Current Comments | Michael D. Lockshin, MD

Medical Care and Doctor Fatigue

Published on July 2, 2009 by Michael D. Lockshin, MD in Current Comments

Dr. Barron Lerner in the New York Times ("A life-changing case for doctors in training," March 3, 2009) misinterprets the history of Libby Zion and the Bell Commission, and draws the wrong lessons. The concern about medical resident fatigue dates not from the 1984 case but at least as far back as a 1971 study

Atul Gawande’s NY Times Op-ED

Published on December 31, 2007 by Michael D. Lockshin, MD in Current Comments

Atul Gawande, the surgeon-writer, is outraged (A Lifesaving Checklist 12/30/07.) Apparently an ongoing medical study, that he endorsed, was stopped because of a bureaucratic rule. The study was trying to this question: Are there fewer hospital infections if doctors follow a checklist, as do airline pilots on take-off (sample: Have you washed your hands? Have

Discussing the Cost of Medicine

Published on November 24, 2007 by Michael D. Lockshin, MD in Current Comments

The New York Times today had an article written by Stephanie Saul entitled THE COVERAGE GAP Avoiding Medicare’s Big Hole. The last three paragraphs discuss the ‘fact’ that many patients are reluctant to discuss the cost of their prescriptions with their doctors. The claim that patients and their doctors do not want to discuss cost