“Boxed warnings” or “black boxes” are the strictest FDA label warnings. They appear on cigarettes, fluoroquinolones (for tendon rupture), Lamictal (for SJS and TEN), Accutane (birth defects), and other products with well-known r…
Category: KevinMD
The primary care solution is obvious, but don’t expect policymakers to jump on board
In a shocking development that could transform the medical profession, the International Journal of Health Services published the findings of a study titled, “Primary care, specialty care, and life chances.” Using multiple regression analysis, the rese…
Doctors, a tech revolution is coming
What if I told you just a few years ago that Amazon — a budding e-commerce startup — would come to disrupt the multi-billion dollar retail industry. I seriously doubt that anyone could have given it a serious thought. At least not in the magnitude that…
Nurses are sick of being treated like hotel workers
“Compassion fatigue” is a phrase thrown around easily when talking about the health care professions. It is often spoken in the same breath as “burnout” and “turnover” while discussing the crisis of a diminishing wor…
Could this patient have been saved?
Wiley Boynton is dead. I first heard the news when Katie, a colleague, called me on my cell phone. Wiley had been taken to the hospital with a knife wound. I asked her right away: “Self-inflicted?” “I think so,” she said. A self…
The most powerful way to provide substance abuse treatment is in a group setting
We knew that the most powerful way to provide substance abuse treatment is in a group setting. Group members can offer support to each other and call out each other’s self-deceptions and public excuses, oftentimes more effectively than the clinicians. …
Why every physician should be on YouTube
If you talk to anyone you know, it’s very likely they will tell you that they are on some form of social media. Whether this is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or YouTube, most people are on at least 1 to 2 forms of social media these d…
Why every physician should be on YouTube
If you talk to anyone you know, it’s very likely they will tell you that they are on some form of social media. Whether this is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or YouTube, most people are on at least 1 to 2 forms of social media these d…
These leaders will not fix health care
We constantly argue about how to fix the U.S. health care system. But what we must understand is that the most important issue isn’t how to fix health care. The issue is how to get our Congress, the President, and the health care industry to allow anyt…
There is no such thing as medical swag
A recent excellent piece by Dr. Karen Sibert, an experienced anesthesiologist at my institution, raised some critical issues regarding how physicians are thought of by non-physicians, and how misguided that thought process is. Indeed, our stress levels…
