I've been meaning to do this for some time now. I mean, there are some things that I have to say, some things that someone needs to be saying, that I have not heard or read anywhere else. So here is where I will say them.
I have called this blog "Rantings of a Medical Mind" for a number of reasons. To begin with, it's rather catchy, and I do want people to read this. Secondly, I am a medical mind, or at least I have one; I am a practicing internist in Texas. Thirdly, I chose "rantings" to state from the outset that these posts will be mainly opinion pieces, within which I intend to discuss issues of medical, medicolegal, medical business, and occasionally just general scientific nature. And yes, I do intend to occasionally rant. Hopefully I will not get too technical very often, but technical is quite often necessary in my line of work.
The first real rant will be posted within the next few days, after I've had a chance to get to know my new blog a little better -- kick the tires, take it around the track a few times, see what I can get it to do.
At the outset, however, I feel compelled to include one very huge, very important caveat, which my attorney and my malpractice carrier would strangle me if I didn't. Although I may from time to time discuss various medical topics such as specific illnesses and specific therapies, nothing here should be taken by any reader as specific medical advice. I cannot see you, take your history, examine you, or order medical studies on you through a blog, nor would I want to. Furthermore, I cannot accept any requests for specific advice through this medium; any such requests received via comments will be summarily deleted and forgotten. IF YOU ARE HAVING ANY TYPE OF MEDICAL PROBLEMS OR COMPLAINTS, SEE YOUR PERSONAL PHYSICIAN ABOUT THEM! (First mini-rant -- note I did not say "provider".)
I will welcome your comments and critiques of my thoughts. I enjoy a spirited debate on the issues. Until next time, I'll be ranting in real-space.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
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2 comments:
Hello Dr. Krohn. I found your "rant" about us lawyers quite interesting. Unfortunately, I would like to state that lawyers are not the true problem to the escalating costs of healthcare. Rather, next time your patient complains about the cost of their drugs, blame it on the insurance companies. There is no other business in the world that generates more profit (both nominally and marginally) than that of the assumption of risk. When AIG or United or Blue Cross pay out a little more than forecasted one year, they just up the premiums the next. All the meanwhile, they are continually leveraging their powers via members in dictating what my clients are able to take. Many times, they are not even provided the option of medicine that actually treats their disease state. So instead of blaming it on us, please write your insurance company. We lawyers do society a justice by standing up for the little person. We ARE NOT the problem but rather the counter force to the insurance and pharmaceutical bully.
Hello! I welcome any intelligent discussion, and you are the first to join me in it here. I agree, the insurance companies are a big part of the problem, both in the costs of medicines and in the cost of medical care in general. (If we want to talk about an industry that needs to be investigated reagrding windfall profits......) They will get ranted at in due time. Do note, however, that I do not make the blanket assessment that all malpractice suits are bad. My complaint is with the overuse and over-extension of the concept of class-action suits. And my rantings here are limited to the effect of class-action suits on the cost of medications, and not on the cost of healthcare in general. Others have made that argument; at this time I choose not to.
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