The PMD Critical List: Dr. Oz Recalibrates

In the wake of heated criticism, TV doctor Mehmet Oz, MD, has quietly been conducting a “listening tour,” speaking with physician groups to try to recalibrate his show and boost his medical credibility. That story tops this week’s PMD Critical List. Also on the list, a warning about hand sanitizer and an update on how physicians are handling the wave of new patients created by the Affordable Care Act.

• The Annoying Dr. Oz? (AP)

America’s most famous TV doctor just finished a “self-prescribed listening tour with physician groups.” He is addressing changes by the nation’s medical community leadership of backing “quack treatments.” And many practicing doctors think he too often “intrudes on the physician-patient relationship.”

• Doctors Warning: Kids Getting Drunk on Hand Sanitizer (Fox News)

It’s become ubiquitous in today’s society—hand sanitizer. This, sadly, can lead to abuse.

Since 2010, poison control hotlines nationally report a 400% spike in calls related to children under 12 ingesting excessive hand sanitizer. Doctors must be on top of the matter for their patients.

• Changing Medicine, Changing Pay Day (National Law Review)

The national trend of hospital employment of doctors is unmistakable. Thus, physicians must understand and use employment agreements to get desirable terms at the very start of their negotiations. Letters of intent, non-competes, and signing bonuses are all on the table. Here are some useful insights from a pro-doctor legal expert.

• Bad Medicine at the GOP Presidential Debate (Forbes)

“We already knew Donald Trump didn’t understand medicine,” offers this hard-hitting essayist, but we are left to wonder if the two Republican physicians running for 2016 presidential nomination understand it either. The facts show: “all our vaccines prevent death.”

• Primary-Care Physicians Handling the Influx of Newly Insured (The Wall Street Journal)

It’s a credit to the nation’s medical gatekeepers. America’s primary care physicians “report that their practices have been able to keep up with Obamacare demand without a negative impact on quality of patient care.” This demand being a net increase of 16 million in the ranks of the insured since 2014.

• How Is Brain Surgery Like Flying? (Smithsonian.com)

Just a SNAP. Here’s a report about a “device made for gaming that helps brain surgeons plan and execute delicate surgeries with extreme precision.” Chairman of neurosurgery at New York University's Langone Medical Center says: “where has this been my whole life?”

• Why People Lie About 9/11 (New York Post)

An interesting essay from a psychiatry professor: “9/11 was a game-changer for the American psyche. No other event has inspired so many false claims among my patients. It’s the power of infamy.”

• America’s Top Colleges 2015 (Forbes)

Whether you’re just keeping tabs on your old alma mater or looking at schools for your children, it’s wise to know how America’s colleges perform. These education winners “focus on student-consumer value over marketing prestige.”

• How to Make Your First Stock Trade (GoBankingRates.com)

More than few rich doctors got that way through the stock market. From 1928 to 2014, the average annual return for the S&P 500 is 9.6%. Slow and steady wins the race. Here’s a simple “start-to-finish guide” for getting going in stocks.