I got this in my inbox this morning from Dr. Douglass and his "Daily Dose." I have been saying that Versed in particular is used to fatten the profit margin for procedures. It's cheap to purchase, but the nursing costs for monitoring patients under the influence of Versed are astronomical. Same damn nurse, but once you are poisoned, they charge you more for them. Also the little CRNA that gets to shoot you up with it gets paid quite handsomely! (and wants more money)
All these colonoscopies? I think most of the time they are a waste of time and money. The risks out weigh the benefits unless you are already having a problem. That's my opinion. PTSD from sedation, perforation, infection all for a "simple" diagnostic tool. Not to mention the huge expense of this simple procedure which CAN be done without these risks. No sedation=no mental disorder and no perforations. It also means no MONEY for the CRNA, the nursing "levels of care" charges, the drug manufacturers and the Doc can't do as many per day. He/she will have to SLOW DOWN! Which leads me to this from Dr. Douglass's "Daily Dose"
Colon docs poop out
Most people would lose their jobs if they mentally clocked out hours before the end of the workday.
Imagine an accountant who always screws up numbers after lunch!
Yet it's perfectly acceptable in the world of medicine -- especially when it comes to the single most important cancer screening: the colonoscopy.
A new study confirms that docs get worse at this procedure as the clock winds down toward quittin' time – with some docs only half as good at the last procedure of the day as they are for the first.
Researchers tracked 28 endoscopists for four months, checking not only how many polyps they found per patient but how those numbers changed throughout the day.
They found that for each hour that passed, docs detected 4 percent fewer polyps.
But the clock isn't the only thing you need to watch -- you also need to look at your place in line, because researchers say docs detected 5 percent fewer polyps in each successive patient.
Docs that performed 12 procedures a day found only half the polyps in the last patients of the day as they did in the first, according to the study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
To make matters worse, this is a problem we've known about for years, but clearly no one is taking any steps to correct the problem.
Back in 2009, I told you about a study showing that docs who worked early in the morning found 27 percent more polyps than docs who performed the procedures after 8:30 a.m.
What's changed since then?
Not much, according to the new study.
Look, it's crazy that the time of your appointment could actually make a life-or-death difference, but the numbers don’t lie.
Since that's the reality, recognize it -- and in addition to making sure you pick an experienced and well-recommended doctor with a good track record, always schedule your appointment before breakfast.
Your rear guard,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D
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