A politician was asked if he was for or against alcohol? His answer indicated that it all depends on what you are talking about. If you’re talking about the spirits that cause cirrhosis, encephalopathy, gastritis, peptic ulcers and a myriad of other diseases, as well as drunkenness, family fights, child and spousal abuse, divorce, accidents […]

More and more patients are making the request that when things are hopeless, “Doctor, please let me die without all those tubes and machines keeping my heart and lungs going.” When I ask them who should determine the course of action when things are hopeless, they frequently ask me to use my judgement. Many patients […]

The cost of health care in this country has orbited out of control. Doctors have not only been blamed for their own costs, but also for expensive tests and prescriptions they write. Let me give you an example of why this may NOT be true. Mr Allen, a patient with bad emphysema, came in stating […]

Last week we told you about how having your own physician is critical to your health and life. But sometimes it is very hard to find a competent, caring physician. It is best to acquire a physician during your healthy years, before a crisis develops. If you have a job and are raising a family […]

Everyone should have a personal physician. Don’t get sick without one for the life you save could be your own. When you find one that you trust and are comfortable with, don’t let go. When you see another doctor or specialist, don’t let him do anything unless you first go back and discuss his recommendations […]

The medical director of a hospital sleep laboratory told me of this incident that reflects the physician position in the health care team. The HMO operations office had an appointment with the hospital administrator to work out the agreement for doing polysomnograms for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and the reimbursement plan. The hospital administrator was new […]

When I went into practice in 1970, I made home visits to tracheotomy patients too sick to come in to the office. I remember one patient who had been hospitalized in the ICU at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. I then visited her every three weeks for tracheal changes, about 17 visits […]

Marti Ann Schwartz, in her book titled LISTEN TO ME, DOCTOR, has a chapter on “Finding a New and Better Doctor.” Her lead sentence is, “If you don’t have a good relationship with your doctor, change doctors.” The doctor/patient relationship is so personal that it should be pleasant, caring and trustworthy. She gives 12 reasons […]

Parade Magazine has a cover story, “Why some doctors may be hazardous to your health.” It stated that when Dr Ted Lewers, a kidney specialist in Easton, Maryland, was asked how many of the nation’s 650,000 doctors could be categorized as incompetent, unscrupulous or impaired, he estimated “Very few – 5-10%.” That would suggest that […]

Having recently been selected to introduce a new emphysema drug into Northern California (the other practice centers are in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego), I attended an investigator’s meeting as well as a practice meeting in the Research Triangle area in North Carolina. Although I have communicated with several firms from Research […]