Paul Luvera Journal

Two years ago Tara Parker–Pope wrote an article in the New York Times "Over-treatment is Taking a Harmful Toll. " In it she describes the research which reveals what she calls "an epidemic of over-treatment – too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures" which costs the nation's healthcare system some $210 billion a year according to the Institute of Medicine. It also takes a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and death. I am reading…

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I've managed to damage the interior of one of  my artificial knee joints. As a result I will have surgery this week on the knee. We won't know the seriousness until the surgeon takes a look. I won't be posting for a while as a result. In the meantime, here is Emily Dickinson's poem (1830-1886) entitled Surgeons  Must Be Very Careful:    "Surgeons must be very careful When they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions Stirs the Culprit—Life!"  

Ezekiel J. Emanuel wrote an article in the New York Times Sunday, November 13 2011 he called “Billions Wasted on Billing. His article certainly identified with me. Over the past five months with my knee problem I have gone to countless doctors and labs plus been admitted to the hospital three times since June of this year. Like Emanuel I found that every time I went in for an appointment or treatment I had to fill out a form requiring…

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MSNBC reported on instruments and other devices left inside patients after surgery recently. The article discussed the number of cases where this has occurred and where the patient wasn't told. My law partner Ralph Brindley has handled a number of these cases, but one was particularly shocking. The doctors had left a long metal retractor inside the patient after a surgery in Seattle. The patient wasn't aware it had happened, but noted pain on bending and the fact he set off…

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I’m reading a box recommended by a friend: Super Crunchers written by Ian Ayres which deals with statistical analysis and numbers. In it he discusses Austrian physician Ignaz Semmelweis who noted, in the 1840’s, that at Vienna General Hospital maternity patients were much more likely to die when treated by doctors who had recently left the autopsy room. He concluded that there was a connection even though germs were unknown. He did a detailed statistical study of the situation. His…

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The Federal Drug Administration is only a shadow of it’s original power as a regulatory watchdog over the pharmaceutical industry. Weakened by the hand picked Bush administration appointees and corrupted by the lobbying of the industry the FDA has become the lap dog of the pharmaceutical companies rather then the watchdog it is supposed to be for Americans. I’ve pointed out their failure to do their job before. (See 11/23/06 and 12/5/06 postings) Now the New England Journal of Medicine…

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The New England Journal of Medicine (April 12, 2007 Volume 356:1496) reports in an article "Making Smoking History" about the world wide effort to eliminate smoking. It reports that Ireland was the first country in history to pass a comprehensive indoor smoking ban in 2004. Overwhelming public support in Ireland for the ban followed from smokers and nonsmokers both to the surprise of most people. South Africa passed national laws in 2000 baning smoking in public places with some exemptions…

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The National Law Journal reports that New York City’s Common Good has joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to experiment with a tort reform idea of health courts. It would create "expert courts" in medical malpractice cases consisting of medical doctors, academics and others who would act as judge and jury. Among other tort reform restrictions, the plan would have a schedule for pain and suffering damages and caps on recovery. Does that sound like a an unbiased forum for…

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The National Law Journal, in an article by Tresa Baldas, reports the illegal promotion of "off label" use of products by pharmaceutical companies. An "off label" use is the prescription of a drug by a physician for a use which it was not approved or intended. For example, a drug manufactured as an antidepressant might be prescribed by a doctor to treat pain or a drug manufactured for an unrelated use might be prescribed by a physician to treat cancer…

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In the Civil War it was called "soldier’s heart" and "nostalgia." In WWI it was called "shell shock" and "war neurosis." In WWII it was usually called "battle fatigue." It’s also been called "combat stress" and "post-Vietnam syndrome." People who suffer emotional reactions to trauma can develop these conditions and military personnel engaged in high stress activities are prone to have symptoms. Paul Rieckhoff has posted an article in Arianna Huffington’s excellent newsletter, The Huffington Post, in which he reports…

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