MOST COSTLY INPATIENT PROCEDURES

I was surprised by the childbirth costs. Maybe I'm getting too old. COST OF INPATIENT PROCEDURES

MAMMOGRAPHY STILL SAVES LIVES

For those interested enough to read a technical assessment of mammography, here's the article. For others here's the gist: Unless an infection is prevented from spreading, or we as individuals have need of healthcare, none of us benefits directly from the hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on the healthcare provided to others. Does this mean that we should abandon all healthcare that benefits only the individual? Those who argue against breast cancer screening would have us ignore the fact that when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, it is 100% for that woman. A 30% reduction in breast cancer deaths each year means that 10,000-15,000 fewer women die each year from breast cancer in the United States. MAMMOGRAPHY

Chocolate, Sweet or Not So Sweet

My father died two months short of his hundredth birthday. When asked about the secret for his long life, he reached into the rear of a shelf in his workshop and offered me his dark chocolate. A smart man, my Dad. CHOCOLATE

MEDICAL PREDICTIONS FOR 2014

This is a thoughtful presentation of medicine in 2014. Some of it is a bit technical, but that may be the price for being informed. Medicine's future, except for the associated politics, is extremely promising. PREDICTIONS FOR MEDICINE IN 2014

No Cure for Murder free this weekend.

Just had my router replaced after 4 days. Don't you hate being so dependent on the Internet, esp. through AT&T. This is one of my favorite novels, and without a doubt my favorite characters, Jacob and Lola. I must use them in another novel. BRIER HOSPITAL NOVEL

MEMORY LOSS: YOU CAN'T BE CAREFUL ENOUGH.

This came from AARP and it's worth a quick run through. When I was in practice and a patient came to me with an unexpected symptom, I had a standing bet that I could find that symptom is the medications list of side-effects in the PDR, the Physicians' Desk Reference. I won the bet over 90% of the time. This does not mean that the medication caused the symptom, only that we need to be extraordinarily careful with medications. NOT SO INNOCENT MEDICATIONS

TORTURED MEMORY FREE THIS WEEKEND 2/7-2/9/2014

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars!, October 23, 2013 By Vamplover - See all my reviews This review is from: Tortured Memory (Brier Hospital Series) (Kindle Edition) I stumbled across this book when it was free and boy am I ever glad I did. It was well written and exciting and I loved the way in which the story flows. Not in chronological order, forcing you to think about what was going on and leaving gaps which I found engaging and caused me to keep turning the pages. This is a fantastic book and I can't say enough good things about it. I look forward to reading all of them. Bravo! TORTURED MEMORY

INTERVIEW OF LARRY GOLD

Fans often ask for interviews. Here's the newest one. INTERVIEW: LARRY GOLD