Justin's HOPE healthcare tumblelog

“As a pharmacist, I have talked to medical professionals and drug quality experts in Asia, the Middle East and Africa who explain that half of the drugs in their countries are fake. Their pharmacists often have to resort to cumbersome test kits to detect drugs that are either poisons that kill immediately or fakes that kill eventually. It is impossible to expect U.S. regulators to approve drugs from abroad, and it is impossible to expect pharmacists to be sure drugs that leave the FDA’s system are indeed safe.”

This is a wonderful, eye-opening article about how pharmacists are trying to keep their patients safe and expose harm. I never realized that drug safety was such a significant problem until I was connecting with attendees at a recent NIH conference. How many other practices can we fix if we just knew that they existed? It’s difficult to be brave sometimes but totally necessary.

Dr. Cohn writes: As a result of my recent night journey, this year may be my best yet. A mentor confided, “Change feels like failure when we are in the middle of it,” something that achievement-oriented professionals like me are programmed to resist. I have learned, as Christopher Cornue alluded that:

• We all face danger of extinction in this troubled economy.
• Making oneself indispensable requires active, ongoing effort.
• Email alone is insufficient for staying in touch with a rapidly changing marketplace.
• Pain can be a powerful motivator.
• Daily exercise boosts serotonin and can keep depression manageable.
• Forcing myself to write down three things for which I am grateful every night helps me keep my present helplessness in perspective.
• I can permit myself to grieve (briefly); as a colleague advised, “It’s OK to visit pity city as long as you don’t live there.”
• More importantly, I can reward myself at the time and place of my choosing, which has helped the local ice cream parlor thrive despite difficult times.
• I can be in touch with the majority of my body composition that is liquid and flow in occasionally different directions when a customary route is dammed.
• In “The Question Behind the Question”, John Miller points out that the only question that matters does not begin with “who” or “why,” but “what can I do?” or “how can I help?”; perhaps my experience is teaching me to substitute “I” for “they” when I form the words, “If only….”

According to the new ethics policy, doctors should:

Keep current with best practices and take part in education, certification and quality improvement activities.
Communicate effectively with patients, families and other professionals, and coordinate care appropriately.
Monitor the quality of care they deliver through case review, peer review and other improvement tools.
Implement quality and performance improvement measures in their daily practices.

We are pleased to announce that Sorrel’s book Josie’s Story will be published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc. on September 8, 2009.

I look forward to reading it soon!

“Scientists don’t like talking about it publicly,” because they worry that their remarks will be viewed as lashing out at the health institutes, which supports them, said Dr. Richard D. Klausner, a former director of the National Cancer Institute. But, Dr. Klausner added: “There is no conversation that I have ever had about the grant system that doesn’t have an incredible sense of consensus that it is not working. That is a terrible wasted opportunity for the scientists, patients, the nation and the world.”

I’m hoping that things are changing and that the selection process for the new healthcare research grants (which is be a massive undertaking for those reviewing them) will be awarded to those that think a bit outside of the box and are willing to take risks on discovering cures.

Keeping meaningful research alive is imperative. Scientists are now becoming more involved in the quality and meaning of their work and many are no longer in fear of speaking up about things that could be done better in facilitating the grant process for the common good. Give them a chance and they will make miracles happen.

….We make commentary about health, health care, and healing, a pursuit that, like baseball, often reveals motivated players, talented coaches, amazing facilities, and enthusiastic fans. But the game we follow is highly variable and outcomes don’t always match the raw potential of the franchise. Maybe you have a team like this in your town?….

Great analogy, Barb, and thanks for including us!

1. Take a stand for greatness
2. Connect with the original vision
3. Remind yourself what is at stake
4. Listen to your heart
5. Speak up
6. Be stubborn