Experts agree that more research on vitamin supplementation is necessary. But what is known–the finding that comes up again and again–is that when vitamins and minerals are consumed in food, they are just about always good for you. In pill form, however, particularly with high doses, vitamins should be used with caution. One of the […]

An estimated 100 million Americans spend $6.5 billion a year on vitamin and mineral supplements. But these consumers are buying mostly unregulated substances that may help, may harm or may simply have no effect at all. In the average grocery store, the vitamin-buying consumer faces a wall of possibilities. To add to the confusion, the […]

I am happy being a doctor, I am well compensated, I am… Kate McCaffrey, DO, discusses “Re-scripting Our Profession” in the President’s Message column of The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society, March 2008: I have been re-scripting my self-talk lately. It helps being around optimistic medical students who aren’t jaded by the storms of […]

#@&%! that 5-Digit Number “And Now-A Minute with Andy Rooney (With Apologies to 60 Minutes)” by Stephen Kamelgarn, MD, discusses the ICD-9 codes, in the December issue of The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte Country Medical Society: Dontcha just hate little five digit numbers. I know I do. Little numbers that comprise the ICD-9 – this three […]

Medicine’s Parasite In the The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society, October 2007, Dr. Emily Dalton discusses “Leeches in Medicine.” “According to Stedman’s medical dictionary, a parasite is an organism that lives on or in another and draws its nourishment there from. Leeches suck nutrients from the host – not enough to cause death – […]

Losing Out at the Casinos Stephen Kamelgarn, MD, argues that “It’s Time for Casinos to Contribute,” in Editor’s Thoughts of The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society, August 2007. “It is increasingly expensive to provide health benefits for one’s employees, and in today’s business climate of decreasing profit margins this can be the difference between […]

My Neighbors the Potheads Emily Dalton, MD, writes on “Medical Marijuana” in The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte Country Medical Society, July 2007. “My neighborhood is going to pot. Literally. There is a house on our block that has little or no traffic. The window shades remain down all the time. No one comes, no one […]

Broken Nose, Big Problem David Goldschmid, MD, the President of the San Mateo County Medical Society, writes about “When Doing The Right Thing Seems Wrong” in the society’s April Bulletin. “It is not always easy to do the right thing. Sometimes we know what the right thing is, but either choose not to do it or […]

Vanity, thy Name is… MD? The Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin has published “The Seven Deadly Sins.” This is from one of them, called “Vanity Fair.” by Peter Klass, MD. It appeared in the California Society of Anesthesiologists’ CSA Bulletin , Winter 2007. See www.csahq.org/pdf/bulletin/issue_15/Klass_064.pdf  for the entire article. “Tell physicians you’re writing an essay about doctors and pride, and they immediately […]

Medicare’s New Direction Stephen Kamelgarn, MD, discusses “Medicare Pay for Performance” in the January issue of The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society “Medicare, the 800 lb. gorilla, is about to strike out in new directions. As recently reported in the New York Times, the 109th Congress, in a last minute flurry of legislation, approved a […]