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Beagle
We said good bye to Bella the beagle yesterday. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I'll write more about it soon but for now will leave this poem I found.
Dogs Don't Have Souls, Do They?
I remember bringing you home. You were so small and cuddly with your tiny paws and soft fur.
You bounced around the room with eyes flashing and ( Read more... ) -
The problem with autonomy
Real story ( Read more... ) -
Welcome
Charlotte Lily Northrop, 6# 14 oz born tonight at 1847. Everyone doing very well.
It was indescribable. More later.
( Read more... ) -
EMTALA and Immigration
Last post on EMTALA (I think ( Read more... ) -
individual mandate and EMTALA
I have a simple question for anyone who believes that it's 'wrong' or 'unconstitutional' to be forced to have insurance. What should happen to someone who opts out of insurance (voluntarily) and then has a catestrophic event such as a car accident? This question simply MUST be answered, yet I never seem to be able to get a straight answer or even ( Read more... ) -
EMTALA
A number of people have asked me to comment on EMTALA as an emergency medicine physician. It occurred to me that few people know what this law is, how it affects people (both patients and physicians), or why it is controversial. So here’s some information about the laws under which hospital emergency departments must operate. Hopefully this will ( Read more... ) -
Too close to home
My sister was just admitted to the ICU at West Penn Hospital with what we think is swine flu. The physicians there also noted bilateral pneumonias, and this morning she was electively intubated due to her deteriorating respiratory condition. It's likely that she initially got the flu, and now has a superinfection causing her other symptoms. Or ( Read more... ) -
Circumcisions and cost cutting
Since we’re talking about cutting costs, let’s talk about procedures. Giving Americans more input and more stake in their health care, making them pay for some things directly will likely go a long way towards reducing costs and reducing needless or frivolous testing. North Carolina Medicaid, as well as some other private insurance companies, has ( Read more... ) -
A Modest Proposal
If Congress or the president really wanted to do something to affect health care in this country, they could do so. The fact is our politicians overcomplicate absolutely everything, and then both parties overreact and miss the point. Now I've been pretty delinquent on keeping up my promise to analyze various issues of health care, so for now I'll ( Read more... ) -
Wikipedia wonders
How's this for scary? I was researching misinformation about vomiting and diarrhea (basically gastroenteritis) because there's a lot out there. If you didn't know, the old BRAT (bananas, rice, apple sause and tea) diet which used to be common knowledge was shown to have absolutely no benefit. The current recommendations are to resume a normal ( Read more... )
