The Dr. A Show

I'm very excited to announce that Mother Jones RN will be joining me this week on Doctor Anonymous Live! Tune in Thursday, October 4th from 10:00-10:30pm eastern time. (Need a time conversion chart? Just click here.) MJ will be hosting Grand Rounds next week. Click here to see what her theme will be.

We'll talk about Grand Rounds and what ever else comes to mind. If you remember, MJ was gracious enough to call into my very first show. Thanks so much MJ!

Not only can YOU listen live to the show, you can also participate by calling into the show and/or in our LIVE chat room. Never heard my show before? What's wrong with you? LOL. You can listen to an archived show in my sidebar. You can also check out my Blog Talk Radio site.

Finally, as an added bonus, I will have a Major Announcement that I'm going to make sometime during the show on Thursday night. YOU will definitely have to listen live to check out what that is? (What could it be?) Hope you'll be able to join us! Spread the word!

Let's Make a Deal

I enjoyed watching this game show when I was growing up. While watching the show, I thought to myself, "Would I really trade this for that to make a great deal for myself?" What really is a good deal? I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.

Well, now the band Radiohead has taken this to an entirely new level with their latest album. Ever since there has been digital music, there has been a debate on what is a fair price for electronic music. And, you can't have a discussion like this without talking about music piracy.

Here's what the band has on their website (NY Times):

Yes, that's right, you fill in the price that you want to pay. This is not a joke. Believe me, when I first read the title of this article, I really didn't believe it. But, it's real. For a minimum of one British penny (about two American cents), you can have not only one song - but the entire album.

There is no maximum price, nor any other guidance, setting up what is may be the biggest experiment in digital-era music-industry pricing to date. What are people willing to pay for music? How many will pay full price? How will the average price compare to what a typical record company would likely have charged? Will people pirate it anyway?

This is a pretty daring experiment - one that may redefine how music is bought and sold on the internet. I know that the Apple iTunes people and the record labels are going to be watching this very closely. I didn't even know about this band until this story, but now, I may even check them out.

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds 4.02 is now up and running over at Musings of a Distractible Mind. Dr. Rob has the creative theme of the Cat In The Hat. Thanks so much for including my post this week.

Doctor A ponders with back pain who wins:
Those treated with pills or those poked with the pins?

If you don't know what Grand Rounds is, it is a weekly compilation of the best posts from the medical blogosphere that moves to different sites each week. And, who doesn't like reading about medicine and science?

Next week, GR moves to the blog of Mother Jones RN entitled Nurse Ratched's Place. She has already picked a theme which will be a "a tribute to the doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals who are serving in the Armed Forces."

Thanks again to Dr. Rob for being a guest on Doctor Anonymous Live last week. If you haven't had a chance to check out my interview with him, I encourage you to click this link or check out the audio client in my sidebar. Enjoy Grand Rounds!

Pimp My Mac

Is a gold plated Mac laptop just too much bling? What do you think?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Since it is the first day of October, this is the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. If you're looking for a good resource of information, the American Cancer Society has a lot of good stuff. I encourage you to check it out.

I was also reading this article from the Chicago Tribune this morning which reviews a new survey stating that there is still a lot of misunderstanding out there as far as the facts about breast cancer.

One "stunning" example, she said, is that people still believe heredity is the cause of most breast cancer cases, although in reality only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancer is caused by genetic mutations that can be inherited.

The survey, being released Monday, the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, also found that 7 out of 10 women believe eating enough fruits and vegetables can help prevent breast cancer. In reality, there's no good evidence that this is true.

Most women (and nearly two-thirds of those age 18 to 24) believe breast cancer can be prevented. In reality, there are only a few things women can do to reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of developing the disease, such as not drinking alcohol and not taking hormones. The biggest risk factors are being female and getting older.

Unfortunately, the end of this article is a political commercial for a website. They also state that they are going to make this an issue in the US presidential election. So, again, the press taking advantage of cancer patients to push their political agenda. It's really unfortunately and frustrating how these people make pawns of cancer patients for their own political purposes.

Avoid OTC cough meds for kids

Fall really hasn't set in here yet (temps are still close to summer-like numbers). But with school back in session, the cough and cold season has definitely returned. Everyday I hear of kids' coughs and fevers and other respiratory symptoms.

Also, everyday, I hear questions of what to give kids less than 2 years old for these symptoms. Apparently, according to the FDA, avoid over the counter cough meds in these kids (ABC News).

In a report released last week, safety experts within the Food and Drug Administration said they would recommend NO level of dosage for children under the age of two, "due to the lack of evidence of efficacy and safety concerns."

"There are a variety of problems that can occur, and there have been some deaths associated with cough and cold preparations," says Dr. Janet Serwint, who signed a petition, asking the FDA to warn parents about the dangers of these medicines.

Even more amazing, the industry itself — while insisting its medicines are safe — now agrees they should not be given to very young children.

"Parents should not use these products for children under 2," says Linda Suydam, president of the Consumers Healthcare Products Association.

Last week, I was asked about these types of medicines for kids under 2 years old, and I related the FDA concerns. The parent then told me, "Then, you expect my child to cough all night? There's got to be something to give him to bring the stuff up, right? How about an antibiotic?"

I predict that with this FDA advisory and subsequent news reports - that docs will be pressured even more to give kids antibiotics for what seems to be viral infections. I'm telling docs out there (including myself) - Stand your ground!

If you think your patient (whether they be a child or adult) doesn't require an antibiotic, then say so. It's going to be difficult (I go through this everyday), but I know you can do it!