dispatches from the new world of work

TomChirp #10

Oh my God, science about effectiveness may be used in healthcare! What will they think of next!

What works and doesn't work in terms of treatments remains a mystery. (One study claims 97%—a pretty big number—of bypass surgeries unnecessary.) (Take an Aspirin instead!) New York Times (05.07) reports the federal budget includes $1.1 billion in the next few years to study treatment effectiveness. The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine is highly supportive—but Rush Limbaugh calls it socialism, naturally.

Yup, evidence comes to medicine—and the world wobbles on its axis!

Chirp!
(Re chirps, we have an Oriole, gorgeous bird—flies too fast for a pic.)

Tom Peters posted this on 05/13/09.

Comments

Tom - the Chirps are an excellent idea !

Posted by Mick Coleman at May 14, 2009 4:10 AM

Tom,

You are a wise guy (literally, no pun there.) But an oriole is a great choice -- or maybe an eagle. Fly high and see the goal clearly, then swoop in with pinpoint precisions, get the job done, and move on.

Definitely not an owl. Just sitting there. Watching. Sitting. Watching... nope. Wouldn't fit. Besides, we don't want you generating "screeches." Stick with the chirps. Oriole is great.

Posted by Dan Gunter at May 14, 2009 6:23 AM

"Evidence based medicine" is a term old as time. It's like the word "paradigm" in business education... worn out and has the impact of throwing a rotten tomato at a brick wall.

Not to say it isn't important. But I've seen similar numbers to what you mention. One group of supposed experts in surgery said that if at least 33% of the appendix surgeries performed didn't result in the discovery that the appendix was normal (not diseased) then the surgeon was probably not being aggressive enough and therefore likely missing a bad appendix too often.

EXCUSE THE $&*# OUT OF ME FOR SOUNDING IGNORANT, BUT...

Why not focus on better diagnostic methods and quit this "shotgun" approach to medicine?

Evidence based medicine... yes. But is there evidence that it is truly practiced? Not like it should be.

Posted by Dan Gunter at May 14, 2009 6:30 AM

"The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine is highly supportive—but Rush Limbaugh calls it socialism, naturally."

Rush Limbaugh is a big fat jokester! He acknowledges this himself. But I never thought of Dick Cheney as such until after his hearty endorsement of the comedian as the leader of the Republican Party instead of Colin Powell, not that the latter is seeking the position or even the former. Now, Cheney's looking like the joker now, no jest. The snarl at the corner of his mouth makes him look quite menacing, whereas Limbaugh's jumping and jiggling about at CPAC was the funniest thing ever!

LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL

Senator McCain's mom, by the way, on the Tonight Show last night, put Limbaugh, and by extension Cheney, in the same circus.

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 14, 2009 8:45 PM