  Can’t we just enjoy the play? Last Sunday, I went to a Quaker Meeting House for the first time, accompanied by my daughter Ariella, representing our family.  There was no speaker, ushers, music or program of events.  The room was set up with chairs in each half that faced each other.  Folks took their seats and remained quiet.  ...

I see patients with abdominal pain every day.  Over my career, I’ve sat across the desk facing thousands of folks with every variety of stomach ache imaginable.   I’ve listened to them, palpated them, scanned them, scoped them and at times referred them elsewhere for another opinion.  With this level of experience, one would suspect that I have become a virtual sleuth at determining the obvious and stealth causes of abdominal distress.   I wish it were the case. Some Cases Defy Sleuthing The majority of cases of chronic abdominal pain that I – and every gastroenterologist – see will not be explained by a concrete diagnosis.   Sure, I’ve seen my share of sick gall bladders, stomach ulcers, diverticulitis, bowel obstructions, appendicitis and abdominal infections, but these represent a minority of my afflicted patients.  Patients with acute abdominal pain are more likely to receive a specific diagnosis, such as those listed a...

T’was the week before Christmas And all through the House, Boehner was stirring No longer a mouse The Senate as well In GOP hands Girding for battle With toothless demands. No government shutdown That never played well. Impeachment would surely Damn them to hell. Executive orders, No self-deport. Why diss the Congress? He does it for sport! In 2016, Are Repubs aware, That they need a candidate With Romney’s hair? GOP are no saints They carp and complain, Blaming Obama With dripping disdain. “He’s a king or a czar. It’s all been a ruse.” We know this is true It was on Fox News. So will there be progress? Will they join hands? Can we have hope? As we watch from the stands? Or can we expect, More of the same, Bickering, sniping And pointing the blame? Will Jeb give the nod? Can Hillary lose? Or Dancer or Prancer, Or maybe Ted Cruz? Sit back and relax, For the start of the show,...

Over the past decade, there has been renewed effort to increase the quality of colonoscopy. New data has demonstrated that colonoscopy quality is less than gastroenterologists had previously thought. Interestingly, colonoscopy is less effective in preventing colon cancers in the right side of the colon compared to the left side. Explanations include that some pre-cancerous polyps in the right side of the colon are more subtle to recognize and that the right side of the colon has many hidden areas that are difficult to visualize. New examination techniques and equipment are addressing these issues. The goal of colonoscopy is not to detect cancer; it is to remove benign polyps before they have an opportunity to become malignant. A new measure of medical ‘quality’ is to record how often gastroenterologists (GIs) remove polyps from their patients. For example, if a GI only detects polyps in 5% of patients, which is under the quality threshold, then someone will conclude that this physici...