Czech medical staff will be disciplined after a foot-long surgical instrument was found in the abdomen of a woman five months after she was operated on. The patient, 66-year-old Zdenka Kopeckova, repeatedly complained of severe abdominal pain following a gynaecological operation at a hospital in the south eastern town of Ivancice. She said: 'I said that nobody helps me and I cannot live like this till the end of my life.
'I'll get pills, have a glass of alcohol and hang myself.'
The spatula-like instrument was discovered in her body a week ago and successfully removed. Mrs Kopeckova is seeking compensation over the blunder, claiming staff initially tried to cover up the mistake by saying there was nothing they could do but recommend pain killers. She said: 'I told the head surgeon that if I had no pain I would not be complaining. I'm not a hypochondriac.'
She added that when she requested an x-ray, she was told it would needlessly expose her to radiation. Jaromir Hrubes, Ivancice hospital director, said strict operation procedures should have been followed by medical staff.
An unnamed hospital official said those involved in the operation would be disciplined. Mr Hrubes said: 'The medical procedures at Ivancice seem perfect at the first sight, there is documentation and a list of instruments used, but the person who did the evaluation did not report the missing object.'
A revealing article in this week's JAMA reports that King Tut's mother and father were actually sister and brother to one another. Does than make his mother also his aunt? And his father also his uncle? I give up!!
Anyway, this is a really cool article that use modern methods to investigate ancient causes of death. A delicious break from the usual medical stuff.
Throughout Pharmacotheray IV and V, occasionally you have hear the term "pimping" used. Of course, we are not talking about this in the literal sense. It refers to the process of "teaching" by asking hard questions on rounds or in confernces, and increasing the difficulty until the person ultimately runs out of answers.
Considered by some to be a viloation of the Eight Amendment to the Constitution (protection from cruel and unusual punishment), it is a time honored tradition in medical education.
"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad - Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down. We will remember and celebrate that strength. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers." - Jake and Josh Harris
The Associated Press LONDON -- The British government is getting behind a plan to replace drafty open-backed hospital gowns with versions that preserve patients' modesty. The country's Design Council has asked designers and manufacturers to come up with replacements for the gowns, which it said often leave patients feeling exposed. One model is being created by U.S.-born designer Ben de Lisi, who has made dresses for stars including Kate Winslet. He told the BBC his design, made from luxury cotton, was "fabulous and aspirational." Wraparound gowns are already being tested in the western English city of Bristol, and officials said Tuesday that feedback has been positive. The new gowns will be unveiled next month, and the government says it hopes to have them in hospitals next year.
Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie from Discovery Channel's 'Deadliest Catch.' He is currently in the hospital after suffering a stroke while unloading his boat.
I know that some of you are ardent fans of Discovery Channel's series, "Deadliest Catch." Notwithstanding the sick joke in a previous post, you have come to either love or hate Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia-Marie.
If you have been watching for a while, you know that Capt. Harris' health has been a subject of several episodes. In fact, you probably watched along with me as he developed a pulmonary embolus while hunting for King Crabs.
Admittedly, Capt. Harris' lifestyle predisposed him to cardiovascular disease; he smoked like a fire, his sleep habits were horrendous, he worked under tremendous stress, he sat in his captain's chair for hours without exercising his lower extremities, and he probably didn't eat very well. And you think Neal Beal was a tough patient to deal with! Imagine having Capt. Harris as your patient, trying to manage his warfarin therapy, getting him to adhere with his prescribed regimen, and convincing him to quit smoking.
Well, apparently his anticoagulation didn't go so well, because he apparently threw a clot while unloading his catch at a port on St. Paul Island, Alaska.
Jason R. Kelley and A. Samuel Kelley leave the federal courthouse in Mobile in this file photo. The two men were convicted on Feb. 8, 2010, along with three other defendants of conspiring to illegally sell steroids with no valid medical reason.
By Brendan Kirby, Mobile Press-Register
February 08, 2010, 5:10PM MOBILE, Ala. -- A federal jury this afternoon found the owners of a Mobile pharmacy, the business' supervising pharmacist and the owner of a Colorado anti-aging clinic guilty of a steroids conspiracy. But the jurors acquitted three pharmacists at Applied Pharmacy Services and an investor of the Internet-based anti-aging clinic, Infinite Health.
