Shutting Up About Medical Mistakes

Why Doctors Stay Mum About Mistakes Their Colleagues Make
I once had an honest and brave dentist who told me a former dentist put banned amalgam into my tooth. ‘Would you tell that to your dentist?’ she asked. I said ‘Of course not ma’am.’ I knew what she was implying.

‘For the NEJM report, Gallagher led a team of 15 experts who discussed the problem. They identified many reasons why doctors may want to stay silent about errors by their peers.

‘One is that doctors depend on each other for business. So a physician who breaks the code of silence may become known as a tattler and lose referrals, a financial penalty. Or maybe they aren’t sure exactly what happened to the patient and don’t want to take the time to try and unravel it. In some cases, issues related to cultural differences, gender, race and seniority come into play.

‘The report notes that doctors also may be wary of becoming entangled in a medical malpractice case, or of causing a colleague to face legal consequences…’
more

Stephen Colbert’s Hilarious Takedown of GMO’s [Video]
‘”Yes, America’s food manufacturers can’t take the time and expense to find out if there’s genetically modified ingredients in their food. They don’t even know if there is food in their food.”

“‘Besides, I want genetically modified foods. Because you are what you eat and I’m hoping one day a mutant tomato can give me heat vision.”…’
video

Video Documentary: “We Are All Radioactive”
‘Autumn and Yuji are both profiled in We Are All Radioactive, an episodic documentary created by journalist Lisa Katayama and former TED video director Jason Wishnow. The film introduces us to the many members of a tight-knit surfing community in Japan that rallied together to rebuild a demolished coastal town. This doc reminds us quite a bit of Michael Forster Rothbart’s new TED Book, Would You Stay?, which tells the story (in words and pictures) of people living in Chernobyl and Fukushima despite the risk of radiation. Because as these surfers work hard to rebuild the area they love, they also have to contend with a serious question: Are they damaging their health by staying?…’
video

5 Toxic Household Chemicals to Eliminate from Your Home
‘The word “chemical” is thrown around a lot in the natural health world, as if all chemicals are bad. The truth is, they aren’t. A chemical is merely a substance with a distinct molecular composition. Your tea is a chemical and so is the water that went into your tea. But when we talk about toxic chemicals, we are largely talking about man-made compounds with damaging effects on humans, animals, or the environment. Many of these toxic chemicals are present in our homes and can be eliminated or at the very least minimized…’

Here are 5 health-damaging chemicals (or sources of chemicals) that can be found in your home, but can be eliminated: