Free Republic

(Author is a pseudonym to protect his identity) (...) OMNS Feb 14, 2021) It's a very bizarre state of affairs when, as a doctor for over 30 years, I suddenly find myself completely isolated from people I know, and from humanity. In this situation, there seems to be no way to help with healing or caring or treating, because I have been expelled like a priest excommunicated from the church. I have been cancelled. This happened because I was not conforming to the religion of medicine. I said things that were against the perceived modus vivendi. I was immediately suspended...

Scientists have identified nearly 400 established medical practices that have been found to be ineffective by clinical studies published across three top medical journals. Writing in the journal eLife, the team hope their findings will encourage the de-adoption of these practices, also known as medical reversals, ultimately making patient care more efficient and cost effective. Medical reversals are practices that have been found to be no better than prior or lesser standards of care, through randomised controlled trials (RCTs: studies that aim to reduce certain types of bias when testing new treatments). But it can be difficult to identify these...

Dr. Neal Mogk thinks he has found a better way to manage his medical practice that improves the service he provides to his patients. Dr. Mogk, a board certified family practice physician, has decided to change his Beaver Street Family Practice to what he calls a “concierge-style” that, by reducing his patient roster, will give him more time to spend with each one. “I will be able to get to know my patients better,” he said. He said not everybody wants “aggressive” or interventional care. For example, some people with an aching shoulder might want to be treated with therapy...

Not long ago, in the oncology clinic where I work, my patient Anna Angelo asked me to pray to God. At the time, prayer was far from the forefront of my mind. Anna (her name has been changed to maintain confidentiality) is a 71-year-old woman from Boston's North End with long-standing cardiac and hepatobiliary disease. Six years ago, breast cancer developed. The tumor was incurable from the time of diagnosis, since it had already spread to bone. The cancer cells tested positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors, and Anna was treated with a series of hormonal agents, which, over the...