ANNOUNCEMENT

Take a look at the MedCity ENGAGE program, with expert speakers from leading organizations. Reserve your place today.

Michael Kirsch, MD

Michael Kirsch, MD

Michael Kirsch, MD, is a full time practicing physician and writer. He writes regularly at MD Whistleblower about the joys and challenges of medical practice including controversies in the doctor-patient relationship, medical ethics and measuring medical quality.

Follow Michael Kirsch, MD: Website |

It’s time for a common sense update of the off-label rule

It’s time for a common sense update of the off-label rule

December 26, 2012 1:08 pm by | 0 Comments

Am I an apologist for the pharmaceutical companies? I don’t think so, but others may disagree based on some sympathetic Whistleblower posts that have appeared in this blog.It is without ... Read more
Caring for patients to get good patient satisfaction survey results is like teaching to the test

Caring for patients to get good patient satisfaction survey results is like teaching to the test

September 3, 2012 8:02 am by | 0 Comments

Your call is important to us. Please listen carefully because our options have changed.Reader query: During your current or any prior lifetime, has any phone menu option ever changed?I have ... Read more
Is the physician private practice being ‘targeted by design?’

Is the physician private practice being ‘targeted by design?’

August 12, 2012 11:50 am by | 0 Comments

One would think that a physician who earns his living billing patients would be conversant with the prices of his services. Not this doctor. I am queried periodically by patients ... Read more
Pay for performance has no place in healthcare

Pay for performance has no place in healthcare

July 15, 2012 9:45 pm by | 2 Comments

Why does Pay for Performance (P4P) make most physicians reach for Maalox? I have devoted a good portion of this blog’s real estate to dismantling the fallacy that pay for ... Read more
Soda ban is a slippery slope that discourages personal responsibility

Soda ban is a slippery slope that discourages personal responsibility

June 17, 2012 11:30 pm by | 2 Comments

I’m a gastroenterologist and I should be against obesity. I should counsel patients who have reached a designated rung on the body mass index (BMI) ladder on the risks of ... Read more
Patient priorities: Love of golf is more powerful than fear of cancer

Patient priorities: Love of golf is more powerful than fear of cancer

May 13, 2012 11:02 pm by | 0 Comments

There are some patients we doctors never forget. They linger in our memories for various reasons. Often, it is their serious or unusual medical condition that stays with us. On ... Read more
For elderly people with dementia, feeding tubes may not be a kindness

For elderly people with dementia, feeding tubes may not be a kindness

March 18, 2012 5:35 pm by | 1 Comments

Okay, readers, how many of you desire to have a feeding tube inserted into your belly one day? Some of you? A few of you? All of you? Not me, ... Read more
New Hep C meds may override watchful waiting for patients with no symptoms

New Hep C meds may override watchful waiting for patients with no symptoms

March 11, 2012 9:42 am by | 9 Comments

I seemany patients with hepatitis C (HCV). None of them are under treatment and they all feel quite well. Why don’t I treat them? After all, potential consequences of HCV ... Read more
Do doctors tell the truth?

Do doctors tell the truth?

February 26, 2012 10:19 am by | 0 Comments

“…resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.”No need to identify ... Read more
Doctors fire patients over money? Sometimes. Health? Definitely

Doctors fire patients over money? Sometimes. Health? Definitely

February 5, 2012 12:58 pm by | 5 Comments

Rarely, I have fired patients from my practice. Why do I do this? You might think that we send out termination letters to patients who haven’t paid their medical bills. ... Read more
Spiral CT scans save the world! Or maybe not

Spiral CT scans save the world! Or maybe not

January 1, 2012 10:56 am by | 7 Comments

A hundred bucks doesn’t buy much these days. A crisp Ben Franklin can be exchanged for:50 Big MacsA Broadway show ticketA night in a New York City hotel (just joking)A ... Read more
Easy to measure quality healthcare treatment? Think again

Easy to measure quality healthcare treatment? Think again

December 5, 2011 1:39 am by | 1 Comments

This blog has tried to support the virtue of personal responsibility. If you smoke, don’t blame Joe Camel. If you surrender to Big Mac attacks, don’t go after Ronald McDonald. ... Read more
Risk v. reason is the double-edged sword of medical device approval

Risk v. reason is the double-edged sword of medical device approval

November 1, 2011 9:50 am by | 5 Comments

Last week, I attended a 2 day medical conference in Cleveland on obesity. It was a heavy seminar, which I would rate 8 on a (bathroom) scale of 1-10. Interestingly, ... Read more
Wellness programs = healthcare marketing. Change the equation

Wellness programs = healthcare marketing. Change the equation

October 9, 2011 8:07 pm by | 3 Comments

There’s a new term that has entered the medical lexicon. The word is wellness. Hospitals and medical offices are incorporating this term into their mission statements, corporate names, business cards, ... Read more
Minute Clinics: The McDonalds version of healthcare?

Minute Clinics: The McDonalds version of healthcare?

September 18, 2011 9:00 pm by | 6 Comments

All of us have been to fast food establishments. We go there because we are in a hurry and it’s cheap. We love the convenience. We expect that the quality ... Read more