“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
Marcus Aurelius
A couple are charged after a woman they were doing liposuction on, in their basement, died. Neither of them are physicians.
“Honey! Turn down the washing machine, I can’t concentrate!”
The district attorney’s office said authorities believe that Ribeiro and his wife administered illegally obtained drugs and performed the surgical procedure on the woman. Neither Ribeiro nor his wife are licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts.
Police charged Ribeiro with unauthorized practice of medicine, drug possession and distribution, and illegal possession of a hypodermic needle. His wife was charged with unauthorized practice of medicine and drug distribution.
A French newspaper is reporting that some of the testosterone in Landis’ sample could not be simply of his incredible masculinity, as it is a synthetic variety.
I no longer simply go blank and quite when I walk into a standardized patient’s room. No, I’ve gotten passed my nervousness and I’m actually fairly competent with the physical exam. However, I have developedaprettysloppyhabitwhere
Italkreallyfastandexplainstuffintoomuchdetail.
ThisiscalledaPronatorDrifttestandmigh
thelpidentifyspecificdeficitsinsomeone’s
corticalspinaltract!*Whew*
I suppose for anyone who keeps up with conspiracy theories this is nothing new. Indeed, the documentary is kind’ve old. It argues that HIV is not the causes of AIDS. I guess this fact sheet didn’t exist when this video was published.
Here’s another documentary which looks at the theory that HIV was first introduced through contaminated Polio Vaccines in Africa, which is advocated by Edward Hooper.
At least they don’t show a picture of a bad staph infection. I’ll spare you as well.
It looks like a spider bite, but doctors say it’s really much worse than that.
It could be MRSA, a type of staph infection that looks much like a spider bite or a boil. Right now, doctors all over the city are seeing cases of MRSA.
Why did earlier med mal studies (including at least one in which Studdert was involved) find such higher rates of frivolous lawsuits than the recent Harvard School of Public Health study? Well, we don’t actually get an answer to that question (I’m sure an excuse is around somewhere) but Specialty Insurance Blog discusses how the study was spinned to look like a victory for the current method of reimbursing people. I always thought the title of that HSPH press release was a little more than just announcing the findings.
Doping in professional cycling. Everyone let out a *gasp*.
Okay, so we don’t know anything officially yet. It could all be a big mistake. But, how exactly does testosterone help professional athletes? And just how plausible are Landis’ potential excuses?
Landis told SI.com that elevated levels of testosterone are a common problem among cyclists and that he is retaining the services of Spanish doctor Luis Hernandez to help prove his innocence. “In hundreds of cases, no one’s ever lost one,” Landis told the Web site.
Landis also told SI.com that he has been taking an oral dose of thyroid hormone to help a thyroid condition he’s been treating. He also suggested cortisone shots he’s been given for his hip might have contributed to the test result.
Testosterone and other androgens promote muscle growth and hematopoietic stem cell maturation (we all remember when Lance was accused of giving himself EPO, a drug specifically used to raise one’s red blood cell count and thus increase your oxygen delivering capacity).
As for Landis’ claims, they sound semi-plausible. I have no idea how one identifies testosterone in the lab, but increased levels of thyroid hormone could raise one’s testosterone levels. From what I understand increased levels of thyroid hormone increase the overall level of testosterone in your body, but also increases the levels of SHBG. Since most of your testosterone is bound to that, the level of free testosterone isn’t greatly affected by increases in thyroid hormone. If they’re measuring levels of free testosterone, I’m not sure how strong Landis’ argument is, but if the lab is deducing the levels from SHBG, then Landis might have somewhat of an argument.
Why 3rd year is so much better than the 1st two over at MedRants.
I was stressed first year, I’m getting stressed second year, but I will say I’m a lot less of a nervous wreck than some of my classmates. I mean, I think I’m pretty friendly, even in the midst of exam weeks. To be honest with you I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
All of that might change the closer I get to Step 1, I will say…
A Virginia judge has lifted the order for a 16 year old boy to restart chemotherapy until his appeals have been exhausted.
A lawyer for Abraham and his parents argued that if the lower court order was allowed to stand, any further legal appeals would be moot.
“Once those doctors take control of Abraham, then the game is over in terms of their appeal that they’re entitled to by statute,” said John Stepanovich, lawyer for Jay and Rose Cherrix.
Of course, the evidence for this homeopathic treatment isn’t looking good,
The type of cancer Abraham has is highly treatable in early stages. Abraham had court-ordered X-rays at CHKD in June. He also had a follow-up exam with his doctors at the Biomedical Center in Mexico, where he’s receiving the Hoxsey treatment. Both exams showed that his tumors - one in his neck and one near his windpipe - had grown since February [when he started the herb treatment].
At least the center in Mexico admits his tumors have grown. I’m not really sure what that says though.
If you haven’t seen it, which would be hard if you’ve watched almost any cable TV in the past several weeks, well take a look at this commercial.
Then, and only then, go find out exactly what it is.
HCA is the largest for profit hospital operator in the country. Well, actually its the largest irregard of profit seeking status. In anycase, it has agreed to the 2nd largest leveraged buy out ever.
What the heck is leveraged buy out? Well, I asked that question at least. Turns out it’ll no longer be a publicly traded company. The entire company will be, as it was founded, privately owned.
This is not just business news, but as Slate points out it’s a little bit of political irony. It’s sad as well for all those wishing for some market based solutions to our healthcare problems…seeing as those most likely to advocate for such, are basically betting against it.
Big business deals usually aren’t ironic, but this one surely is. HCA, a firm founded by the family of the Republican Senate majority leader, Bain, a firm whose founders include Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential aspirant Mitt Romney, and KKR, a firm run by Henry Kravis, a major Republican donor, are betting on the continued expansion of government. HCA’s sale is essentially a $33 billion investment in the idea that government will take an even bigger role in health care. As Les Funtleyder, health-care strategist at Wall Street firm Miller Tabak + Co., put it this morning, “[T]he buyout firms are making a leveraged bet on an improving economy and the prospect of universal health care.”
Friday, July 21st 2006
Space
A Libertarian-esque individual excited about public sector space exploration. Hypocrisy!
Thirty-seven years ago today, Project Apollo put the first humans on the surface of the Moon. The next time the U.S. launches its astronauts to Earth’s natural satellite, they will do so as part of Project Orion, collectSPACE.com has learned.
NASA intends to use the moniker Orion as both the title for its next generation manned craft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), and as the project’s name. This approach is modeled after the 1960’s program when Apollo Command Modules launched astronauts under Project Apollo.
Under Project Orion, NASA would launch crews of four astronauts aboard Orion capsules, first to Earth orbit and the International Space Station and then later to the Moon.
I would quit medical school and work cleaning out donkey stalls the rest of my life if I could be on one of this missions to the moon…or even better.
H/T Slashdot
I didn’t hear the case, I’ve never heard this boy’s pleas for self determination, and so I can’t speak to his maturity or eloquence. Even if I had it might be hard to determine just how sound and fit he was; if he was along enough in his development to truly make reasoned sound decisions for himself.
That’s probably why so many states, for the majority of self determination decisions, have set an arbitrary age of eighteen.
Having said all that, I think this sixteen year old teenager should be able to choose how he wants to live his life and fight this cancer…I can even understand his choice a little bit, although I would never make. Some chemo regimens sound like terrible things (not that I have any idea what he was on).
Matt Leinart told ESPN that USC will win a BCS national title this year.
“I think that SC is going to win the national championship.”
Read it as TrojanWire.
