The 5-star rating is from HealthNewsReview.org, Prof. Gary Schwitzer's Web site where he evaluates health news reporting in the mainstream media.
I skipped over this article when I was reading that issue of the WSJ, but ran across it again when I was looking over the bookmarks in my Treo's Web browser, and noticed Gary's review of this story.
He has 10 criteria for judging a piece, including "Disease Mongering," "Relies on Press Release," and "Novelty of Treatment." The only category where this story fell down was on "Treatment Options."
During my surgical residency, I was part of the house staff managing the post-op bariatric patients. The procedure they did most was the Duodenal Switch (distal gastric bypass), as opposed to the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass which is the most common bariatric procedure across all hospitals.
I remember there being a whole range of patients who had undergone this procedure, but then again very specific cases. Later one afternoon before I was to go home, I had to admit a young woman, in her 20s, who was 3 weeks post op and had to break the dietary guidelines her surgeon had given her. She complained of abdominal pain after eating some Chinese takeout. I don't remember if she had a CT scan while in the ER, some patients couldn't physically fit on the scanner.
In the middle of the night she died. The post later revealed a mesenteric vein thrombosis. There were other patients. One who came back again and again for the Demerol, or so the attending who knew the patient had said.
I never had the experience of seeing these patients in the follow-up clinics, so my view of this population is certainly skewed. I'll take Gary's advice and check out this article again.
FIMDM Health News Review
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