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New book I want to read: The White House Doctor

Recently saw Connie Mariano on The Daily Show, and now I have a hankering to buy her book, The White House Doctor. She served as the family physician in the White House for a part of the first Bush presidency, the entire Clinton presidency and part of the Dubya presidency.

She seems to have a dry sense of humor, and gives a peek into something I knew nothing about. I guess it's totally logical, if you stop to think about it, that the President would always have a doctor no more than a few feet away. But I never really imagined there'd be someone whose job it was to follow the President everywhere 24/7.  And what that would be like.

It sounds fascinating. And I'm also kind of fascinated to see how much she can really share. I mean, isn't there doctor-patient confidentiality? Don't administration staff sign NDAs?

Anyone out there have this book? What's the word?

Art and Life

I mentioned last week that I had started a fascinating book where medical ethics were at the center of the plot.

I finished the book over the course of a mere two days (review here) and no sooner had I finished, then I found this NY Times story about the very same subject: choosing embryos for specific medical reasons.

With one very big difference.

In the NY Times story the couple chooses an embryo to avoid passing along a gene that is near certain to result in a certain form of cancer. So the choice benefits the child itself.

In the novel the couple chooses an embryo that will be a good match for an already living child who is ill and needs a donor. So the choice does not benefit, in fact it places at risk, the child itself.

But the ethical issues abound even in cases like the former example. The Times story brings up the specter of genetic engineering, of eugenics, of creating a class divide between those who can afford the very expensive process required to do such genetic testing and choosing, and those who cannot. And of starting to make decisions made on much-more-ethically-questionable distinctions...like obesity!

Now, given my particular perspective, the question of whether the embryos which are not chosen are being "aborted" and if that's even an issue if they are, is not one of the most pressing ethical dilemmas. But of course other will disagree vociferously.

I'm most disturbed by the implications around class, gender and the potential for ever-more-narrowing of the "acceptable" criteria for a to-be-born child.

You know I've watched just one too many movie where the "ugly duckling" heroine achieves beauty by losing weight, taking off her glasses and, for some reason, straightening her hair. As a curly headed, myopic, zaftig woman...this bugs me. And you might be surprised that it's the hair thing that often bugs me most of all! So don't say that society would never "go there." They go there in pop culture all the time!

What, if anything, bothers you about the concept of such genetic testing and decision-making?

Fascinating novel raises ethical questions

I've just started my latest book, and I can tell already it's going to be a fascinating read, and one that could engender a lively medical ethics debate.

The book is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

Here's an excerpt from the Publisher's Weekly description from Amazon:

From Publishers Weekly
The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored with pathos and understanding in this 11th novel by Picoult (Second Glance, etc.). The author, who has taken on such controversial subjects as euthanasia (Mercy), teen suicide (The Pact) and sterilization laws (Second Glance), turns her gaze on genetic planning, the prospect of creating babies for health purposes and the ethical and moral fallout that results. Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

I'm in the first few dozen pages of the book and already sucked in. I'm sure this kind of "use" of a sibling happens regularly in the real world. (In fact I think when I was writing about that poor girl Haley form Arizona last year her sibling was indeed a donor to her.) However, has a similar lawsuit ever really happened? Anybody know such a case?

Novel Concept: Doctor Shopping

Straight from the Doc points us to a new book: Doctor Shopping: How to choose the right doctor for you and your family.

Quite a novel concept. How many of you are like me and open the list of doctors, try to find one that's either close to home or work, then try to find one that's taking new patients? Then go by nothing more than the name, including trying to decipher gender if you prefer one gender or the other.

Especially if you're with an HMO I don't think you always have the luxury to shop around.

But, even so, whether one has 10 doctors in your area to choose from or 2, this book may help you ask the right questions of those 2 or 10...and make a better choice.

Book Review: Know Your Bones

Routine Disclaimer: Yes, I received a review copy of this book. No, I get nothing if you decide to buy the book.

There is a history of arthritis in my family. My grandmother spent literally the last 10 years of her life bedridden from arthritis and often in constant pain. It didn't help that her stomach was extremely sensitive to many of the prescribed pain medications, and that she also ended up with high blood pressure from some of her medications too.

So when blogging colleague Yvonne DiVita asked if I would be interested in reviewing a book about Arthritis, I figured it was probably a good idea, and something I ought to start thinking about now.

Know Your Bones: Making Sense of Arthritis Medicine by Stephanie E. Siegrist, M.D. is an exceedingly simple, clear handbook focused on osteo-arthritis (as opposed to rheumatoid) and the various methods to control and treat the symptoms. There is no actual cure for arthritis, so the book is about managing pain at all its levels, from mild to debilitating.

A quick review of the Table of Contents illustrates exactly how well this book is aimed at people like me...laypeople doing our own research. Each chapter, dedicated to a different segment of arthritis medications or treatment, is laid out in exactly the same way, answering the same questions.

This structure makes the book well-suited as a reference guide, perfect for looking up the latest medication your doctor suggested and flipping right to its chapter. It's less fascinating as a one-time, sit-down, read-it-all-through afternoon read!

I learned a lot, though, reading this book...and in fact got some new insights into the various problems my grandmother had in her last decade.

More on Know Your Bones...