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Musings on the intersection of science, medicine, and culture
PalMD is a practicing internist in the Great Lakes region of the U.S.. Aside from the great joy he finds in his family and his work, he likes communicating some of that joy to others. He has a special interest in the ways patients---and we are all patients at one time or another---are deceived by charlatans. He aims to change the world, one reader at a time. Previous writings can still be found here, and here. I also write twice a month for Science-Based Medicine
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September 30, 2009
Category: Donors Choose
Here in Michigan, schools are hurting---a lot. Classrooms are crowded, schools are closing, supplies are non-existent. Even in "wealthy" districts, the system is failing. Parents, when they can, supply the bulk of classroom supplies. This is a good time to...
Posted by PalMD at 6:00 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Medicine
I've been putting this off. Today I'm 203.5#. I feel into some bad habits this week. I've found that routine is my friend. I have a few choices for breakfast at home, a few lunch and dinner choices at the...
Posted by PalMD at 5:14 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Health care reform
The state of Michigan is facing massive budget cuts which will further eviscerate the Medicaid program. If the legislature passes it's budget as planned, massive cuts to Medicaid will reduce federal matching funds further limiting access to health care for...
Posted by PalMD at 1:37 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 29, 2009
Category: Medicine
Here's how this is going to work. Thanks to a reader, I have a case for you, which I'll present in parts. I will try to make the information accessible to both professionals and lay-people. I'll start with the barest...
Posted by PalMD at 3:48 PM • 29 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 28, 2009
Category: Medicine
Dr. Jerome Groopman, whose writing I generally enjoy, put out a book a couple of years ago called How Doctors Think. It examined, well, how doctors think, how they think they think, and what the future holds for diagnosing disease....
Posted by PalMD at 9:03 AM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 27, 2009
Category: Absurd medical claims
There are doctors who are not board certified in their specialties, and there's nothing nefarious about that---all that is required to practice medicine is a valid license from the state. My hospital doesn't allow physicians on staff if they are not board certified, recognizing that this status means something. There is no good reason to eschew board certification. To fail the boards repeatedly betrays a lack of basic competency, given that most doctors are actually good test takers, otherwise they'd never have made it so far.
Posted by PalMD at 1:43 PM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 25, 2009
Category: Absurd medical claims
The stupid truly burns brightly in this one. Dana Ullman, known to readers of Respectful Insolence, Science-based Medicine, and this blog as Hahnemann's cognitively impaired bulldog, has started blogging at the Huffington Post. It's certainly an appropriate venue for his...
Posted by PalMD at 4:25 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 24, 2009
Category: Medicine
I'm not a psychiatrist, and I won't guess what motivates someone like Doug Bremner. On his blog, he posted a picture showing the head of a cancer surgeon/researcher/blogger pasted onto a large beast. A little man is doing something to...
Posted by PalMD at 7:22 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Absurd medical claims
It's like this: science requires a tolerance of failure. If your shiny, happy hypothesis fails to stand up to rigorous scrutiny, you drop it and move on. If instead of a true, disposable hypothesis, you have a fixed belief that...
Posted by PalMD at 5:43 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Medicine
So the weight loss continues at a slow but steady pace. The exercise has been not so good; I was doing fine until I re-injured my back. Now it's just an excuse. I've started getting up early to get PalKid...
Posted by PalMD at 5:34 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Neurophilosophy 11.19.2009
The Island of Doubt 11.20.2009
Greg Laden's Blog 11.20.2009
The World's Fair 11.19.2009
Laelaps 11.20.2009
