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Flagging medical errors and emphasizing lack of punishment by maintaining anonymity leads to more reporting of errors. There are 100,000 deaths from medical errors annually according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM). A study published in the November 21 issue of Pediatrics showed that reports increased from 13 over 2.5 years to 216. However, none of the reports...

Who would you trust if you had a life-threatening illness. It is challenging to get the care you would like for several reasons that are discussed. There are legal and practical aspects impeding the care you might want.

There is big money and prestige in medical research and examples are cited. About 1.5% of researchers anonymously admitted falsifying data. The clinical consequences are serious.

Many elderly patients are vulnerable to serious medication errors. Elderly patients take 4-6 medications on a daily basis. The interreactions are unknown and side effects are expected, especially when taken in combination.

A study published in Pediatrics from the University of Ottawa documented that 75% of children in ICU with serious illnesses had low vitamin D levels and were noted to be sicker, requiring more life support services, and longer times in the ICU. Considering that there is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency caused by lack of exposure to sunlight, it is not particularly...

When a close friend or family member is seriously ill, there is a lot you can do to support the healing process. Your simple presence,willingness to listen, and deep caring may do a lot to reduce inflammation and promote the healing process. Even though few of us are trained in this area, simple commonsense approaches can do a lot. Our willingess to help out...