"This verdict sends a message to medical professionals who would abdicate their responsibilities to their patients in order to profit from illegally selling drugs," U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown said in a prepared statement. "Athletes and youngsters must realize that those who would prescribe performance enhancing drugs may be motivated by profit and greed rather than their health and well-being."Prosecutors alleged that Applied Pharmacy was in on the conspiracy, submitting dozens of taped phone conversations as evidence.
The pharmacy's owners and employees countered that they believed the prescriptions -- signed by licensed physicians -- were valid."It's a tough loss," said Richard Jaffe, an attorney who represented Applied President and CEO A. Samuel Kelley. Jaffe said he will take a thorough look at the trial record in the coming weeks."We first of all have to digest it," he said. "It's an emotional explosion to the lives of our clients."
In addition to Kelley and Branch, the jury convicted Kelley's cousin, Jason R. Kelley, the secretary and part owner of Applied; Jodi C. Silvio, another part owner; and J. Michael Bennett, who was the supervising pharmacist. Three pharmacists who worked for the compounding pharmacy, J. Mallory Mallon, Roger A. Everett and Robin K. Kelly, won acquittals. Ronald E. Winter, a Colorado sheriff's deputy who was a customer of Branch's and ended up becoming an investor, also was found not guilty.
The jury reached its verdict after deliberating parts of four days following a month-plus trial. Several doctors, who previously had pleaded guilty to steroids charges, testified that they colluded with Infinite Health owner Brett W. Branch to supply steroids to bodybuilders, athletes and other healthy customers. One more steroids trial looms in Mobile. Jesse S. Haggard, an alternative medicine practitioner from Arizona who was named in the indictment, will be tried in April.
The day after his wife disappeared in a kayaking accident, an Anchorage man answered his door to find two grim-faced Alaska State Troopers.
"We're sorry Mr. Wilkens, but we have some information about your wife," said one trooper...
"Tell me! Did you find her?" Wilkens shouted.
The troopers looked at each other.
One said, "We have some bad news, some good news, and some really great news. Which do you want to hear first?
Fearing the worst, an ashen Mr. Wilkens said, "Give me the bad news first."
The trooper said, "I'm sorry to tell you, sir, but this morning we found your wife's body in Kachemak Bay ."
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Wilkens. Swallowing hard, he asked, "What's the good news?"
The trooper continued, "When we pulled her up, she had 12 twenty-five pound king crabs and 6 good-size Dungeness crabs clinging to her and we feel you are entitled to a share in the catch."
Stunned, Mr. Wilkens demanded, "If that's the good news, what's the great news?"
The trooper said, "We're going to pull her up again tomorrow."
Headlines: 14-month-old boy survives after chopstick pierces nose, lodges in brain
A young Chinese boy had to undergo brain surgery after a chopstick became stuck in his nose while playing.
Doctors say the 14-month old accidentally fell on it, piercing his nose and lodging inside his skull. "It touched upon the deep area of his brain, four centimeters of the chopstick was inside his skull," Dr. Shun Wei told CNN. "The position of the chopstick was very, very lucky for him." ZhaoGuilu was in another room washing dishes when she heard her son, Li Jingchao, crying and came running.
The boy was lying on the ground wailing with the stick protruding from his head. "I rushed in and saw him lying on the ground," Guilu said. "He couldn't stop crying and I noticed a chopstick stuck in his nose."
The boy's panicked mother rushed the child to a nearby medical clinic, but doctors feared it was too risky to remove the stick. A relative offered to drive the the boy and his parents hundreds of miles to Beijing instead.
"I thought at that time, it is all over, my boy will die," father Li Guanglai said. "During the 10 hours of driving, I felt depressed, I could barely breathe. I looked at my boy and his right side was numb, he was paralyzed."
Neurosurgeons in Beijing feared removing the chopstick would rupture an artery and got the child ready for surgery. Yet when they pulled it, it came straight out easily.
Doctors say the boy had a lucky escape, and he could have been permanently paralyzed or died if the stick has been a few millimeters to either side, or further in. "I never thought it would be this successful," his father said. "This hospital gave him a second life."
