Common sense… idiocy

I recall my mother (any/or all mothers) saying, “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you follow them?” Or, the story from the movie “Jaws” in which Robert Shaw says, “We were being rescued a few at a time. I was so close between being rescued or eaten by a shark. I’ll never wear a life jacket again.” Hey?
Mix and match? NO! That would be a trumpian move as we await our turn in line. Oh?! Republican? You didn’t see how to influence/buy your way to cut the line? Don’t do it! Don’t cut and do not ever mix your vaccines. Off label use (going against manufacturers recommendation) might work and might not. It’s a risk, stupid, not a smart one. Don’t do it. Jumping from the bridge is sure to result in some harm. Mixing metaphors might not hurt but mixing vaccines is stupid, Stupid. I join in admonishing against utter stupid.
IMG_0771
I did a search on the hard drive for a picture. These images all carried the number “IMG_0771.” The image number(s) recycles. It is the nature of digital cameras. Fish in the Red Sea. Cat in Delaware.
I was surprised by the images that had the same number spanning many years. The image of Jules, around 2007, and Colleen 2014. Jules – Maine or Vermont. Colleen NYC.
I was blown away by the mask and the drawn face. It was a bit of shock. I have no recollection of that joke, date and place, unknown. And then, there’s a cerebellar tumor, Jeddah circa 2013? As I recall we successfully removed that tumor and it’s recurrence. IMG_0771, this image, has been an interesting historical journey touching significant things in my life.
Caveat emptor, we missed a target…
As a retired physician I watched the Democratic debate a few nights ago with interest when each candidate roundly assailed the drug companies who manufactured opioids, calling them out for their role in the epidemic of drug related opioid addictions and deaths. There is a missing link in the targeted villains.
Indeed, we are again following the money. The drug companies profit by the billions of dollars, so indeed, they should be a righteous target to “pay” for this disaster. However, the drug companies do not and cannot just hand out the opioids. It requires a prescription from a Physician, an MD. There are regulations. It is not so simple to just hand over a prescription. There is paperwork and justification and there are monitoring systems already in place to track those same prescriptions. Yet, it is not that hard to procure an opioid prescription. And there’s money to be made!
I understand the reluctance of a patient to blame their own beloved family MD. After all, one could never blame someone in whom you place your very life and whose oath is to “do no harm.” But, we bear responsibility. And MD’s are the choke point. Brevity prevents me from more extensive comment. Suffice to say, that MD’s have contributed to the drug crisis. We are legally empowered to continue to prescribe, or, we can be the ones to stop the madness. Until then, the number of drug deaths will continue just like gun violence and the prescription pad is like an AR 15 in the hands of your MD. Caveat emptor.
Public service
No one wants bad news. Positive good news is best. Doctors want to cure. Patients should not leave in despair. Any drug treatment as long as it doesn’t hurt is acceptable. I preached back in 2008 that Pfizer made ~$5 billion a year on a drug to treat fibromyalgia. The diagnosis was a made up medical diagnosis. There is no test that supports the diagnosis. But no one believed it. At least the primary care MD’s at my talk objected. It worked in their patients. Once again there is a voice in the crowd that objects. And if you follow the money, that voice will be stilled. After all Pfizer has millions to spend to protect billions in sales. No doubt there are many among you who can swear it works. Have you considered modern day Snake Oil?
No harm no foul? There are side effects. That’s why folks believe the drug is effective. You know you have taken it because it’s side effects are real. Physicians prescribe it because patients have said it works. It’s a self serving cycle. Call it psychological symbiosis. The only real beneficiary is Pfizer. Money talks. Every time I watch the TV commercial and the disclaimers I am saddened by the disinformation. Gaba, lyrica, horizant – all drugs masquerading as cures for diseases that aren’t.
Pro Wave Cureall
This is a device without any redeeming use as medical device for diagnosis, treatment, or cure. It is so stated in bold print on the first page. It is electrical stimulation based on the meridian lines on the acupuncture charts. It was expensive to buy the machine in its time. Now it is a curiosity. Hey! Even placebos work. And a broken clock is right twice a day. And… well, you get the idea.
Placebo – Vertebroplasty
The white blobs you see are hardened plastic within a vertebrae of the spine.
Placebo was always a dirty word to me. I’m a physician. I don’t lie to my patients. I’m a scientist. Show me what works and what I can feel and touch. God? Once a upon a time nurses administered norsal for pain. (normal saline) And there was the 2-week Harvard study in which they gave patients sugar pills. After the study a woman demanded more pills. (she said they had helped her)
Then, there are industry myths perpetuated for money. Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are billed for $10,000 or more –
“Insurers generally cover the treatments. Medicare pays about $2,400 to $3,000 for vertebroplasty, and $6,500 to $10,000 for kyphoplasty, depending on where the procedure is performed.” NYT 1/24/2019
To be sure I have done it (vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty) – both methods. The results in my hands were mixed. We tend to forget failure and to remember our success. Particularly, I remember an elderly woman who literally rose from her wheelchair to give me a big bear hug. Hey, it works?
