Most Americans assume that the facts they tell their doctor are confidential and protected. In fact, medical records enjoy less legal protection than video rentals. And Congress has not acted to safeguard the confidential communications between doctors and patients. Instead, it has already laid the groundwork for the national database that would make our medical […]

The anger of the federal government against doctors is played out with a vengeance in the latest Medicare regulations. Since January 1, 1998, the government has decreed the nature, extent, and completeness of every evaluation physicians perform on their patients–whether they need it or not. The examination will also have to be recorded so that […]

Peer Review has become a system of doctors eliminating other doctors from competing against those in power. It was meant to be a confidential means of improving care through objective evaluation and was implemented with the cooperation of the medical societies. But in California, a large medical group that had members on the medicine committees […]

Dr Jones, a physician in a California community, received a notice from the medical board that a consumer had complained that he had taken liberties with a patient. A Mrs Francis complained that Dr Jones had raised her left bra slightly while listening to her heart in order to see her mammoplasty scar. As Dr […]

We’re hearing a lot about practice guidelines these days. It is touted as making a medical practice more cost effective. The primary goal is to improve the bottom line. Otherwise, how can the shareholders and CEO’s command their millions. Phil Alper, MD, reports that in France, the “Order of Physicians” (initially created by the Vichy […]

A number of County Medical Society Journals have focused on Assembly Bill 487, the law that went into effect on January 1, 2002, in response to a court judgment in an elder-abuse case for $1.5 million. The amount was reduced by the trial judge to $250,000. My barrister friends tell me this means that either […]

When is a Human Being a Human Being? In his current editorial, Robert Jacoby, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Writers Association(AMWA) and medical writer at John Hopkins, states the embryonic stem (ES) cell research debate has as its epicenter one fundamental question: When does the physical dimension of a human being begin […]

Is Medical Care a Right? The Annual meeting of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) met recently in Cincinnati, across the Ohio River from the Blue Grass country, to discuss whether Medical Care is a Right. Robert Cihak, MD, radiologist, author and columnist of an e-journal, was presiding. Jane Orient, MD, internist, author and Executive […]

I find the Medical Information Technology revolution fascinating. It is moving too fast for some, and not fast enough for others. This year, during our annual trip to London to visit our daughter, I attended the timely “Tenth World Congress on Health and Medical Informatics.” Information Technology (or IT) is becoming so important that many […]

A LESSON FROM TEACHERS: In a remarkable twist, our Governor is handing out $350 million in bonuses to teachers at 4,800 public schools for raising their students’ Stanford 9 test scores. The teachers say this $591 bonus is nothing short of a bribe, suggesting that they have been holding out against their students. Hundreds of […]