retired doc's thoughts

A large international study from Leiden attempts to answer some of the questions regarding venous thrombosis in air travelers and is availab...

DB 's MEDICAL RANTS recent comments about the need to consider the potential "side effects" of health policy decisions stimul...

How does one apply the results of even the very best designed and executed randomized clinical trials (RCT) to the individual patient? I gue...

Here is a link to comments about the new GOLD COPD guidelines and here are the guidelines. Even with references it is only a merciful 26 ...

DrRICH's posting on P4P is a masterpiece and it is only Part One. I have ranted on and on about P4P here wherein I seconded the notio...

Recently, various Government agencies have been very active in regulating the use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) . The major ES...

Here is the latest version of asthma guidelines. The full report is 487 pages and is entitled " Guidelines for the diagnosis and manag...

Everyone who has ever been stooged by Insurance carriers regarding medical claims, patients and physicians alike, has to read this entry in...

Dr. RW discusses some of the problems associated with Medicare's latest ploy to decrease costs. You can bet there will be predictable ...

This thoughtful and -I think-spot-on commentary in the NEJM is worth reading.I always like to read things that make me say, "I wish I ...

DrRich in his latest commentary in The Covert Rationing Blog delves into the Medical Home as it is being put into motion by Unitedhealth ...

Health Care Renewal raises important concerns and asks pertinent questions regarding the recently announced alliance of Unitedhealth Group ...

Health Care Renewal called my attention to a Over My Med Body posting suggesting another force pushing in the direction of fewer docs goin...

Dr. Clifford Rosen speaks candidly in the NEJM about the multi-faceted situation regarding the issue of cardiovascular risk of Avandia an...

"No man's life,liberty or property are safe when the legislature is in session ". This thought has been attributed to various ...

A commentary in the August 8,2007 issue of JAMA by an international group of authors (U.S.,England,Canada) presents the notion that the pro...

Has the increasing hegemony of third party payers over physicians lead to a change in medical ethics, one that is compatible with and may e...

According to an ABIM website in 2001 the first year of the current re-certification test for internists 92% passed, in 2004, 86 %passed...

D. Rob has a thoughtful piece concerning his group's ( IM - PED ) experience with the new world of the hospitalist . Dr. Rob is a meds...

I have held for a long time an erroneous idea of the risk of disease transmission aboard airplanes.I envisioned the passenger cabin as some ...