As I mentioned several months ago, I had issues with coverage denied for a brain MRI but it seemed to all get sorted out. I don’t think I mentioned in the last post that the final person I spoke to said it was clearly marked in their system that I am not responsible for the bill and that it was the hospital’s responsibility to obtain approval. I told that woman that… Read More »Heath insurance companies are no fun to work with
I’m not sure if you’ve seen the story about the drunk man whose dog ate his infected toe? “Experts” believe the dog was attracted to the man’s toe because of high sugar levels in the man’s toe. The guy suspected something might be wrong with his foot for a few months but had only recently made an appointment. And the man’s wife is a nurse? This is another one of… Read More »Dog eats human – food
Just read an interesting news article about a study showing treatment of heart attack patients was best amongst doctors who were born and trained overseas and are now practicing in the United States. Second best group was US born citizens who trained in US medical schools – but they were still 9% worse than the foreign born/trained docs. The worst group were US born citizens who trained overseas – doing… Read More »IMG Docs better at treating heart attacks
So I’m looking through the Google trends just now, and while I’ve seen some weird searches before, I have to say this one got my attention – perhaps because of my pseudonym. I can’t figure out why the search phrase “why does my mom turn me on” is number 6 on the google trends right now. It’s a pretty bizarre topic so I figured maybe there was some kind of… Read More »Bizarre interests in Google search
J Clin Psychiatry 2010;71(5):520–527 Adjuvant Aspirin Therapy Reduces Symptoms of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Results From a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Objective: Inflammatory processes may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of adjuvant treatment with aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Method: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted between May 2004 and August 2007. Seventy antipsychotic-treated inpatients… Read More »Best drug ever
USA today article about human heads As best I can understand is that Southwest Airlines discovered a package of 40-60 human heads trying to be sent on one of their flights. Because the package wasn’t properly labeled they discovered the contents and there is now an investigation into whether these were black market body parts being sold for science. Medtronics is a pretty big company and I can’t imagine… Read More »Unusual checked baggage
While I found this article giving a scientific explanation for the way that accupuncture causes pain relief interesting, I realized how happy I am that I didn’t complete the MD/PhD programs I nearly attended. The researchers gave lab mice sore paws by injecting an inflammatory chemical into their paws. They then proceeded to do acupuncture on the mice by inserting needles into an acupuncture point in the knee above the sore… Read More »Complementary medicine studies
Dr. Freud: How long have you been sober? Mr. Holic: I haven’t had a drink in 6 months. I’ve kicked the habit. Dr. Freud: Looking at your record, you’ve been in jail the last 6 months.
I’ve always thought that the whole organic food movement was a bunch of hippie BS. I thought that there was no real proof that pesticides really made it into our diet, or that feeding animals with steroids and antibiotics was going to cause us any harm. I also justified my views with the idea that just because something is labeled “organic” doesn’t mean it truly is. However, a concerning article in… Read More »Healthier Fruits and Vegies
Maybe I’m just procrastinating, but I think I may have stumbled across something pretty cool. I was browsing the blogs this morning and came across a very interesting article on the Mothershandbook blog and noticed that the author does a weekly column on the history of motherhood. The post inspired me to try to think of something similar I can write about on a weekly basis. The question was what… Read More »Search trends offer many insights