It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when a gentleman in his eighties arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an […]

An internist was mentioning that his patient declined a physical examination of her body and only wanted tests performed, including a mammogram that came back with a normal report. She had felt a lump for several months which she had not disclosed to her physician. After another three months or so she decided to come […]

Russian Health Care The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society has run a series of articles by J Kim Bauriedel, MD, FACS, reporting on the five weeks he spent in Siberia as part of a Rotary International exchange. In a recent issue he wrote about specific public health issues affecting life span. He says most […]

Tell Us Your Story The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte Country Medical Society has a column in which physicians report their bad experiences with the Medical Board of California (MBC). Dr. John Schafer, a pediatrician covering for another physician, was called by a five-year-old‘s father to prescribe an antibiotic for an eye infection. Because the child had […]

Swan Song The last “Voices” column was to be my final contribution to Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine, completing a ten-year labor of love. When I mentioned this to our new editor and managing editor, they asked me to continue reviewing the other county and regional society journals. So I will continue to report on the […]

Employee Patients, Employee Plaintiffs  I once had an employee request that I examine her, including a pelvic exam, as she said her previous physician employer had done. I told her I couldn’t conceive of it and she couldn’t understand why not. A recent guest article in the Kern County Medical Society Bulletin by Daniel K Klingenberger, Esq, […]

With all the difficulties that doctors experienced with HMOs, the California Medical Association decided to start their own insurance company. The initial capital was an infusion of $1000 from any doctor who signed up. Thousands of doctors joined for fear of losing patient referrals, and so Cal Advantage was born. After a year, many of […]

UCDMC – One of America’s Best Hospitals Congratulations to UCD Medical Center for being recognized in six categories in the US News annual survey of America’s Best Hospitals. It’s Hard to Break Old Habits The American Medical Writers Association reports on the problems encountered when attempting to set up scientific communication offices in 12 of the 15 […]

The cost of medical care in the United States is frequently compared with the cost of medical care in other western nations. But does the higher cost of US medicine reflect a higher level of care? Let me give you a comparison. Mr Atkins developed left-sided weakness while at the grocery store. His wife called […]

Harris Interactive, best known for the Harris Poll, has a special report in Southern California Physician on “Why Public Opinion on Healthcare Changes.” They suggest that there are at least nine forces that trigger these changes. They recommend that those who want to increase public support for policies or positions they favor, should consider all of them. […]