Also, here is a rather irreverant take on the same news story:
Most would agree that heroin is a pretty dangerous drug. Unknown potencies can cause overdose deaths, even in experienced heroin addicts. Lack of sterile technique can lead to infections in the heart and lungs. And chronic use takes a toll on virtually every organ in the body.
Now, the contamination issue has reached a new level of concern.
In Scotland, 5 people have died and 6 more have become sick from shooting up heroin contaminated with Anthrax spores. Bummer!!
When I was coming along, if I used the phrase "that sucks" I would have had my mouth instantly washed out with soap. You see, in those days, the meaning of this phrase was quite literal.
Over the years, the expression has morphed into a much broader meaning, indicating that something is bad, disturbing, upsetting, etc. In fact, it is a modern day form of empathy. I have always teased with Dr. Kimberlin that she ought to teach this term. Thus, when somebody tells you bad news, instead of saying, "That must be frustrating" you can simply say "That Sucks!!" Or if someone is in dire straights (the condition and not the band) you can say, "it must suck to be you."
I was startled to see a commercial on TV in which "The 'S' word" was said out loud for all to hear. I must tell you, I winced when I heard it. But you know what? Sometimes things do suck. Even pharmacy school. But as badly as things might suck, there is always an answer, and many times that answer lies in the drugs we dispense (and sometimes take ourselves).
A large meta-analysis of the effectiveness of antidepressants show them to be essentially ineffective for anything but the most severe forms of depression. Published in JAMA this week, here's what the press release from the journal had to day:
CHICAGO—An analysis of randomized trials indicates that compared with placebo, the magnitude of benefit of antidepressant medications varies with the severity of depressive symptoms, and may provide little benefit for patients with mild or moderate depression, but appear to provide substantial benefit for patients with very severe depression, according to an article in the January 6 issue of JAMA.
Antidepressant medications (ADM) are the current standard of treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), but there is little evidence that they have a specific pharmacological effect relative to placebo for patients with less severe depression, according to background information in the article.
Jay C. Fournier, M.A., of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the benefit of ADM vs. placebo across a wide range of initial symptom severity in patients diagnosed with depression. The researchers combined data from 6 large-scale, placebo-controlled randomized trials. The studies included 718 adult outpatients.
The authors found that the efficacy of ADM treatment for depression varied considerably, depending on symptom severity. "True drug effects (an advantage of ADM over placebo) were nonexistent to negligible among depressed patients with mild, moderate, and even severe baseline symptoms, whereas they were large for patients with very severe symptoms."
"What makes our findings surprising is the high level of depression symptom severity that appears to be required for clinically meaningful drug/placebo differences to emerge, particularly given the evidence that the majority of patients receiving ADM in clinical practice present with scores [measures of depression] below these levels."
"Prescribers, policy makers, and consumers may not be aware that the efficacy of medications largely has been established on the basis of studies that have included only those individuals with more severe forms of depression. This important feature of the evidence base is not reflected in the implicit messages present in the marketing of these medications to clinicians and the public. There is little mention of the fact that efficacy data often come from studies that exclude precisely those MDD patients who derive little specific pharmacological benefit from taking medications. Pending findings contrary to those reported here and those obtained [in previous studies] by Kirsch etal and Khan etal, efforts should be made to clarify to clinicians and prospective patients that whereas ADM can have a substantial effect with more severe depressions, there is little evidence to suggest that they produce specific pharmacological benefit for the majority of patients with less severe acute depressions," the authors conclude. (JAMA 2010;303[1]:47-53.
We've all had items at fast food restaurants that did not live up to our expectations. Reasonable people usually report this to the staff and they are given a replacement. Reasonable people, I said!! But, as we know all too well, some people out there are NOT REASONABLE.
Watch this video as an angry customer expresses her outrage at the restaurant's unwillingness to issue a refund instead of a substitute burger. Jeeeees!
(Note: The Elephant rampage sound track was added in post-production, in case you were wondering!)
Czech medical staff will be disciplined after a foot-long surgical instrument was found in the abdomen of a woman five months after she was operated on. The patient, 66-year-old Zdenka Kopeckova, repeatedly complained of severe abdominal pain following a gynaecological operation at a hospital in the south eastern town of Ivancice. She said: 'I said that nobody helps me and I cannot live like this till the end of my life.
