A friend of mine referred me to this recent article in the New Yorker magazine. Entitled “The Itch” it chronicles a young woman’s insufferable itchy scalp - which taken to the the level described below sounds to me more like Urban Legend!
” One morning, after she was awakened by her bedside alarm, she sat […]

The other night I had a young “kid” of 23 who came in for severe abdominal pain and diarrhea - to the point of incontinence. He had severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease - more specificially Ulcerative Colitis. This was his third admission in a month severely dehydrated and needing large doses of Dilaudid […]

Well, probably mostly free.  The guy may be able to pay some of his bill (but I doubt very much).  Last night I had a young man, recently graduated from college with no insurance and only a part time poorly-paying job who came in after a stupid motorcycle accident. He was fooling around with no […]

I have very little tolerance for drunks misbehaving in my ER. I simply cannot waste my time negotiating with them. I don’t want to hear that we are violating your rights. Sorry, while you are intoxicated in my shop, you have no right to leave. I have the right, and responsibility […]

So yesterday I did some clutzy thing that was also quite ironic. I had just read a patient’s x-ray who had twisted his right ankle while playing basketball the evening before. It was negative so I got up quickly from my chair and started to stride over and tell him - as I […]

Although we are taught in medical school and residency that appendicitis has a typical presentation like this:
Vague mid abdominal pain often several days after having a viral illness that progresses to right lower quadrant pain over 24 - 48 hours. Accompanied by fever, loss of appetite, and often vomiting, the pain often gets suddenly […]

A man came into our ER last week who we x-rayed shortly after his arrival. I will let you guess the chief complaint based upon what you see below:

Make your choice from the following explanations below:
1. “I was attending Pharmacy school and was making a preparation when I accidentally sat on someone else’s pestle”
2. ” […]