doctors Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Boston Marathon tragedy

By now, everyone in the United States should know that at least two and possibly three bombs went off yesterday towards the end of the Boston Marathon. I’m not going to spend any time today talking about the bombs, who made the bombs and what could possibly be the motivations of the sick individuals. Instead, as a trauma surgeon, I would like to congratulate the first responders, the doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel who quickly responded to this tragedy. In the coming days and months we will hear more about the individuals who acted quickly in order to help save a fellow human being. These are the true heroes in this tragedy.

My heart goes out to the great city of Boston. My deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of the three people who died. My prayers go out to the more than 130 who were injured. My hope is that they have a speedy recovery, both physically and mentally.

By ecthompsonmd|2013-04-16T22:06:37-04:00April 16th, 2013|Terrorism|Comments Off

Friday Afternoon News Roundup

You remember how the gun industry whipped up fears that the Obama administration was going to steal everybody’s guns? That translated into a huge windfall for them.

path of tropical storm Isaac

Projected path of hurricane (tropical storm) Isaac seems to be taking a more westerly direction away from central Florida.

Take your time and sit down and enjoy this great article in the Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Shooting outside of the Empire State building has left at least two dead.

Lance Armstrong has thrown in the towel and will not fight doping charges any longer. I believe that Lance Armstrong is a competitor. I believe that he worked very hard to be the best. I believe that he did everything in his power to win. Everything.

Hospitals struggle with super infections.

West Nile infections continue to be a problem.

Household income has decreased during the recession.

Mike Huckabee has raced to the defense of Missouri Representative Todd Akin. I wonder if this will jeopardize his appearance at the GOP convention?

A Republican candidate for sheriff in New Hampshire has retracted his statement about using deadly force to prevent abortions. He has now promised not to murder any doctors if he is elected Sheriff. Well, that’s a comfort.

Norway shooter gets the maximum of 21 years. I suspect that he will never see the light of day.

In the culmination of a ~~huge~~ case, a court in South Korea rules that Samsung did not violate Apple’s iPhone design. Well, that case wasn’t the huge one. It was the small one. In California, today, a jury decided that Samsung was a bad company and violated several of Apple’s patents. The jury awarded Apple a cool $1 billion.

By ecthompsonmd|2013-11-03T18:13:06-04:00August 24th, 2012|Economy, Environment, Foreign Affairs|Comments Off

One of the reasons why healthcare doesn’t work

As a doctor, I live and breath healthcare. I’m one of those doctors who is smack dab in the middle of healthcare. I can’t do my job without a hospital. As a trauma surgeon, I need the support structure that a fully equiped hospital provides. Because I live in the Blue Ridge mountains, I take care of people from all around this beautiful country. Thousands of people come here to see the mountains. Thankfully, only a few injure themselves while they are here.

Currently, I’m taking care of a young man who lives in Florida. He crashed his motorcycle. He had a terrible head injury which required emergency neurosurgery in order to evacuate an expanding epidural hemorrhage. The patient has insurance. He is now much better and we need to figure out how to get him back to Florida. Here’s where the “fun” begins.

So, for 3 days the hospital social worker is trying to find a rehab facility to take care of this patient. Then we need to make sure that this facility takes the patient’s insurance. Next, we have to make sure that the insurance company will pay for the patient’s rehab and transport to Florida. Finally, and this is really choice, the facility requires the sending doctor to find a receiving doctor. Have you ever tried to get a single MD on the phone? Now, try to get two doctors together at the same time. (I have been waiting for a return call for more than an hour. Just waiting…)

This is nothing but a huge waste of time. All of this needs to be streamlined so that the patient is taken care of effectively. We need a system that is designed around the patient.

By ecthompsonmd|2011-10-03T15:59:19-04:00October 3rd, 2011|Healthcare|1 Comment