First, here’s a practical (and important) financial article by Liz Pulliam Weston, titled Why Medical Debts Shouldn’t Count. Read it to find out about a vastly under-reported issue that is affecting thousands of lives: the recent, widespread selling of medical debt to collection agencies, often for pennies on the dollar. To add insult to injury, much of the time this debt is under $100 to begin with. Furthermore, these debts may be sold to debt collectors by medical offices who were not paid because the office made an error in billing. There is apparently no obligation to report anything to you prior to having your medical debt (which you might not even have known about) turned over to collections. For as little as a $7 outstanding medical bill, as the article notes, you could find yourself in a position where your “otherwise pristine credit was sabotaged by a medical collection.” Continue reading Yet Another Reason Why Money and Medicine Make Bad Bedfellows
We love Dave Barry here at Doc Gurley (in a purely platonic, stalker fan, restraining-order kind of way). With teenager squeals and bouncing and hand-flapping, we share an actual response from His Daveness to Doc Gurley (O.M.G.) to a question I submitted to the Dave Barry For President Q&A Forum. Check it out while I go swoon:
Q: Dear Future Exam Recipient, Health care reform is uppermost in every American’s mind as we roll into the bounteous political-promise harvest season. What are you, as a presidential candidate, going to do about the dorky purple rubber gloves we doctors are now forced to wear? The old peachy “flesh” color gloves weren’t great. But it’s hard enough not sounding like Bozo while discussing your prostate…now we have to LOOK like a clown? As if bending over wasn’t bad enough, now you have to do it for someone with Jazz Hands.
Doc Gurley 11/25/07
Continue reading Dave Barry’s Prostate
For those who started the (pre-dawn) day with a list of stores to hit, all I can say is…wow. A Walmart on Black Fri day is the purest example of survival of the fittest ever devised. I’ll admit it up front, I’m not woman enough to Black Friday. I don’t believe the obviously false propaganda that men in the stone age were the hunter-gatherers. If someone had to hunt down the last berry bush for the kids to survive the winter–my money’s on the women. They’d find it under a pile of bras in the re-stock section. Continue reading Black Friday (shudder) Health Tips
Our latest Bogus Award winner is a real doozy, folks. What would you do if you got fired from a job, and then received a valid insurance card in the mail, with your name on it? But wait–what if you got that card, and you had ovarian cancer and multiple sclerosis and spinal problems? Would you, knowing your life depended on it, take the card, with shaking hands, to the hospital and sign up for a doctor, hoping against all hope that no one would cut you off before maybe you could get something done–before you died? And then, what if they kept making the mistake and never cut you off–the job that fired you kept paying your premiums, and the insurance company kept paying the hospital bills, and you got treatment, all the treatment you hoped for and you lay awake at night, thanking God for this miracle that added up to $230,000 of life-saving care? Continue reading BOGUS Benefits
1) Giving thanks improves your mood and your quality of life, both of which have a tremendous positive impact on your health. Seems like a cheat, doesn’t it, but who am I to question? We can give thanks for gratitude.
2) You can bulk up in your geriatric years. It’s never too late to start. No lie. A picture is worth a thousand studies, so get a load of this photo by Lea Suzuki to the right and then go to sfgate, where they casually mention in passing just how young Mr. Eye-candy is. Get lifting and feel the burn, go ahead, I dare you. Just keep the show-off bicep-flexing to a minimum at the nursing home, okay–kind of disorients the Candy Stripers. Continue reading 8 Quirky Health Facts for Which You Can Give Thanks
Are you worried about catching the horrifying MRSA super-bug when you go see the doctor? I’m embarrassed, as a physician, to say that there are legitimate reasons to be worried. Doctors actually do a bad job of washing their hands, with observed rates of hand-washing in the ICU as low as 28% (urg). On average, male doctors are worse, and, even more horrifying, as a group, surgeons are the worst.
The good news is that studies have also shown that under specific, carefully controlled circumstances, with numerous props and interventions, doctors are (sometimes) teachable.
However, it clearly takes a lot of persistent reminding.
So, to help you maneuver the socially awkward situation of asking your doctor to wash, here are ten physician-approved (by me) creative approaches you can try. Continue reading 10 Creative Ways To Get Your Doctor To Wash His Hands
A new one to add to the scary list of emerging infections: The CDC announced today that a new strain of “cold”–AKA adenovirus–has emerged that can kill young, healthy people. Unlike the potential “bird flu” scare, there are already ten documented deaths from this virus in the past year. So what can you do, besides cower in your bedroom with a box of tissues and hope for the best? Well, this, and other emerging infections, remind us again of the importance of the following effective basics: Continue reading You Can Die From A Cold. Eek.
 The one sure fact about the news of Dr. Dondra West’s death, even from a distance, is the tragic loss to the world of a wonderful person. I extend my heartfelt condolences to those who knew and loved her. While the media speculates about the circumstances of her death, I’d rather, instead, focus on a major health issue that this great lady’s sad passing brings into the public’s awareness–the role of, and need for, a “medical clearance.” CNN reported about Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Andre Aboolian, “He simply said that in order for him to be comfortable, he felt it necessary to have a medical clearance before he’d touch her.” So he sent the patient to an internist. Which raises the following obvious questions:
What the heck is a medical clearance? Isn’t it just a second opinion (and wouldn’t a second surgeon be better for that)? Why would a specialist send a patient to a general doctor–doesn’t the specialist, by definition, know more, especially about what’s likely to go wrong with an operation? Why won’t my insurance company pay for a medical clearance? Who decides if you need a medical clearance? Why (and when) should I demand one?
Here’s the Doc Gurley Medical Clearance Low-Down: Continue reading Medical Clearance and Kanye West’s Mom
 The long-simmering gender wars have escalated to a whole new level—germ warfare. Qualified inspectors searched high-value targets and reported shocking results in the health news —one third of men are leaving bathrooms without washing their hands, a number that’s actually getting worse. One hot-spot that was searched was the Atlanta Stadium bathrooms, where only 57% of men, but 95% of women washed their hands after going to the bathroom. This is an extreme difference.
Do we believe the 95% number? Continue reading Gender Germ Warfare
 This week’s news saw two extraordinary health tales–both of them reminders to trust yourself and report odd symptoms, even if they seem embarrassingly weird. The first story is the horrifying news that Bindeez toys can convert to the date-rape drug when swallowed. How likely does that seem? Imagine being the mother who has to take her toddler to the emergency room and say– “he’s acting drunk and I think it’s because of his toy.” Hats off to the women who stepped forward. They are absolutely heroes and have probably prevented deaths around the world, all by trusting their gut instincts. The second story is the news that one of the most prescribed cholesterol drugs in America, simvastatin (also known as Zocor) significantly disrupts sleep, including causing nightmares. Again, how likely does that seem as a side effect of lowering cholesterol? Continue reading When It’s Not In Your Head
|
About The Author  Doc Gurley is a Board-certified Internist physician and the only Harvard Medical School graduate to have been awarded a Shoney’s Ten-Step Pin for documented excellence in waitressing. Find out more.Doc Gurley Library of Medeos
|
|
Recent Comments