This post is from Shadowfax, an ER physician and administrator living in the Pacific Northwest.

The NHLBI (with the endorsement of the American Academy of Pediatrics) has issued new guidelines for cholesterol testing in children. It recommends that all children age 9 to 11 should undergo cholesterol screening and that screening should be repeated at ages 17 and 21. We asked a small panel of experts to review the new guidelines and discuss whether they agree with the recommendation to do cholesterol screening for all children age 9 to 11. Here’s how they responded:   Bruce M. Psaty, University of Washington Cholesterol screening for children age 9… Continue Reading

I was delighted when my friend, Dr. Kevin Pho, accepted my recent post on statin drugs. As a ‘student’ writer, I was also happy to read more than a couple ‘robust’ comments. No worries here, bike racers and heart docs have thick skin. I penned six responses on the KevinMD post. The gist of the comment is in bold. (I know; it’s weak using responses to comments as a post.) Do you have industry sponsorships? I have no industry relationships. I am just a clinician – a regular doctor. I… Continue Reading

I stepped into Bill’s room in the intensive-care unit (ICU) and caught sight of him lying in bed. I asked him how he was today. In a nervous voice, he told me that he was fine. Monitors flashing lights and pumps chiming in chorus filled the room. With machines ablaze, it was like witnessing a space shuttle launch at NASA’s mission control room. I turned to him and said, “You’ve been through some pretty tough times. You came to us after your heart stopped and we had to restart it…. Continue Reading

Each month I meet with administrators at my hospital to review the quality of our cardiology program. My administrators don’t want excuses. They aim for perfection. But a discussion at our last meeting about door-to-balloon times for STEMI patients changed their minds.