"It's good for you, so you do it."So says a breast cancer survivor and member of an independent expert panel in Britain that was commissioned by the government and a leading cancer organization there to investigate the true efficacy of breast cancer screenings.That...
Personal Injury
Large medical study finds fault with time-honored annual physical
For many New Jersey residents, as well as many millions of other people across the country, the annual medical physical is an unquestioned and scrupulously adhered-to practice.Should it be?Rumblings about the efficacy of persons without particular symptoms of illness...
Safety advice for New Jersey pedestrian trick-or-treaters
According to 2006-2010 statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, more fatal accidents involving pedestrians under the age of 21 occurred on Oct. 31 than on the neighboring days. Given that statistic, New Jersey parents are advised to take extra...
Meningitis outbreak: Accountability concerns amidst a tragedy
For obvious and compelling reasons, national attention has focused acutely in recent weeks on the tragic meningitis outbreak across the country, which -- as of the date this post entry was written -- has taken the lives of 19 people and materially sickened about 250...
Study takeaway: Patients’ safety compromised by hospital protocols
Comparisons have been drawn many times in the past to safety protocols and outcomes in the medical industry versus what is in place in the aviation field. In the latter realm, the focus on safety and the highest level of unerring performance is absolute and exacting....
Suggested reforms to cut medical errors, increase transparency
Medical malpractice is pervasive in hospitals across the country, including in New Jersey, but in many cases it fails to garner the headlines it merits. That owes to many reasons, including confidential settlements, gag orders and other methods of keeping patients...
Study: Many breast cancer follow-up tests questionable, problematic
Old habits die hard.That adage is particularly true, many medical researchers say, when it comes to doctors who are resolutely spurred by years of training to order every conceivable diagnostic test available that might detect any spread of breast cancer in a patient...
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics: Potency demands proper prescribing
The class of antibiotic medications called fluoroquinolones serves an important role in the drug arsenal against serious illnesses and infections, with such drugs standing ready as the big guns in a second-line defense aimed at killing off life-threatening infections...
Op-ed piece says that breast cancer group misleads on mammography
As this blog has noted for readers in select prior posts, the practice of women dutifully receiving a yearly mammogram from a relatively early age has become progressively criticized in recent years. In fact, numerous studies and critics now repeatedly surface to...
Proposed law would inform of potential mammogram difficulties
In one of New Jersey's neighboring states, the legislature has reportedly just passed a law which aims to increase the early detection of breast cancer by requiring that women with dense breast tissue are notified of such following a mammogram. Dense tissue generally...