No one knows how the procedure gains its success. There is no real science behind it. Injecting a balloon will not lift up a compression fractured vertebral body. A chemical reaction? The heat of the cement setting? No definite science except that the money pours into the coffers of all parties – physician, hospital, supplier (manufacturing company).
The procedure was in my armamentarium of treatment options. More often than not I forgot it was and didn’t do the procedure but a handful of times. We have all had our suspicions. Some chose to make money while others abandoned the procedure. By the time I retired, radiologists were doing them frequently. (Baby, needs new shoes, or daddy needs a new Porsche.)
In summary, the procedure will still be done widely. Money. The companies will push and tout the procedure. Money. And the placebo effect will allow patient testimonials continue with true earnest belief.
….gimme those sugar pills, they worked. … at least they cost pennies not $thousands. I post this on April Fools. Who’s the fool?
Slow Growing
This is a brain tumor. And if it is in your head this is big trouble. It is benign and grew slowly. The only noticeable symptom was that the patient lost his sense of smell. It did not act like a stroke so the symptom was ignored until now. And there is swelling around this tumor so it is actively growing. Now it can no longer be ignored. Surgeons like fisherman like to exaggerate about size so here are the images and you can make your own guess. This one Is on the extra large side of the equation. It is not the largest tumor I have removed. My assistant shook his head in amazement because it was the largest he has seen me remove while he worked with me. But hey! I’m older. The task at hand is to get this tumor out without causing any disturbance to the surrounding brain.
Oh? Yes it is benign. And the sense of smell is gone because the tumor origin is right from that area. There are a lot of serious neurological structures to worry about like the nerves for vision and major arteries into the brain. Of course it requires a complex approach to just expose the mass. As large as the tumor grew, it is still a matter of millimeters between trouble and success. We spent some hours taking this out. In fact it was close to six. And… the end result was that the patient was fine! That is the only thing that matters in the end. I just wish I had met this tumor when it was a lot smaller. But since I’ve been here there are lots of people who have refused surgery in favor of just waiting. Gee!
And the patient – he will make a good recovery except for the sense of smell which was taken by the tumor growing.
Meningomyelocele
This is a birth defect. Once in a while you have a run of cases that are interesting. In Jeddah everyone is wary of surgery. The reasons are myriad but mostly people are just plain afraid. I had some recent successes so for a few days I’ll post up some medical things.
This child was born with a failure of the spine to close over into a proper canal. So the lump is a combination of nerves and skin exposed to the air. The spinal cord begins as a plate which rolls into a tube which is surrounded by the muscle bone and skin. Failure of the tube to roll up results in this defect. It is largely unseen in the US for many years. Prenatal vitamins has pretty much made this so rare that I have not cared for such a patient in many years.
You can see that the nerve sac is incomplete and sticking out through the spine at its lower end.
Fortunately the defect may be low enough that the child will walk. His bowel bladder function may be incomplete. The repair is shown.
The wound is several days after surgery so there is a lot of swelling and bruising but the defect is covered and repaired now. Many more problems will face this child as he grows. This is the first step. The biggest challenge now was to make a proper closure and to prevent infection.
Spine Surgery
Blood attracts attention. This is basic carpentry. There is not too much finesse in play here. The spinal canal was decompressed. Large screws, rods and a cross link were inserted to stabilize the spine. The problem with photographing spine surgery is that all the field is red and the anatomy does not show well at all. You cannot appreciate the screws; just their tops are in view. It all looks intimidating. It is. This system was inserted about ten years ago. The technology is old already. We have moved on to variable head screws. Just like the anatomy, the picture tells me much more than it can the casual viewer.
And this is cable. One professor of mine exclaimed he would never use it. For some problems this is the way to go. Braided cable is softer to work with and is less dangerous to use for certain conditions. So I did. It is much akin to the right tool for the right job. Knowing what is available helps in finding the best solution.
Multiple Cerebral Aneurysms
Imagine a balloon stretched to the utmost and ready to burst. Brain blood vessels develop these little balloons called aneurysms. Unfortunately many of these do rupture and the result is a very sick patient. Coma and death may follow. Surgery of intracranial aneurysms is very delicate. If the aneurysm ruptures intra-operatively, death from the ensuing hemorrhage is possible. It’s technically demanding because there can be no error. This is “really brain surgery.” The anatomy is familiar but disorienting. The surgery is done upside down and sideways. The images demonstrate the exposure of the brain, blood vessels, nerves, and aneurysms. I thought I could run the operative video, but no. To the uninitiated, this was a particular technical challenge because of the presence of two aneurysms positioned on right and left brain vessels.
Medical Photography
Here’s a subtle way to slip in the fact that my day job is brain surgery. As in, I am not a photographer but really the neurosurgeon. But, beginning in high school, I was a photographer first! Medical teaching was often done with a Kodak Carousel slide projector. Hence, there was a need to get visual aid materials. I started medical photography with a Nikon film camera. I shot slide film with a very limited exposure latitude. Print film does not go into a projector. Sometimes we would be able to catch frames from the operating microscope via an adapter. (more…)