Oh, goodie. Goodie, goodie gumdrops. The Golden Globe nominations are out, which means Awards Season is upon us. As I believe I have mentioned from time to time, I am a sucker for awards shows. Or rather, awards shows for… Continue Reading
The other day, Kim asked me if I’d ever consider prescribing a placebo. I replied that I would not, as I would consider doing so unethical. In a lovely piece of symmetry, I came across an article on that very… Continue Reading
When I was in medical school, a friend of mine gave me the use of a pager. He had some kind of business arrangement that provided him with pager service, and he was somehow able to hook me up with… Continue Reading
One of my recurring bugbears is the steadily-blurring line between patients and customers. The expectation for customers at the end of a transaction is that they be satisfied, and everyone knows the axiom about them always being right. A patient,… Continue Reading
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has decided to keep Plan B, the emergency contraceptive pill, prescription-only for adolescents under the age of 17. Her reasons: In her own statement, Ms. Sebelius said, “After careful consideration of the F.D.A.… Continue Reading
This comment of James’ has brought to my mind the question of why I (more often than I’d like [which is never]) order tests I believe to be unnecessary for the detection or diagnosis of disease. As I said in… Continue Reading
As I mentioned yesterday, I went for a run this past weekend. This despite having waxing and waning pain in the right heel over the past few weeks, which I strongly suspected was a smoldering case of plantar fasciitis. Despite… Continue Reading
[Over at the main page last week, Murali discussed a semi-tradition around the blogosphere of posting something in opposition to one’s usual viewpoint during “Opposite Day/Week.” It’s supposed to be challenging, and it’s not an opportunity to take pot-shots at… Continue Reading
Years ago, a good friend from medical school was complaining to me about her health insurance. Specifically, she was lamenting its lack of coverage for birth control. At the time she was a resident at a major medical center around… Continue Reading
Sometimes I think NPR finds the most nettlesome people possible to interview, just to annoy me on my drive to work. I imagine them talking to dozens of people and finding the most entitled-sounding clips to air. To wit, this… Continue Reading