Medical errors will never be 100% eliminated. Here’s why
A patient with progressive neurologic disorder had a gastrojejunal tube placed for feeding. In a nursing home, the tube fell out and was replaced with a Foley catheter. He was sent to the hospital for...
View ArticleArtificial intelligence in medicine. Not ready for prime time
by Skeptical Scalpel July was an interesting month for artificial intelligence in medicine. A study from MIT found when human doctors order tests on patients they factor in something that artificial...
View ArticleCan common sense be taught?
by Skeptical Scalpel An attempt to teach common sense to computers is underway at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence [AI2]. Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen has donated $125 million to...
View ArticlePatients prefer doctors who wear white coats
Over the last few years, controversy about what physicians wear has simmered. The debate has centered on the theoretical risk of infection transmission by clothing, focusing on the traditional white...
View ArticleWhat sport is best for achieving greater longevity?
by Skeptical Scalpel Pop quiz: The physical activity associated with prolonging your life the longest is Aerobics Cycling Running/jogging Swimming Tennis For the correct answer, read on. A study in the...
View ArticleAntibiotics for the treatment of simple appendicitis: Are we there yet?
by Skeptical Scalpel Here are a few thoughts about the latest chapter in the never-ending debate about antibiotics vs. surgery for the treatment of uncomplicated appendicitis. You will recall the...
View ArticleWho is rating the ratings?
Everything is being rated these days. But who is rating the ratings? As a public service, I have been blogging about the shortcomings of various rating systems since 2010. Two recent papers on this...
View ArticleMistaking a Kidney for a tumor
By Skeptical Scalpel Last week, a number of media outlets 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...
View ArticleBizarre story: Doctor sentenced to life in prison for murder of wife and...
By Skeptical Scalpel Hong Kong anesthesiologist Khaw Kim Sun was convicted of murdering his wife and a daughter in a most unusual way. He filled an inflatable yoga ball with carbon monoxide, rigged it...
View ArticleKidney trouble
Last month, I blogged about an unfortunate Florida woman who had a normal kidney removed because a surgeon thought it was a tumor. She was undergoing spinal fusion surgery at the time and the “tumor”...
View ArticlePolice demand a body cavity search. Should you do it without the suspect’s...
The police brought in a man accused of drug possession. According to one story, he told the officers he had hidden drugs in his rectum. Another version claimed he was seen behaving as if he was hiding...
View ArticleShould residency program directors look at applicants’ social media activity?
By now, I’m most of you probably have heard about the Cleveland Clinic first-year resident who was fired last September when it became known that in 2012 she had tweeted she would “purposely give all...
View ArticleOdd medical stories. The third one is jaw-dropping
According to a recent New York Times article, people are traveling from near and far to two small towns in Montana so they can drink radon water and inhale radon gas in caves. Never mind that the...
View ArticleAn unusual end-of-life case
Freddie Clarence Williams was found unconscious from a drug overdose and was taken to a Bronx hospital last July. He was eventually declared brain-dead. His sister Shirell Powell had been at the...
View ArticleShould residents appear on medical reality TV shows?
This notice appeared on the General Surgery News website in early February. I don’t know who has been long anticipating this, but I’m pretty sure it’s not people on medical Twitter. My informal,...
View Article“Master herbalist” convicted of practicing medicine without a license in...
In August 2014, a 13-year-old boy with type 1 diabetes died after being treated by self-described “master herbalist” Tim Morrow who was tried for child abuse resulting in death and practicing medicine...
View ArticleDiagnosing appendicitis: What works and what doesn’t
In 2010, I blogged about CT scan being the gold standard for the diagnosis of appendicitis. Research over the last few years has confirmed what I wrote back then. A recent example is this study of...
View ArticleHow long should patients fast before elective surgery?
In March 2017, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued the following guidelines regarding restriction of oral intake in infants, children, and adults undergoing elective surgery: Clear liquids...
View ArticleWho is my doctor?
“What About Recovery” is a provocative essay by Yale professor Lenore Buckley, MD, in the April 2, 2019 issue of JAMA. She writes in detail about the death of her 68-year-old brother in a hospital. She...
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More germs than a toilet seat
Google that phrase and you will come up with lots of hits. The following is a partial list of things that have been found to have more germs than a toilet seat: Kitchen cutting boards, sponges and...
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