“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” – The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery.
In the treatment of peripheral neuropathy, Partnership HealthPlan of California’s formulary has step requirements. It begins with Continue reading
Okay, this quote from Milton Berle is only tangentially related to today’s blog post, but I couldn’t pass it up. My last contribution to our blog was on rising mortality due to Clostridia difficile (C.diff) and its fomite- and hand-related transmission. Continue reading
A recent survey of multiple large, national databases in the US has reported that Clostridium difficile (C.diff) colitis is now the 9th leading cause of gastrointestinal and liver related deaths. Way out of line with my own perception of GI-related mortality, Continue reading
(Thanks to Doug Wilson, MD, president of the Napa County Medical Society, for the idea for this post.)
One of our hardest jobs as physicians is delivering bad news. It is emotionally draining, time-consuming, and uncomfortable. Most of us received very little training in Continue reading
Encouraging our patients to start thinking about and planning for their end-of-life care is always a challenge. During any given office visit, numerous competing issues vie for time. And when clinicians do surface the topic of Advance Directives, our patients often wonder Continue reading
Sir Charles Bell first described the anatomy and function of the facial nerve in the 1800s. No wonder the eponymous Bell palsy bears his name (apparently we are no longer to refer to it as Bell’s palsy). The term Bell palsy is not synonymous with Continue reading
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has just changed its recommendations for the use of pneumococcal vaccines for adults 19 years or older with immunocompromising conditions, such as functional or anatomic asplenia, Continue reading
A study on the effect of smoking on longevity in women was just published in The Lancet of October 27, 2012. As would be expected, the impact is significant. What might be surprising is just how significant. Continue reading
Be alarmed. Be very alarmed. A recent study in the journal Neurology reveals an increasing rate of strokes in young people. Though the overall stroke rate remains low compared to older folks, stroke rates are still climbing in a concerning fashion. Continue reading
A recent BMJ study is an eye-opener about problems interpreting knee MRI’s in older adults. The bottom-line? A picture may not be worth a thousand words.
Let’s look briefly at Continue reading