RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

I have managed to keep more of a postive spotlight on the stories this week despite the myriad of economic hardship blogs that have been rampant regarding the medical industry and the economy in general. From the rehospitalization data, to why it’s bad to grind your teeth, the topics have been diverse, interesting, and timely. On a blog-related side note, Kevin, MD (somewhat of a pioneer in the medical blogosphere) has been rearranging his blog site and is now located with a group of health professionals called HCPLive Network.

Dr. Incognito

Our pick for this week’s BEST blog is. . .

Should People With Mental Illness Hold Public Office? By Dinah

Honorable Mentions

• It’s Time For Medicine To Make Quality Job #1 by Dr. Lichtenfeld
• Medicare Rehospitalization Data Highlight Importance Of Postdischarge Care – Physicians First Watch

This week’s MedReader has been very helpful in picking out some recent, never- posted blogs. Of course, we still have some of the old ones we pick on from time to time, but for the most part we are always finding new blog sites that offer new and unique medical perspectives. So, if you have a suggestion, please send it to us for review. We would love to see YOUR favorite blog pick!

Dr. Incognito

Our pick for this week’s BEST blog is. . .

Antioxidants For Cancer Prevention by Julie Lanford, MPH, RD, LDN

Honorable Mentions

• OIG Issues Modified Position On Stark Self-Disclosure Protocol by Bob Coffield, attorney
• Nine Natural Neuroprotective Agents You Can’t Live Without by Kerry Friesen, MD

The new MedReader has been providing me with some great medical blogs to post throughout the week. Despite a lot of political ranting in the medical blogosphere, I have still managed to find some really good medically oriented blogs to read over and post. We haven’t had a shortage of job postings either, so I hope you are enjoying those as well. Don’t forget to suggest a good blog site if you know of one – our ears are open!

Dr. Incognito

Our pick for this week’s BEST blog is. . .

New York Times Takes Up Pig MRSA ST398 by Maryn McKenna

Honorable Mentions

• Alzheimers, Dysphagia, And Peg Tubes – A Conversation by Odysseas Kostas, MD
• CAM On Campus: Naturopathy by Tim Kreider

The medical blogs this week have been diverse and short, providing a brevity of information. We have had blogs from doctors, nurses, columnists, editors and researchers. I must say, it was difficult to choose a ‘best blog’ from this week’s submissions, but here goes. . .

Dr. Incognito

Our pick for this week’s BEST blog is. . .

Will Patients Or Doctors Be The Biggest Obstacle Impeding Health Care Reform? By Kevin Pho, MD

Honorable Mentions

• The Death Of Bedside Nursing? By Lisa Schulmeister, RN, MN, OCN, FAAN
• Living With Incontinence After Prostate Cancer By Dana Jennings

The blogs this week have been quite diverse, ranging from bantering to statements based on thorough research. I learned information that I didn’t know (as always), some information was reinforced, and other stuff was just plain entertaining. We hope you find our Scrubby Winners this week to be both thought provoking and informative.

-Dr. Incognito

Scrubby Winner:

“13 Things I Hate About Nephrology” (by Nephrogirl) by Joshua Schwimmer, MD, FACP, FASN

Honorable Mentions

• An Advance Directive May (Or May Not) Ensure Wishes Are Carried Out by Thaddeus Pope
• Study Reinforces Hormone Therapy And Breast Cancer Link by Kathleen, RN

Of particular interest this week among the diverse array of medical blog topics was this question posed by Prometheus, “Is the diagnosis of autism increasing and is it a real epidemic?” The blog brought to light that while the diagnosis of autism has increased over the years, the total number of children diagnosed with mental retardation had decreased over the years. Go figure. And, that is exactly what this author did, in five simple graphs; he took a look at whether we truly do have an epidemic of autism.

-Dr. Incognito

Scrubby Winner:

Five Easy Graphs by Prometheus

Honorable Mentions

• Mindsets About Physicians by Richard Reece, MD
• Analysis Shows Alarming Increase In Pediatric MRSA Infections by Kathleen, RN

The blogosphere has certainly been an enlightening place to be this week. I especially enjoyed the blog on MRSA in US Swine and the potential “cover-up” in the zoonotic arena. I didn’t hear myself say that, however.

More and more research is being done in zoonotics with a recent research study showing MRSA cropping up in a variety of our meat products. This is scary stuff. But, I don’t hear much about it on the news . . . funny how that stuff gets swept under the carpets of the news brigade; and, it’s not just piggy MRSA, it is MRSA from all animals showing up in a variety of products from all meat sources. Anyway, moving on, I hope you’ve enjoyed our top medical story and video picks for the week. Now for the best of the best . . .

-Dr. Incognito

Scrubby Winner:

MRSA ST398 in US Swine by Dr. Tara Smith

Honorable Mentions

• ADHD, Alcoholism and Nutrient Deficiencies by Geoffrey Rutledge, MD, PhD
• A Conflict of Interest by Peter Jung, MD

We have seen a truly historic week in regards to this weeks inauguration of our new President, not to mention the enormous, record-shattering crowds of spectators that turned out on Tuesday. Now, let’s hope we can finally get down to the business at hand with all the parties and festivities over.

It has also been a busy week for the blogosphere. Not only did many of the blogs cover their opinions and views of the inauguration; we had plenty of good medical blogs as well. The Scrubby Winner held some particularly good points. The three aspects of the social web are revolutionizing science. By using them, we can learn more about our fields than ever before. Those who choose not to take advantage of the social web will miss the opportunity to become more creative and productive scientists! We have much to learn from the blog on Science And The Social Media.

So without further a-do, let’s announce the Scrubby Award winners!

- Dr. Incognito

Best Scrubby:

Science And The Social Media by BioJobBlogger

Honorable Mentions

• Zyprexa: Lilly Admits Guilt, But Also Blames Physicians by CL Psych
• An Old Drug Called Salsalate Could Become Cheap Diabetes Fighter by Sarah Rubenstein

One thing I am happy for this week is that we are past the election banter and the arguing over who should be President. Now we can focus on how our new President will deal with the healthcare crises that we are in and the current pressing issues within that arena.

Also refreshing - for now - the blogs are back to talking about patients and healthcare needs and problems, which is a refreshing change of pace for all of us. I think Dr. Wilson wrote an excellent blog on biosurveillance this week, pushing us to look at the seriousness of another potential pandemic and encouraging us to realize that we need to follow and monitor the progress of the transmission patterns of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – H5N1 virus. We need to think of things we can do for infection control, like better hand washing techniques to start with and not overprescribing antibiotics or antivirals. The public health community should endeavor to define common points of reference and to solve the ambiguity that has contributed to the concept of disaster sociology. It may behoove the public health system to synthesize a disaster sociology-informed process of analysis and take the lead in challenging the notion of static conceptualization of biological events as merely “outbreaks” and “epidemics”.