I think this New York Times article does a nice job of showing how insurance companies use an "illogical" system to pay for healthcare services.  Of course, as long as it is saving them money and they can continue to turn a nice quarterly profit, why should they change?

Health Plans Put Onus on Insured

Well, it's official.  The CDC released surveillance results last week of the 2008 Flu season which suggests that we are heading for an epidemic this year.

The 08 Flu season has gotten off to a slow start but in the last couple of weeks has fired back with a vengeance.    
 The problem seems to be that this years vaccine is not a good match for 2 of the 3 circulating strains of Flu.  Therefore, offering less protection from the illness. 
The good news (so far) is that the number of deaths and hospitalizations related to the flu has been low.

Be on the look out and remember to WASH YOUR HANDS(a lot!)

CDC-2007-2008 Influenza Season Week 5, ending February 2, 2008

For anyone interested in San Francisco's efforts to promote intracity Universal Healthcare, this is the best article I have seen to date explaining the process.

Mitchell H. Katz, M.D.
Certainly a aggressive and "brave" program.  I actually applaud their efforts.  However, fear what it will mean for the cities economic health.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years.  I'm also interested to know what will happen the first time the program is sued for malpractice.
Good luck San Francisco.

This is a really fun experiment showing how often we don't pay attention to our environment.

One of the comments on the page suggested that the men be replaced with women.  now that would be very interesting....


Change Blindness Video

A few years back, Zetia came on the market and was going "help reduce cholesterol" for patients who were not at goal despite high doses of Statin therapy.  In a brilliant marketing move, the drug companies combined Zetia with Zocor to produce Vytorin, and they put lots and lots of commercials on TV.
Im all for combination drugs.  It's always better to take fewer pills but this one is turning out to be a bust.

I was a resident when Zetia came on the market and I remember a teacher who made the comment to me,"sure it lowers cholesterol... but will that actually translate into decreased heart disease?"  That always stuck with me and I was determined to avoid the drug until I saw real proof that it improved heart disease.  Well, now i'm very happy I was suspicious.

It turns out that Zetia not only did not improve heart disease, it may have actually made atherosclerosis worse.  Another unfortunate blow for Merck.

Cholesterol Drug Has No Benefit in Trial


And then of course... will we ever learn?  Doomed to repeat history?  only time will tell for new drugs.

If you have never heard this before, or it has been awhile.  I encourage you to listen again. 

Advice isn't worth much.  But Mr Baz Luhrmann is right about it being nostalgic.
his song still makes me feel good about human spirit and the common goals we all share.

I have been following the RepRap technology and the idea of 3D printing for the past year or so and I think this is one of those wonderful feats of engineering that will soon change how we live. 
This group of engineers is working on a machine that will essentially replicate and will be able to build fully working 3D objects.
Star Trek style replicators. 

It is complicated to understand the implications of this but I think this lecture does a pretty good job.

I love Science.  Engineers are awesome and I'm always impressed by what they do.

Adrian Bowyer RepRap Lecture

The best part of it all.  They are giving the information away.  The Website even tells you how you can cheaply build your own replicator.  RepRap

Wow...
This would be an entirely different story if it was in the United States.  A tragic situation however, I really wish the story eluded more to why the man needed surgery.
Was his skull cap diseased anyway?
lots of questions... no real answers, but...

I think this article shows quite nicely the difference in social expectations in the US health care system vs that found in a more socialized system.

$4,000 for a skull cap?

Would you like to have a robot help you talk to your doctor?  In Japan they actually have invented such a thing.  The Japanese Muu Socia robot.

I really hope it never comes to this for me and my patients. :)

But who knows...  Maybe the government will decide to mandate all Docs carry one of these little critters in ordered to be paid by Medicare.
You know... to improve healthcare quality.

I recently found this Site and Thought I would share....

it is a site dedicated to putting like minded people together to form specific support groups.  Great idea.
If your looking to talk to someone about a special problem, then give them a try.

dailystrength.org

Finally today....

Just wanted to share one more site I recently found.

icyou.com

Some interesting videos on many different health topics.
Good stuff, but as always, remember that the information is not "validated" and is not guaranteed to be factual.
Watch, Enjoy, and be suspicious. :)

Getting even basic health insurance coverage has become quite cumbersome.

I will be honest... I'm a health care professional and I hardly understand the whole mess.

I can only hope that this sight can help some people understand the system and their options. 
Another Argument for a single payer system?

Foundation for Health Coverage Education

Let me first start by saying that I often dismiss Gallop polls.  I believe they are usually performed via telephone and therefore biased purely due to limited number of people that will actually sit and participate in these surveys.  To be honest, I worry about the credibility of someone that is not "to busy" in life to participate in these surveys. 

Regardless, Gallop polls are flung around in the media constantly as verbal fodder, and whether I like it or not they do have an affect on the viewing public. 

This poll released yesterday (as flawed as it may be) certainly points toward a problem. 

Pharmacists Continue To Rank High In Gallup Poll, USA

Not that I believe teachers, nurses, and pharmacist do not deserve their ranking, I do!  But that physicians did so poorly.  The professionals that should be the most connected and personal adviser someone has, comes in 5th.  Well, maybe I should be happy the profession is "in the top tier" but somehow I feel disappointed. 
I'm sure I could postulate for hours about why we physicians have fallen from public grace in recent years but honestly it is of little consequence.  The entire health care system is broke and Doctors as the health care leaders must take responsibility.
Responsibility to get back in touch with our patients. 
Responsibility to remove insurance and corporations influences on our relationships.
Responsibility to be accountable to our patients and to earn their trust again.

i don't know... just what I think.

I should not act surprised to hear that people are beginning to look to YouTube and Wikipedia as "reliable" sources of information, but honestly, I'm shocked and even disgusted by it. 
I even hear that college students are even using references to Wikipedia for college papers and research.  This is terrifying.

This recent Canadian report suggest that YouTube videos (related to vaccinations) are filled with faults and these misinformed videos are viewed MORE often than educated videos.

YouTube as a Source of Information on Immunization: A Content Analysis

The Internet is a wonderful thing and I FULLY support online research.  However,  we must view all information as suspicious and consider it's source.  Wikipedia, YouTube, and other openly populated informational sights can be a good starting point of information, but they should not be considered factual without further study.
What makes Wiki and YouTube great, is also it's downfall. 

Remember:  Knowledge determined by the majority does NOT make it true.

I think Galileo & Copernicus would agree with that.

Interesting little website that shows the Presidential hopefuls and how much money they have accepted from Special Interest groups.

Everyone should see this and understand what influences their choice for president.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/select.asp?Ind=K02