The people who shaped our world
From Johannes Gutenberg to the original "real McCoy," a smattering of the men and women of this millennium. A few dozen physicians made the list.
How alternative providers get their credentials
Yes, there are standards against which CAM professionals are judged. Here's a primer to help you with referrals or new hires.
Malpractice Consult
Devastated by a decimal point; Insurance: the word very rarely heard in a courtroom
Are bargain-basement medications harming your patients?
Potent drugs purchased abroad may be responsible for puzzling symptoms. But you won't know without asking the right questions.
Would you have thought of anthrax?
The patient's occupation was the key that unlocked the mystery of his deadly illness.
Doctoring "Down Under"
A six month locums stint treating Australian aborigines gave the author a new perspective on US medicine--and life.
Memo from the Editor: Thank you, doctor, for what you didn't tell me
Memo from the editor's guest: melanoma
Financial Beat
Finbeat
Keep cash rolling in after you retire
Here are seven ways to enjoy healthy retirement income without taking a penny from your nest egg.
Letters to the Editors
Courts are divided about your duty to nonpatients.
How could a doctor not stop for this car crash?
doc stops for car crash, finds out later that most coleagues wouldn't
Help your kids pick the right car
"I need my own car!" If you're ready to respond, "OK," then heed our test driver's shopping recommendations.
When I stopped yelling, everybody started listening
Slamming phones and confronting colleagues didn't work, so this doctor tried new approaches.
My name shouldn't be in the malpractice data bank--but it is
The author refused to settle after another doctor dragged him into a case. And now he can't wipe the slate clean.
"I have to kill you," my patient said
The author's abduction by a drug addict was terrifying enough. But his glimpse of the justice system was scary, too.
Practice Beat
Collective bargaining, lawsuits against HMOs, Tort Reform, health coverage, managed care, clinical guidelines, alternative medicine, looking aheadNovember.
"It's a physician's duty to expose fraud if he suspects it"
That's the belief of dermatologist Andrew Hendricks, who blew the whistle on a giant lab. After several tense years, his lawsuit reaped $182 million for the Feds.
Hospitalists: They've made me a believer
Once skeptical about inpatient specialists, this doctor has come to love what they do for him. Mostly, they give him time.
Help your needy patients get free medication
Enroll them in assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical manufacturersand watch the quality of their lives improve.
Washington Beat
Legislation; Medicare; Fraud'N'Abuse
Should you tell patients if you've been addicted? Confidentiality for patients who use illegal drugs
Snake oil on the Internet
There's what we say—and what the patient hears
Here are one doctor's tips for bridging the communication gap between you and the people you're trying to help.
Memo from the Editor: A family physician's promise to himself
ed memo0906
After playing with fire, this group went down in flames
Founded on a dream in the 1930's, the Burns Clinic collapsed in a nightmare of the '90s, as the cozy collegiality of its physicians gave way to managed care anxiety and a me first attitude.
See Medicaid patients without going broke
This pediatrician's winwin partnership with his state bureaucracy gives indigent children a medical homeand the practice a profit.
