Strange, that the meningitis-tainted steroids in Tennessee make me think of the chocolate bar case from Oklahoma. Two young, and it seemed to me, perfectly honest if somewhat histrionic young women who found worms in their Hershey bars — the hard way. Both were unemployed and mothers of ... Views: 708
Maybe if it’s “all in your head,” it’s in your brain chemistry
We women have spent so long and worked so hard for equality in rights, in education, and at work, that it may actually be hard to talk about how we are different.
The World Health Organization has been working on this, and ... Views: 1603
I thought that everyone knew by now that if something is a supplement that is supposed to help you lose weight by gulping down a pill, it is going to turn out to be a lie. One of the first things they teach you in debating is that your weakest argument is an appeal to authority. Everyone who ... Views: 1565
Welcome!
This is the discussion area for and the archive of my newsletter The Renegade Doctor.
I started publishing a newsletter in March of 2011 and distribute it exclusively to my opt-in email list each week.
Not only will subscribers get to read content that isn’t available in my ... Views: 1461
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, that old Dylan Thomas poem, is a favorite of many mature adults, including me.
Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light
Let’s face it — none of us is getting any younger. And as we age, we’ve got to ... Views: 1195
Animal mummies from ancient Egypt are featured on banners flying from poles here in middle-to-upper class southern California and I realized something significant but not earth-shaking.
I didn’t care.
I was fascinated with Egyptology back in the 4th grade when I built a model pyramid out ... Views: 1457
Topic: Research Fraud
For someone who has been a part of many clinical trials, I will be the first to admit that I have very little training in research design or statistics. Oh, the hours I’ve spent surreptitiously curled up on the sofa of a doctors’ lounge or my own apartment, thinking ... Views: 543
Humans are … well, strange. A fixed problem can become unfixed.
First, let’s take it on good authority this problem really has been fixed.
It has been fixed with vaccination.
Nobody wants problems. So why? Why is the number of measles cases suddenly rising?
People seem to ... Views: 1108
In the National World War II museum, it is easy and even triumphant and pride-generating to look back and see some of the scientific advances made during World War II. There’s no doubt that science is advancing. But I wonder if our ethics can keep pace.
I am fairly proud of Teflon. And ... Views: 785
Maybe the folks who continue to argue against stem cell research are just afraid their own stem cells could beat them at a game of checkers.
Listen, I want to live forever. Not like in the song “Fame,” but like in the way that most of us would do anything to live. Or like the guy who had ... Views: 864
Greetings fun-seekers and brain lovers! I want to tell you about a profound realization I've had and I hope it saves you from going through what I've gone through.
Whenever you fly, you hear the safety instructions and they tell you, if the oxygen masks come down, make sure you put on your own ... Views: 2363
The first time I heard about using empty whipped cream dispensers to get “high” was a long time ago. I was living at my parents’ house after I had finished medical school in France. I had done my thesis as quickly as possible, in the fall. My residency was projected to start July first. I ... Views: 1674
Turns out, while most veterans appreciate a stranger saying “thank you” for their service, it can also be a bit uncomfortable. I wonder how these same guys feel about the “Have you thanked a veteran today?” bumper stickers.
I’ve been thanking veterans for a long time. Sometimes, not as ... Views: 1006
You probably know by now that I’m all about helping people relieve chronic pain and live longer and healthier lives. Just the other day, a gentleman visited me at the clinic to request medical marijuana. He said his feet had rotated 180 degrees from normal when he was born. He was literally ... Views: 2951
I found myself facing a person who had lost themselves in drug abuse.
Not so unusual — when dealing with public health clinics. The prognosis is usually poor. An addict won’t cooperate with treatment unless forced by the courts in most cases.
Here is what I said to one mental health ... Views: 1556
To paraphrase some recent political campaigns, the FDA was against Qnexa before they were for it.
I’ve written about this diet drug compound before – HERE And HERE.
Last time I wrote about this “drug,” I thought it was down for the count. Aauugghh!!!!
Like a scene from “Night Of The ... Views: 1196
WARNING: Don’t spend hundreds of dollars on diet or exercise programs that seem to work for everybody but you until you read this important information I have to tell you.
I Lost Over Half My Body Mass WITHOUT Diet, Exercise, Drugs Or Surgery And I Am Going To Tell You How!
By Estelle Toby ... Views: 1653
Warning: Daily use of aspirin can lead to side effects which may include total loss of impulse control, man boobs, toe hair, and third nipples. Please consult your doctor before taking this and other over the counter medicine.
Well, not really. But your really should know the risks and ... Views: 1005
I’ve got to admit, I must have already been living in the world of alternative medicine by the time the FDA approved Xyrem. As far as I can figure, it’s exactly the same as the street drug GHB. Us pharmacology types call this gamma hydroxybutyric acid. In a stable salt form that people can ... Views: 1414
I have no use for “science vs. religion” debates. They are artificially created to get people angry at each other, when there is absolutely no reason.
Whatever divine entity you believe in — whatever “universal intelligence” — is not a stupid being. Any Deity would simply reveal to people ... Views: 1385
We are in an era when all reporting — wire services, networks, whatever — looks the way tabloid reporting did when I was small. Aggressive, emotional, mostly verbal renderings of disasters that are meant to strike terror into the heart of the reader. Sometimes, something miraculous or near ... Views: 1090
If I haven’t convinced everyone yet, I don’t know how.
I have written on this before.
Vaccination keeps kids alive. Kids who could die dead as door nails from preventable diseases.
Vaccination has very few side effects.
All kids should get them (except for specific and quite rare ... Views: 1064
I enjoy having friends, like just about everyone does. But that’s not why I’m in this business. When a patient needs help, I will do my best for them every single time. And if a few colleagues get bruised egos along the way, so be it.
She was a 53-year-old woman, but I don’t think she even ... Views: 911
I read a joke once about a husband’s preemptive strike in the bedroom. He walks in holding two aspirin and a glass of water. When his wife asks what it’s for he says it’s for her headache. She replies “But I don’t have a headache.” “Gotcha!”
Headaches are no fun, so we might as well get ... Views: 1813
So who is or is not going to pay for contraception under Obamacare? And this is a religious question?
The truth of the matter is that even though the United States has promised religious freedom from the very start, they have not done a very good job, historically, of delivering on this ... Views: 1184
This story does not start with “I was minding my own business, surfing the internet.”
I was seeing a deeply suffering patient with terminal cancer and I was sneezing. I have a bunch of seasonal allergies and I treat them naturally with Quercetin and related compounds, a bioflavonoid, ... Views: 1470
The current rate of suicide among soldiers should make us angry, maybe enough to destroy our computers or, heaven forbid, write to congress or even try to stop war.
I checked out this institution¸ the National Center for Veterans Studies, the best I could. I am not sure why the Department of ... Views: 1246
Only 16% of all murder victims are members of the defendant’s family?
That’s according to the PDF file that pops open (or opens in your browser) when you click this link – and you must have the free Adobe Acrobat reader to see it. (Fortunately, it is included with most computers ... Views: 1342
I love being a ”shrink-lady.” (okay, a “psychiatrist.”)
I did not pick it out of a hat. I tried a couple of other medical specialties. The “doctor” part — well, there was never any doubt about that part, really. I mean the idea of taking care of other folks came into my head pretty early ... Views: 1343
I was in my specialty training when I read Peter D.Kramer’s “Listening to Prozac.”
I remember thinking he was articulate and observant and all kinds of wonderful things, riding the cusp of a great change in psychiatry, doubting him to be a “real” scientist who would hang out at a meeting of ... Views: 1228