Author's posts
A shortage of Kayexalate leads to an ER visit
Last week I had a patient with mild kidney disease and a high potassium. I thought that it would be easy to take care of. We called around to all the pharmacies from Bangor to Ellsworth to Belfast, and nobody had Kayexalate, the time-tested antidote, i…
Sometimes, the biggest challenge to eliminate health disparities is geography
Driving north in a snowstorm Tuesday of Thanksgiving week I certainly took my time. I left after our Suboxone clinic wrap-up conference, around 7:30 p.m., and arrived at my unplowed driveway in Caribou about 1 a.m. On the way up, I saw two ambulances, …
Do huddles really help in primary care?
I’ve huddled since before we used the word for it: You want to be prepared for the patients coming in that day. “Followup MRI” – did they have it and what did it show? “Ankle pain” – do we have X-ray today? “Eye pain” – be sure to check her acuity and …
A rare condition that often happens to people with very poor eyesight
I have known him for over thirty years. He has been legally blind for the past five. He tends to be a practical, no-nonsense man. The other day, he seemed restless and very concerned as he lowered his voice and said: “I don’t want you to come to the co…
We need to be more focused on those patients who find the holidays hard
I am beginning to think that we should not see chronic care patients between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. It just makes us look bad. Our quality metrics make the last blood pressure and the previous diabetic lab test of the year for each of our pat…
