http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/ en-us 2008-05-16T17:35:43-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/05/wishful_thinking_and_procrasti.html Tara Parker-Pope discusses a Tower Cancer Research Foundation survey of 500 cancer survivors that showed more than half of them delaying treatment for two months or more after having symptoms. Fifteen percent delayed treatment for one to five years. Some... Cancer Patrick A. Malone 2008-05-16T17:35:43-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/05/the_dark_side_of_drug_advertis.html Many doctors believe that the recent sharp increase in drug advertising has altered the doctor-patient relationship for the worse. From the article: Like many doctors, Ron Ben-Ari thinks ads on TV for prescription drugs frequently go too far in touting... Communication Patrick A. Malone 2008-05-16T17:29:24-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/05/dennis_quaid_defends_right_to.html After his newborn twins were given near-fatal doses of the blood-thinner heparin, actor Dennis Quaid testified in front of Congress defending consumers' rights to file suit against pharmaceutical companies. From the article: Beginning with the Bush administration, the Food and... Medications Patrick A. Malone 2008-05-16T17:12:26-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/05/the_drug_industry_and_the_dsmi.html Tara Parker-Pope of the NY Times has an article on how more than half of the writers of the DSM-IV--the Diagnostic and Statisical Manual of Mental Disorders--have financial links to the drug industry. The DSM is the most commonly used... Medications Patrick A. Malone 2008-05-09T17:24:21-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/05/a_growing_trend_of_patient_adv.html There is a growing industry of hired patient advocacy. Patients are hiring people to defend their interests when they go to the hospital. The impetus from this comes from the huge number of patients who die because of medical error,... Standard of Care--Hospitals Patrick A. Malone 2008-05-02T17:20:57-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/05/lasiks_painful_sideeffects.html Lasik is a popular laser surgery done on the eyes to correct vision. However, last week Lasik patients went to Washington D.C. to speak to the Food and Drug Administration on harmful side-effects that they experienced as a result of... Surgery Patrick A. Malone 2008-05-02T16:58:17-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/04/protecting_yourself_from_medic.html Christina Laun at RN Central has made a helpful list: 25 Tips to Help Protect Yourself from Medical Errors. Reading the entire list is a good idea. But many of the items on the list can be boiled down to... Medical Error Patrick A. Malone 2008-04-25T11:43:30-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/04/the_art_of_pain.html Pain is a tricky medical problem because it's impossible to measure or adequately communicate to another person. Tara Parker-Pope discusses how patients in pain use art to describe what they're going through: Sacramento resident Mark Collen, 47, is a former... Communication Patrick A. Malone 2008-04-25T11:37:23-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/04/fda_identifies_heparin_contami.html Federal officials have identified the contaminant that was found in the blood-thinning medication heparin in 11 countries. Chinese officials have denied that this contaminant has caused any deaths. As for U.S. officials, here is what one of them says: Dr.... Product Safety Patrick A. Malone 2008-04-25T11:26:29-05:00 http://www.protectpatientsblog.com/2008/04/california_orders_insurers_to.html In California, regulators ordered insurers to reinstate the policies of 26 patients who allegedly lied on their applications. As Michelle Andrews notes in the linked article, insurers will often claim that a patient "lied" about something that was either an... Insurance Patrick A. Malone 2008-04-18T17:35:48-05:00