It is all about the money

The two commercials you see on TV constantly are pharmaceutical companies advertising their drugs and lawyers wanting to sue pharmaceutical companies.

Why do so many drugs created to cure one thing, have twenty-times as many side effects.

Through the Cambodian interpreter, retired patient tells me how he got a laceration on top of his thumb while using a handsaw four days previously. He was able to stop the bleeding, but now it was so infected he had to come in. After a prescription for some antibiotics and some instructions to elevate and use warm compresses, he was on his way. Although, I had to say that just because it is called a handsaw, does not mean you saw your hand. Lame, but least I got a small laugh from the interpreter and patient.

New Clinicals

Started a new clinical rotation over the weekend in an urgent care clinic for a large HMO. There were about a dozen MD’s & NP’s working, and my preceptor handles mostly musculoskeletal injuries. She also had a good sense of humor, which helps when you see so many people in the course of a shift.

I found the patients rather pleasant to deal with, maybe because they had insurance and did not have to wait around in some ER to be seen for their minor injuries and accidents. We saw bike riders who found out pavement is not very forgiving and a trail runner who now prefers flat ground after a nice spill. Although she blames her boyfriend because he made her go. A father who was practicing acrobatics with his daughter and had to leave in a foot cast, and I never realized so many people slammed their fingers in car doors. Thirty seconds and the use of a cautery pen to relieve the pressure and they were on their way.