Patients Have Known This for Years

Today's subject: generic drug substitutions. Late last week, the New York Times ran this story by Lesley Aderman. The headline: Not All Drugs Are the Same After All. Well, duh! How many people do you personally know who suddenly develop problems right after being switched to a lesser drug - a switch made not by their doctor - but by their insurance company? While some generic substitutions are perfectly acceptable and get the job done, many more of these drugs are given to patients to control life-threatening conditions - and the results are disasterous. My allergist told me years ago...

The Focus: Patient Safety

With healthcare reform news sucking up most of the news cycle and a good bit of emotional energy, I thought this would be a good time to refocus the argument and draw your attention to the one group of people conspicously absent in the healthcare reform debate - injured patients. Below is a new YouTube video brought to you by PatientSafetyCT. Susan Mangello speaks with grace and unbelievable composure about the circumstances surrounding her daughter's death by preventable medical error. PatientSafetyCT is dedicated to sharing patient stories and is pushing for increased patient rights and patient safety improvements.

You Will Be Assimilated

Our elected officials are about to pass legislation that will effect the quality and cost of healthcare for every man, woman and child in the country for years to come. This decision comes over objections voiced from every state in the Union, from countless patient advocates, health-related industries, physicians and patients alike. No one has actually read the new healthcare reform bill about to be passed so we don't know what's actually in it. That in itself is an abomination. What is certain is that this new legislation will put even more layers of bureaucracy between patients and the medical...

Patients Are Losing This Battle

As 2009 hurries to a close, I've seen a rash of healthcare stories that seem to indicate that the cards are stacked against patients - and the healthcare industry wants to keep it that way. Thankfully, the internet is making it harder and harder to hide a bad hospital incident. Somebody out there is always watching, will always write about it and will always post the report for the world to see. Now all we have to do is translate these reports into making meanful change for patients. Here is a round up of must-read stories that caught my attention:...

New Warning on CT Scans

Fresh on the heels of my last post on CT scan overdoses comes word today that CT scans in general are actually more dangerous than once believed and will likely cause an estimated 29,000 new cancers each year, and an additional 14,500 deaths. Incredible as it sounds, this powerful diagnostic tool doesn't seem to have universal guidelines for use or standards for radiation dose. Machines vary greatly - even in the same hospital. Here's a very good video by CNN.