We hear daily about the exorbitant cost of healthcare today. We also hear that “if you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it’s free.” But that exemplifies it is not an expense issue. It’s an over utilization issue. In our experience, because it’s free, there is an over utilization of more than twice […]

See section 8 for a psychiatrist’s detailed review of homosexual history and behavior. The homosexual lobby has been very active in San Francisco. They were not adverse to calling themselves queer. There were establishments with large signs saying “Queer beers,” or “Suckers Liquors.” They catered to the “Queerty” crowd. There were numerous Bath Houses all […]

Intensive or critical care is expensive. That’s why it is important to have high end health care coverage. A car crash, stroke, heart attack, cancer and maybe a dozen other medical or surgical problems and emergencies would cause financial hardship in millionaires, much less us ordinary citizens. But catastrophic health insurance with a $3,500 to […]

This is something that is exploited by bureaucrats, politicians, and socialists. They act like patients are screaming in pain as they come to death’s door. It is better to euthanize them to avoid such pain. But I’ve never seen a patient in pain when he dies. They just quietly quit breathing and if you have […]

The perspective of a pulmonary consultant occasional provides an overview of medicine. Recently a patient was referred for consultation of an emergency room evaluation. The family was very concerned over the report of a very abnormal chest x-ray.  The report indicated right middle lobe collapse, interstitial infiltrates, calcified pleural plaques, and possible pneumonia. I remembered […]

Recently, April 15th, so-called “Tax Day,” served as a reminder that our federal government takes more of our money each year to fund a multitude of things not within its constitutional authority or purposes. President Obama bragged recently that our deficits are coming down at the fastest rate in 60 years. And it is true: […]

There has been some confusion in this era with Personal Health Records with getting the patient more involved in his or her own care. Some patients have interpreted this as going to any doctor they feel they need at the moment. They do not see their personal physician as being their managing partner—but just a […]

By Tad DeHaven, the Cato Institute, August 6, 2013 Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is one of the largest federal programs; it is also one of the most troubled. The program’s expenditures have doubled over the last decade, reaching an estimated $144 billion this year. Spending has risen so rapidly that SSDI’s trust fund is […]

International Classification of Diseases Using numbered codes for diagnosis make cataloging disease and coding the cause of death easier and more accurate. These are the ICD codes (International Classification of Diseases). ICD 1 began in 1900 and the current ICD 9 is scheduled to be replaced by the ICD 10 in October 2015. The magnitude […]

ICD There are two related classifications of diseases with similar titles, and a third classification on functioning and disability. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the classification used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates. The International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification (ICD-CM) is used to code and classify morbidity data from […]