Hospitals and Debt Collectors – Two Extremes

Two articles (in a series of three articles) by Doc Gurley over at SFGate have now appeared. They are an expose into the world of hospitals and debt collection policies. Medical debt collection is a nasty underbelly of hospital practices in the U.S. – and, for those without government-sponsored healthcare (such as Medicare and Medicaid) […]

Kidneys for sale in New Jersey

In the news coverage of the massive corruption arrests in New Jersey, there was a little medical shocker – “Another man in Brooklyn, Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum, was accused of enticing vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000 and then selling the organ for $160,000. Mr. Dwek pretended to be soliciting a kidney on behalf […]

Embrace Your Placebo Effect?

There’s a great article in Psychology Today about why and how placebos work, including some amazing facts, such as the fact that there is a “placebo heirarchy”:

* Placebo surgery works better than placebo injections * Placebo injections work better than placebo pills * Sham acupuncture treatment works better than a placebo pill * Capsules […]

Farrah and Michael

It’s been a big week for celebrity sorrow. As you’re contemplating the loss of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, be sure to head over to SFGate to check out the Doc Gurley health tips we can all learn from celebrity health coverage.

1) First, there’s Farrah’s Gift: Outing the Tumor That Dare Not Speak Its […]

Insider Secret – Why It’s So Hard To Get A Doctor’s Appointment

We’ve all had the experience – that perky voice on the other end of the phone who says “sure, we can give a new-patient appointment with your assigned primary care doctor – how’s eight months from now? Does that work for you?”

Even then, most of us look around the packed waiting rooms, seething during […]

How To Ask A Doctor Out

Spring is in the air – and so are the musings of Click and Clack. Check out their latest article titled How To Ask Your Mechanic Out On A Date. There are sooo many mechanic-doctor job parallels, everything from the “checking under your hood,” to “preventive maintenance” – parallels which, of course, lead to the […]