Heard of Botto Bistro? It’s a pizzeria in the Bay Area. Chef Davide Cerrentini, who emigrated to the US in the 90s, opened the restaurant’s doors in 2009. Cerrentini is famous for asking happy diners to give him a one star Yelp review. That’s right. One star. Botto Bistro accrued thousands of such reviews and was at one time ranked as the worst rated restaurant on … Read more
Many things in medicine are the way they are because “that’s they way they have always been.” Customs propagate from generation to generation without deep analysis. A long-held assumption in medicine is that young physicians in training need exposure to as many cases as possible to acquire adequate skills. There is a limited population of … Read more
We spend our careers caring for our patients and providing for our families. But how often do we stop to protect what we’ve earned? Not enough – which is a problem. It’s much easier to protect what you’ve earned than to earn it again. And catastrophes can divorce you from the assets you trust to … Read more
Comedy is when you fall through an open manhole. Tragedy is when I fall through an open manhole. It’s an old joke and a helpful segue to understanding dark humor in the medical community. Physicians see a lot of desperate and hopeless situations. We have to deliver bad news. Sometimes frequently. Gallows humor is defined as grim and ironic humor in a desperate and … Read more
Platforms like Google, Healthgrades, Vitals, and Yelp present the public with information. Information about their health, information about their potential physicians, and information about their local healthcare systems. These platforms exist to educate the public. Overall, they succeed. Unfortunately, their popularity has increased the frequency physicians and dentists are defamed online. As is the … Read more
We received a call from a dentist in the Midwest. A week earlier someone called for an appointment. He wanted a run of the mill check-up. First available appointment was Friday at 4PM. Just before closing. In the waiting room, the patient appeared morbidly obese. It was impossible to estimate accurately. But, the receptionist assumed … Read more
The FDA regulates drugs and devices to make sure they are safe and effective for their intended use. Its regulatory authority to achieve that goal is broad. For years, the FDA took the position that it did not have authority to regulate drugs used for executions – or in the alternative – it had discretion to avoid … Read more
If a dog bites a man, that is not newsworthy. When a man bites a dog, it makes news. A patient sues a doctor. Not newsworthy. Doctor sues a patient. That’s a headline. Dr. Leonard Hochstein, star of the reality TV series “The Real Housewives of Miami” is suing two patients, Nicole George and Kristen … Read more
Casey Smitherman is superintendent of a small school district in the Midwest. The town, Elwood, Indiana, has 8,500 people and struggles with serious poverty. Many of its students do not have adequate resources. Ms. Smitherman had helped a specific student in the past, buying clothes for him and helping clean his house. This specific student failed to show up at school. Smitherman apparently did not … Read more
I had never heard of the phrase “serial malpracticer.” It seems to apply to Dr. Spyros Panos, an orthopaedic surgeon who surrendered his medical license six years ago. An arbitrator awarded $140 million to resolve 255 medical malpractice lawsuits in New York. Dr. Panos refused consent to settle. His carrier, MLMIC, overrode him. It’s not clear that the carrier has (or … Read more
