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Besmirching Medical Professionals, Part 1

Jason — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:11:57 +0000

I plan to write a massive critique of the medical profession, but for now I want to quickly criticize their interaction with patients. They treat patients as idiots unable to understand numbers, basic scientific research, and entities incapable of doing cost/benefit analysis. And while many people may suffer from one or more of these conditions, the opportunity for others to have their doctors geek out on them should be available (and bad decisions by the patients tolerated and chalked up to free will).

For example, in my initial wave of research on liver transplantation, no Web site provides numbers, references to research studies, detailed analysis of the situation, and/or in-depth discussion of post-op survival rates. Instead, each and every one of the many sites I visited–this included reputable university medical centers, renown private medical centers, and organizations dedicated to the situation–take a superficial and ultra-basic approach. While this is nice for an introduction or for people who do not care, it is unsatisfactory for those who want, or need, to know more.

While this is an extreme example, Web sites like liverdisease.com, which was recommended by USC’s Liver Transplant Program not only should have been banned from the Internet in 2000, but are criminal. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone familiar with 419 is involved.

Are You an Organ Donor?

Jason — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:29:06 +0000

Being an organ donor is important. If you are, then good. If not, then you clearly are in need of a transplant…a brain transplant. Stop screwing around.

To Those Who Have Ever Worried I Was Having A Heart Attack

Jason — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:24:32 +0000

Great news! Remember those times when we thought I was going to drop dead from a heart attack because of the sharp stabbed-with-a-knife-like* pain I felt “in” my heart? Well, a co-worker–who suffers from the same pain–told me it is precordial catch syndrome (pdf), which is semi-common and nothing to get super-worried about.

So when this happens in the future, don’t sweat it and just stand by and help if I’m holding anything; I’ll be okay!

Not surprisingly, those hacks society calls “doctors” don’t know why it happens. WebMD–that it’s-gotta-be-cancer diagnosis center–doesn’t even have an entry on it.

*How do I know?

I got Stabbed 14 times, I can tell you it weren’t by gangsters
My uncle got stabbed like twice and he died, I tell you he’s one of them gangsters.

Seeing Is Hearing

Jason — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 20:18:06 +0000

I had my hearing checked the other day. Surprisingly, and despite what my brain tells me, my hearing is great.

While waiting for my appointment, I browsed through hearing-aid literature. It is more amusing than you might think.

For example, Oticon–a high-end hearing-aid manufacturer–claims to have put Artificial Intelligence into its devices. Amazing how they were able to do it but billions of dollars directed at similar efforts have not.

Also, there was a brochure for GN Resound. Here is my favorite part: