Medical Info Overload?

Dr. Suresh Katakkar, the northern B.C. doctor who earned a community’s praise for employing unapproved medical treatments in a last-ditch effort to save a 34-year-old woman, has been accused of repeatedly causing “preventable … harm” and even unnecessary death because of his unconventional methods.

Ontario’s unique zero tolerance policy on sexual abuse by physicians will be put to the test once again on Monday, in the unusual case of a Kingston ophthalmologist whose patient became his live-in nanny, and with whom he is alleged to have had a sexual affair.

Healthcare spending dominates U.S. political and economic debate these days, for good reason. The rising cost of medical care isn’t simply a threat to our nation’s fiscal health. It is also, in the minds of a growing number of doctors, a sign that our society’s way of treating illness is out of whack, a dual threat to our health and pocketbooks. Two of those doctors—Joshua Kosowsky and Leana Wen—have written a compelling new book about a root cause of the problem: When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests.

Healthcare spending dominates U.S. political and economic debate these days, for good reason. The rising cost of medical care isn’t simply a threat to our nation’s fiscal health. It is also, in the minds of a growing number of doctors, a sign that our society’s way of treating illness is out of whack, a dual threat to our health and pocketbooks. Two of those doctors—Joshua Kosowsky and Leana Wen—have written a compelling new book about a root cause of the problem: When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests.

"[There is]... a growing field known as patient navigation. At no additional charge, navigators help patients make informed medical decisions and assist with setting up multiple doctors' appointments and tests. Navigators also provide tips on dealing with chemotherapy, make sure patients stay on track with their treatment plan and offer emotional support. 

A reader named Evan Schumacher wrote in with an interesting bleg. (Read about blegs here and send your own here.) Tucked inside his bleg is the part that tickled me the most: a website Evan created to tell him whether it's worth it to watch a basketball game he'd recorded. Anyway, I'll give my answer below, [...]

From a reader named Kevin O'Toole comes a bleg that needs input from people with experience in the realms of running, races, and maybe Olympic competition. (We tussled with Olympic medal counts here; and Justin Wolfers harnessed your collective wisdom when he ran the Stockholm Marathon.) Here's Kevin's story: For the past few years, I've had [...]

From a reader named Raymond DeCampo comes this interesting, poignant bleg. (Read up on blegs here; send your own blegs here; and see some other new Freakonomics-coined words here.) My wife and I recently undertook the task of securing our son's future in the event we would not be there to secure it for him. [...]