Failure of doctors and nurses to wash hands is causing post-operative infections

January 17, 2019

I have written before about the importance of hand washing by doctors and nurses to prevent infection. Yet another study, this one published just this month from University of Iowa researchers, reports that despite solid evidence supporting improved practices for hand washing “adherence to evidence-based, basic, preventive measures is abysmal.” Read More

Doctors are experimenting on pregnant women

January 10, 2019

Doctors often have no choice but to experiment on pregnant women without knowing whether their treatments will help, or harm, the mother and/or her unborn baby.  Pregnant women are usually excluded from medical research, because scientists are understandably concerned that experimenting on them could hurt them or their fetus.  According Read More

Yelp! Do reviews guide your choice of ER or Urgent Care facilities?

January 7, 2019

It is very common for consumers to rate a restaurant, hotel or service online with sites such as Yelp! The practice is now spilling over to health care.  Specifically people are rating and reviewing ERs and Urgent Care Clinics. Roughly 47 percent of emergency department and 30 percent of urgent Read More

Healthcare providers — not hackers — leak more of your data

January 1, 2019

New research from Michigan State University and Johns Hopkins University found that more than half of the recent personal health information, or PHI, data breaches were because of medical providers — not because of hackers or external parties.  Employees were taking PHI home or forwarding it to a personal account or Read More

Age 75 or older? You still need mammograms!

December 27, 2018

Women age 75 years and older should continue to get screening mammograms, according to a new study. There is a high incidence of breast cancer found in this age group and mammography plays a critical role in the early detection – it can show changes in the breast up to Read More

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all military families

December 20, 2018

We have a medical error epidemic!

December 15, 2018

Medical errors are third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer, causing at least 250,000 deaths every year. A new documentary, set to air Monday, December 17, 2018, on HBO, explains the magnitude of this patient safety problem and why many are saying we are Read More

Beware: YouTube videos are wrong on prostate cancer

December 14, 2018

Of the 150 most popular YouTube videos on prostate cancer, 77 percent had factual errors or biased content in either the video or its comments section. In addition, only 50 percent of the videos analyzed described correctly the current standard of care in prostate cancer screening and treatment. Researchers at Read More

Saving Twins and Triplets – preventing stillbirths

December 10, 2018

In 2011, NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) established guidelines covering the additional care that should be offered to women with twin and triplet pregnancies above that routinely offered to all women during pregnancy. It aimed to reduce the risk of complications and improve outcomes in the mother Read More

Most people lie to their doctors

December 7, 2018

According to a recent national survey, 60 to 80 percent of respondents lied to their doctors about their daily routine, such as diet, exercise and even whether they were taking their medications regularly. This can have negative consequences for a patient; it is impossible for doctors to give the best Read More