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More proof medical error is not the third leading cause of death

Over the last 20 years, estimates of the number of deaths caused by medical error have risen from 44,000-98,000 in 1999 [1] all the way up to 440,000 [2] and 251,000 [3]. Despite my efforts [4, 5] and...

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Patient worries after accessing his chest x-ray report online

I received an email a few days ago. It has been edited for length and clarity. I would like some advice please. I am a 46-year-old male with an off and on cough for 4-5 months. I have never smoked....

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A perforated colon case report raises a few issues

When a medical paper is featured on the Daily Mail website, you know it’s going to be something odd.An autistic young man with prior hospitalizations for chronic constipation and megacolon was admitted...

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How to interpret the literature: A new series of posts

The Salty Statistician will be a recurring feature of this blog wherein we ask statisticians in medicine to break down articles from the surgery literature and assess whether the reported conclusions...

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“Number of medical students pursuing surgery specialty drops by half”

That was the headline in a September 10 Becker’s ACS Review article. The first sentence of the piece was more specific, “Only 4 percent of medical students surveyed in 2018 said their chosen medical...

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A Revolutionary Experience!

Listen as renowned surgeon Leo Gordon reads his epic story about pancreatic insufficiency and the American Revolution. Based on a true story. The podcast is 15 minutes long and worth every second of it.

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A Venezuelan surgical resident appeals for help

I received the following email. It has been edited for length and readability. I assume you know is happening in my country, Venezuela. Basically a communist-socialist party has taken control of the...

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Appendectomy outcomes in the modern era

Finally we have some data on the current rate of complications of appendectomy for uncomplicated appendicitis. But that’s not all. This new paper, published online in the journal Surgery, reveals much...

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Can you be held liable for resuscitating a patient who has a DNR order?

A New Mexico woman, suffering from Dercum’s disease (adiposis dolorosa) which causes painful fatty tumors, is suing a Santa Fe hospital and an emergency physician claiming she was the victim of two...

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A fatal medication error

A 75-year-old woman died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after receiving intravenous vecuronium, a drug that causes muscle paralysis, instead of Versed, a sedative. Here’s what happened. She...

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For longevity, is it better to be short or tall?

Being short is associated with worse outcomes for critically ill adults. A large retrospective study of 233,000 men and 184,000 women consecutively admitted to 210 ICUs in the UK over a six-year period...

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Should residency program directors look at applicants’ social media activity?

Please take a look at my new post on Physician's Weekly: My thoughts on whether residency program directors should review applicants' social media activity.

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A letter to my loyal readers

Dear readers, You may have noticed my blog posts have decreased in number over the last year or two. A couple of factors have brought about this change. After blogging for more than eight years, I am...

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An unusual end-of-life case

I just posted a new article on Physician's Weekly.An end-of-life case with a different twist. It's very easy for things to go wrong. Here's the link.

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Doctors share amusing comments seen in patient charts

"Doctors share amusing comments seen in patient charts" is a new post of mine on Physician's Weekly. Here is the link. 

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Should residents appear on medical reality TV shows? I say "No."

Here is my latest post on Physician's Weekly.Should residents appear on medical reality TV shows? I say "No."

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New post. “Master herbalist” convicted of practicing medicine without a...

Here is my latest post on Physician's Weekly. It's the sad story of a “master herbalist” who convinced a mother to treat her newly diagnosed diabetic son with herbs instead of insulin. He was convicted...

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Diagnosing appendicitis

I have a new post on Physician's Weekly. My thoughts on diagnosing appendicitis: What works and what doesn’t .

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Article 6

Here is my latest post on Physician's Weekly. "Do you have CoPaGA Syndrome?" Do you even know what it is?You can read it here.

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Article 5

My new post on Physician's Weekly is Who is my doctor? The advent of hospitalists and "teams" of physicians has negatively impacted patients' perceptions of who is taking care of them.

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