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Doc Gurley

Posts from an Insane Healthcare System

Entries Tagged as 'Doc Gurley Lists'

Ouch Award

June 29th, 2008 · No Comments

The Now-That-Hurts Winner of the week: anesthesia causes you pain. We’re not talking about that tube in the throat, or the botched IV. Instead, it’s more like what if your anesthesiologist asked you, “How would you like your chili-pepper powder? Blown down your lungs or directly stinging by vein?” That’s right - the type of [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Tropical Grand Rounds

June 17th, 2008 · No Comments

Feel the island breeze? Got that scratchy sand feeling between your toes? If so, that means you’re ready for a great beach read - and here is it, thanks to Dr. David Khorram over at Marianas Eye. He’s hosting this week’s Grand Rounds with a tropical theme from Saipan. What makes a good beach read? [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Double Dave!

June 11th, 2008 · No Comments

This is a public service announcement: To our viewing audience - stay tuned while we attempt to reanimate your host. Doc Gurley learned today that Dave Barry (himself!) answered two (count them, two) of her Dave Barry for President Forum questions, and, faced with a double Dave, she did what any self-respecting fan possessing a [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · How Does It Feel To... · In the News · Insider Info · The Joy Habit · Uncategorized

The Land of West De-Nile

June 6th, 2008 · No Comments

It’s that time of year again - when we can take simple steps to prevent West Nile disease. So why don’t more of us do it? Could it be that many of us are Living in the Land of West Denial? The unfortunate truth is that the West Nile virus has quickly spread across most [...]

Tags: BOGUS Awards · Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · How Does It Feel To... · In the News · Insider Info · Pods--Doc In Your Ear · Practical Medicine

We Did Something. But We Won’t Tell You What.

May 26th, 2008 · 2 Comments

This is why reasonable people tear their hair out. Reuters has announced that the World Health Organization did something HUGE about the high cost of patented drugs for developing countries - we’re talking a major breakthrough, baby, this is the Godzilla of international agreements, crushing special interests underfoot, but heart-warming too, you know? It’s like [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Great (hic!) Article

May 8th, 2008 · No Comments

There are a lot of not-so-great health articles floating in the ether. It’s so nice when one comes along that’s well-researched, practical and interesting. Here’s a great article about (hic!), you guessed it - hiccups. Hiccups aren’t the world’s #1 public health menace (that would be, apparently, computer keyboards), but this article is so full [...]

Tags: BOGUS Awards · Doc Gurley Lists · In the News · Practical Medicine

Are Your Utensils Causing Dementia?

May 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the conflicting stories in the news about what pan is safe to use? Are you starting to eyeball that plastic waterbottle of yours like it might contain a Medici poisoning? Was the homeless man actually right - is aluminum foil causing brainwaves? Would someone please answer the question - is [...]

Tags: BOGUS Awards · Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · How Does It Feel To... · In the News · Insider Info · Pods--Doc In Your Ear · Practical Medicine

Gack! I Never Thought I’d Say It…

April 25th, 2008 · 1 Comment

The words just don’t want to come out of my mouth - hang on a sec while I give my chest a thump - okay, here goes: It’s time for all of us to stand up for our local smokers’ rights. See, I’m passionately anti-tobacco. I watched cigarettes kill my dad. I see patients struggle [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Settle in For A Great Read…

April 15th, 2008 · 1 Comment

All you need is a cup of tea! This week’s Grand Rounds of the best of the health blogosphere is at Women’s Health News. Ms. Walden did the kind of witty, clear, and compelling summary that only a medical librarian (instead of we mere mortals) could hope to achieve. The bar has been set high! [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Heparin Horrors

April 13th, 2008 · No Comments

In a sad follow-up to the Doc Gurley article, Is Your Medicine Contaminated?, independent authorities have now increased the number of deaths due to contaminated heparin from 19 to over 100. The manufacturer, Baxter, hopes we’ll believe claims there were only 4 (not a big surprise to those of us who are familiar with drug [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Bogus Sluts

April 11th, 2008 · 1 Comment

I’ll bet some of you regular Doc Gurley readers already guessed that we’d be handing out a BOGUS Award to that widely-publicized example of deeply flawed research–the study stating that you can tell if someone’s into love or lust, purely from their facial features. Slut or not? - just look at the width of her [...]

Tags: BOGUS Awards · Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · In the News · Pods--Doc In Your Ear

Six Lessons I Learned From A Hooker

March 19th, 2008 · 1 Comment

With both David Paterson and his wife now admitting to having extramarital affairs, you have to wonder, what’s the difference between him and Eliot Spitzer. I mean, except for some measly “victimless” laws. After all, of the many, many things you can cuddle up to and get off on, the one thing we here in [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · In the News · Insider Info

Tips To Avoid A Daylight Saving Death!

March 7th, 2008 · 1 Comment

This year brought the deflating news that Daylight Saving Time (where we lose an oh-so-painful hour of sleep) doesn’t even save energy. Looks like the savings in energy due to decreased light usage is more than offset by the increase in energy used for air conditioning. Sigh. But here’s the most important message to keep [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · In the News · Practical Medicine

Toxic FEMAldehyde. What now?

February 18th, 2008 · No Comments

Grim news for those people continuing to suffer from Hurricane Katrina–tests show that the FEMA trailers have high levels of formaldehyde, with the CDC urging FEMA to move families out of the trailers as soon as possible. This Newsweek article is a review of the issue. Unfortunately, no one seems to be rushing to answer [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · In the News · Practical Medicine

Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Five Tips for Valentine’s

February 14th, 2008 · No Comments

Perhaps it is the fact that the Elton John song by this title is acted out by writhing cartoon animals, but Doc Gurley has always found the phrase “Can you feel the love tonight?” somewhat clinically disturbing. What if you can’t? Are we talking a sudden neuroparesis with selective sensory loss that paradoxically maintains motor [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · The Joy Habit

Nine Practical Tips on How To Avoid A Death Like Heath Ledger’s

February 6th, 2008 · 4 Comments

More heartbreak. The New York City Coroner announced today that Heath Ledger’s death was an accidental overdose. The word accidental is insider code for the fact that none of the blood levels of any one of his medicines was high enough to mean that Heath Ledger tried to kill himself–they were all in the range [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · In the News · Practical Medicine

Handwashing–Again!

January 25th, 2008 · No Comments

You’d almost think this article was a follow-up to a Doc Gurley post titled 10 Creative Ways To Get Your Doctor To Wash His Hands. Read the article if you want a review of the issue of doctors and handwashing (or lack thereof). Read the Doc Gurley November 16 post if you want a quirky [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · In the News

Tragedy!

December 31st, 2007 · No Comments

It is with a heavy and broken heart (yes, both—imagine a massive boulder, pounded into bits of sand, then put in very large plastic bags and doused with water, rendering the bag so heavy that if you try to lift one, the plastic just stretches and tears—that heavy), that I am forced to concede, nay, [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · Feature · The Joy Habit

8 Quirky Health Facts for Which You Can Give Thanks

November 21st, 2007 · No Comments

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 [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · The Joy Habit

10 Creative Ways To Get Your Doctor To Wash His Hands

November 16th, 2007 · 3 Comments

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, [...]

Tags: Doc Gurley Lists · Insider Info