Bias Alert: I hate cars.
Okay, not in actual practice. In fact, I love the experience of driving down the freeway, humming a tune, chin-bobbing along to the music with my daughters. Some of life’s most profound, intimate conversations only take place when you’re strapped next to someone, facing front.
So then why do I hate cars? [...]

Here on the Fourth of July, when you think of celebrations, you think fireworks, right? Those of us with a more public health mindset might be thinking poppers too, but maybe not the kind you’re thinking about. Any time there are celebrations, there are substances that can put you at risk. This month’s newsletter from [...]

Here’s a potent argument in support of those Oh-So-Annoying JCAHO regulations - outpatients getting clinic-based chemotherapy came down with a rare, nasty blood infection. Clinics aren’t covered by those irritating rules and regulations. Perhaps the only way anyone really recognized the source of these infections is because the germ was sooo unusual.  Alcaligenes is a [...]

Here are twin news items that strike a powerful chord. First up is a report looking at whether or not doctors are willing to tell patients that, in essence, the game is up. A study shows that only one third of terminally-ill cancer patients say they have a doctor who has discussed end-of-life care. There [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

AP News issued a warning to consumers to switch to the new kind of inhalers before the end of the year. In Understatement Of The Year Award-winning fashion, the article states that the new inhalers “tend to cost more.” If you, like me, are appalled at the FDA’s decision to ban generic production of asthma [...]

Doc Gurley is the guest at Medscape’s Pre-Rounds! Check out her interview by Nick Genes, the creator of Pre-Rounds at Medscape and Grand Rounds of blogs. So what the heck is pre-rounds? Other than something less impressive-sounding than Grand Rounds? Medscape Pre-Rounds, in inimitable Nick Genes style, means an early, in-depth interview with a writer [...]

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 [...]

I, Doc Gurley, spent the last two days playing surgeon. Eleven hours each day, I went into a temporary emergency tent and shivered over hot coffee. There were lectures, then practical skills stations where I did procedures on rubber dummies while pre-eminent surgeons watched and critiqued me until I got it right. Let’s just say [...]

Women’s Health News has an interesting topic and comments about what women go through when a tampon gets “lost.” So can a tampon head north for spring break? How far? Isn’t there a border check somewhere?
More importantly, what should you do if it happens to you? Assuming you don’t have male-plumbing, here’s the Doc Gurley [...]

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 [...]

How did we get stuck with menopause? I don’t mean the whole evolutionary argument about surviving-until-your-ovaries-quit-working. What I’m talking about, instead, is the label. Menopause has to be about the biggest downer of a name in the history of the world.
The thing that really sticks in my craw, speaking as a female member of the [...]

It’s a busy Tuesday, so I grab a chart and speedwalk to the next patient at the homeless clinic. On the table sits a woman with this huge stiff tent of hair and a bad case of body lice. She’s rocking with her arms across her chest. She’s hearing voices. She hasn’t bathed in three [...]

Instead of Black History Month (which I love) I’m going to kick off something new–Black Future Month, focussed on the future health of African-Americans. As part of Black Future Month here at Doc Gurley (the only place it exists, so far), together we’re going to launch the 2008 Black Future Month Campaign. Read on for [...]

Ah, the seamy underside of cost-effectiveness research. Doc Gurley has done cost-effectiveness research, including published studies, in one of her many previous careers (Doc G assessment: not as interesting as waitressing, fewer tips, more messes, fewer laughs). There is a nasty, secretive part of cost-effectiveness health research that no one publicly discusses which (shockingly!) [...]

There’s only one way to feel about the sudden death of Heath Ledger–what a tragic loss of youth, life, and talent. While we may never know what actually happened, the story about his death raises some important opportunities to learn, and, hopefully, prevent future deaths like this. First point: the medicines that were found in [...]

Dr. Judah Folkman died this week in Boston. News organizations used the occasion to report on his decades-long cancer research career. Given his status as a distant, non-celebrity, non-Nobel surgeon, you may be asking yourself why you, personally, should care about his death. Here’s why.
We were in our second year of medical school, feeling the [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]