A number of media outlets recently featured a story about a Florida general surgeon who removed a normal kidney from a woman who was undergoing spine surgery. How could this have occurred? The 51-year-old patient who had been injured in a car crash was…
You need to chill out. Seriously. Doctor’s orders. Research has long established a link between anxiety and health issues as grave as cancer and heart disease. In today’s world, stressors are everywhere. But thankfully, so are the antidotes to stress. …
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 58-year-old woman is evaluated in the emergency department for a 2-day history of left lower abdominal discomfort. The pain began insidious…
“Get rest and drink plenty of fluids,” might not sound like adequately aggressive medical advice. If you’ve dragged yourself out of bed to visit an urgent care or your doctor’s office, you will probably feel somewhat cheated by an admonition to head ri…
An excerpt from Wrongful Deaths. “We will name Memorial Hospital, Dr. Julie Stone, Dr. Vijay Gupta, and ICU nurse Tracy Miller in a malpractice suit involving the wrongful death of Ivy Jackson.” Venjer appeared apologetic. “But Dr. Torrins is correct. …
Health care providers and even consumers who order their own genetic testing should really get to know GINA. Who or what is GINA? Is it some new virtual voice-activated personal assistant? Is she a new Italian superstar? Neither choice is correct. GINA…
I was misinformed about medical school. Growing up, I wanted to help people become healthy. After four years at the Ohio State University Medical School and three years of a family medicine residency, I still did not know enough to accomplish my goal. …
In 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced its decision to classify obesity as a disease, moving against the recommendation at the time of a group studying obesity. Yet there are still those who believe that obesity is not a disease but …
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. An 82-year-old woman is evaluated for a 1-week history of urinary incontinence with lower abdominal discomfort. She reports no dysuria, fever…
A physical therapist, commenting on my blog, recently shared an excellent point of view with me: As a therapist myself, I don’t know that I’d want to be betting on that differential diagnosis of tear, rupture, etc. when giving online advice. What is go…
