WeirdMedical™

The good news was it was not cancer…the bad news was they had to operate anyway.

What was that greenish blue mass? Read on…

Japanese patient’s ‘tumour’ turns out to be 25-year-old towel

We’re sad to see your missions end…



America will miss your amazing adventures

NASA…no need to say more.

Hypothesis:  If ones’ stomach lining can absorb alcohol leading to the symptoms of intoxication, then the dermal layers of ones’ feet should do the same — ol’ Danish myth.

Method: Place feet in washtub of alcohol for 3 hours.

Tools:

• Washtub

Tune for Foot Tapping

• Feet (preferably two)
• 80 Proof vodka…lots!
• Watch..second hand not necessary
• Patience
• Towel

Results: …read more at…“Washtub Play” or “Scientists dip feet, debunk Danish alcohol myth”

Happy Holidays from your WeirdMedical team at MedIntelliBase!

Can we really be moving into a new era where what the patient experiences – feels, touches and even smells – really matters?

Can our medical device industry be moving in the direction of consumer marketing where patient-based consumer-type-products are becoming reality?

“There’s something called value-based purchasing in [health-care reform] that actually measures patient satisfaction,” according to Bob Schwartz, general manager of global design for GE Healthcare, “— and hospitals are reimbursed, in part at least, on what those patient satisfaction scores say.”

Bob Schwartz, general manager of global design for GE Healthcare

It actually appears that the patient’s feedback and opinions are starting to matter as much as those of our medical professionals. Especially now that U.S. healthcare reform driven by the balance of better procedural outcomes, patient satisfaction through provider rating systems, and cost containment is creating a perfect storm.

Read more about this “Proctor & Gamble” marketing approach…it’s not the science of technology but the science of consumer behavior!

These headlines go to show you that humans and their inventions are adequate but rarely perfect…

FDA clot device advisory tells of patients’ risks (re: Inferior Vena Cava Filters)

Left-sided Cancer: Blame your bed and TV?

A Newly Candid FDA on the Future Of Medical Device Regulation (re: example – external infusion pumps, pp. 3 & 4)

Mobile toilet tissue role

From the blog InnocentEnglish.com, these “Funny Doctor Chart Bloopers” from actual medical record entries are precious…

Discharge status: alive but without permission.

The patient refused an autopsy.

Exam of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.      (…sometimes even spell check won’t help!)

Rectal exam revealed…read more…

“But honey, the < fill in here > made me do it!”

A meta-analysis of healthcare insurance claims has shown that middle aged men (40′s or older) who take impotence drugs have triple the rate of sexually transmitted diseases compared to their drug-free brethren.

The scientific theory, however, is not that the drugs make them more promiscuous but that perhaps the predisposition of the male mindset leads them to seek the path to more fun through pharmaceuticals.

Read on…

Any of us could have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit [Hyperactive] Disorder (ADD/ADHD) at one time or another in our lives…

But in the last few years, new anecdotal evidence implies that ADD is often too quickly presented as the explanation for a child’s inattentiveness or hyperactivity…with drugs, behavioral therapies, and support group participation growing double digits…who does this benefit?

ADHD EEG

Consider:

“ADD is the most commonly diagnosed disorder in children (Grossman). Its origins are unknown, but according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it is speculated that ADD is due to these factors: genetics, prenatal complications, and neurotransmitter deficits,” according to Health & Wellness online magazine’s Claudette Ellyse. Further, “It is said that 5 million children have ADD (Alexander-Roberts 1). 50% of those children will not have it when they become adults (Armstrong 13). It is doubtful that all of those children become “cured.” There is no cure for ADD. It is more likely that most of these children never had ADD at all.”

The primary symptoms of ADD, “The Big Four”:

• distractibility
• impulsivity
• restlessness
• hyperactivity

Secondary symptoms can occur when the primary systems go unnoticed and the ADD are not treated. They include low self-esteem, depression, boredom and frustration with school, impaired peer relations, violent behavior due to mounting frustrations, and sometimes alcohol, promiscuity and drug abuse.

Concerned? read on… What do you think?

Now this is a good use of our federal tax dollars…

In the northwestern reaches of Washington (D.C. that is) sits a museum that is a “must see” if you like the slightly off-taste, arcane, twisted and in some cases, down-right gross medical oddities. Visit the bricks and mortar “Roadside America of American medicine,” the National Museum of Health and Medicine, America’s oldest taxpayer-funded Cabinet of Curiosities near Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

A row of little skeletons.

At the National Museum of Health and Medicine you can see precariously displayed and disturbingly barely described:

• hanging display of a complete brain and spine, suspended in liquid in an eerily lit glass cylinder
• girl’s head preserved in arsenic
• well-preserved hairball from the stomach of a 12-year old girl who compulsively ate her own hair
• skull with a huge civil war bullet buried in its frontal lobe
• and the list goes on…

To visit…virtually go to the RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Reporters or National Museum of Health and Medicine, or in real life visit:

6900 Georgia Avenue, Washington, DC

Hours:     M-F 10 am – 5:30 pm, Sa, Su, Hol call ahead

No kidding. This is for real – so when you go to the NMHM in D.C., tell them you want your tax dollars’ worth!