Oct

26

Res Ipsa Loquitur

October 26, 2007 | 56 Comments

Integrative Medicine
The term “integrative medicine,” like the words “holistic” and “natural,” is a mealy-mouthed euphemism for such a broad range of ideas, most of them utter tripe, that it means nothing. Although it once must have meant something to somebody, now it is just another marketing phrase to make people feel good about buying [...]

Oct

23

Letter to a Drug Rep

October 23, 2007 | 19 Comments

Dear Invanz Salesman,
While I appreciate the difficulty of being a salesman and wish you the best of luck peddling your product, don’t you think you are wasting your time in the Emergency Department?  I have no doubt that Invanz is a great drug.  In fact, we use a similar antibiotic in the same class for [...]

Oct

18

Why Chiropractors are Idiots, Your Stinking Well-Being, and Other Topics

October 18, 2007 | 54 Comments

Beware
On the same shift I saw two very sick patients, both of whom were under the care of chiropractors before they decided to pay us a visit in the Emergency Department. The first was an old woman with a one week history of dyspnea, chest pain, and a cough. Her chiropractor had diagnosed her [...]

Oct

11

The Future, or Something Remarkably Like It

October 11, 2007 | 15 Comments

Grandpa Reminisces
“Why yes, Jimmy, that is a picture of your old grandpa. That’s your grandma next to me and your Uncle Mark on the right. I’m the one in the white coat…third from the left. That picture was taken at my law school graduation, man, I guess it must have been forty years ago. Maybe [...]