Better Health » The Friday Funny: The Homeopath’s ER

Go watch the video.  It’s funny, and explains the goofyness of homeopathy very succinctly.

Via Dr. Val on Twitter:

RT @Doctor_V RT @bobfinn: CDC’s Cox: “What’s the diff btwn bird & swine flu? 4 bird flu U need tweetment, 4 swineflu U need oinkment.” [Ugh]

Hahaha.  Here’s hoping I can deliver both!

A Happy Hospitalist: You Are Living In The Medicare Tomato
You want to know what the process is like for a physician to make a living as a physician.
Look only toward the Medicare Tomato. Imagine for the moment that you have been taken out of reality and into the alternate bizarro world of the Medicare Tomato. In this analogy, the Medicare Tomato represents a day in the life of a practicing physician.

An easy to understand (and mouthwatering) analogy of how we’ve gotten into the Medicare payment morass, and where it’s quite possibly headed.  We’re much nearer then end than the beginning.

Good writing.

Mr. Muir at Day by Day…

Don't Mess with Texas

Dr. Wes: An Open Letter To Patients Regarding Health Reform
Dear Mr. and Ms. Patient,

It has come to my attention that in order for your to enjoy success as patients in the new era of health care reform, you must start working now to prevent illnesses that might befall you. Do not, under any circumstances, eat or drink too much.

Nice…

It’s a brand new drug formulation (injectable ibuprofen (motrin)) but check out the approved trade name:

FDA Approves Injectable Form of Ibuprofen

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Caldolor, the first injectable dosage form of the common pain medication ibuprofen, to treat pain and fever.

I’m no Latin scholar, but I do know that Calor = fever, and Dolor = pain.  Put them together in the name for a drug that is made to treat those?  Pretty cool!

And no, I won’t be using it for a long time, if ever (old medical dictum: don’t be the first, don’t be the last).

hat tip: Luis

OPFOR: Hero of the Day: R.Lee Ermey

Ooh rah, Gunny.

via Ace

From Amazon today…

I had an IM session with him just now. His blog migration is taking longer than planned, he hopes to be back up and running by Monday at the latest.

Fort Worth soldier’s, um, boxers make him famous | Fort Worth | Star-Telegram.com
Army Spec. Zachary Boyd, a 2007 graduate of Keller Central High School, was in his sleeping quarters this week when the Taliban attacked in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Boyd rushed to a defensive position clad in his helmet, vest and boxers — the pink ones decorated with the “I Love NY” slogan.

Dude’s from Fort Worth. “I Love NY” Boxers. Geez.

Thank you for your service. Get some Texas undies.

» Lead Story » mouth to mouth regurgitation.

Pretty much why I’m glad mouth to mouth is fading from the CPR algorithms for first responders….

I know the doc in Green. He’s a med school chum, an occasional commenter, and hasn’t gained a pound since medical school. Nice toupee, BTW.

I put it below the fold, because I cannot get it to stop the auto-run.

Read the rest of this entry »

China’s ultimatum: smoke or be fined | Weird True Freaky | News.com.au
OFFICIALS in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reports.
…
“The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax,” said Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong’an cigarette market supervision team, according to the paper.

Stimulating local business, increasing tax revenues. Additionally, early deaths mean fewer on retirement. Sounds like the perfect amoral economists’ scheme.

Flu developments | Fort Worth | Star-Telegram.com
Only a fraction of the nearly 2,500 nasal swabs sent to the state health department lab have been tested. The Austin lab had tested 181 of the 2,492 nasal swabs received from counties around the state by Friday. The lab’s single testing machine was overwhelmed Wednesday.

Don’t test the swabs. Then the count doesn’t go up when everybody’s twitchy.

SciGuy: Want to sell more fries? Put salads on the menu

From the annals of unintuitive results…