Newsletter Subtitle
In this issue...
Tyler Gets to the Top
Put on Your Thinking Cap
Our Firm Commitment to Be Pharm Free
         Caduceus

                                    July 2012
                                                
Office Locations/ Maps
Yorba Linda
Irvine
Laguna Beach
Reserve an Appointment
Yorba Linda
Irvine
Laguna Beach
We've Got Your Back
And arms... and face...

Before heading to the beach this summer, make sure you schedule your complimentary skin screen at our Laguna Beach office, Caduceus on Thalia.  Our popular Saturday clinic is for any local resident or patient and open to those that work in Laguna.  Make sure you and your family get checked and follow recommended guidelines; there's a reason UV rays are now called "killer rays."

Anyone can get skin cancer, but the risk is greatest for people with:

  • White or light-colored skin with freckles
  • Blond or red hair
  • Blue or green eyes

You can take these steps to help prevent skin cancer:

  • Stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
  • Use sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher (look for "broadspectrum").
  • Cover up with long sleeves and a hat.
  • Check your skin regularly for any changes, such as new moles, red spots or changes in existing moles.

UV rays can also damage your eyes, so be sure to wear quality sunglasses with 100% UVA and UVB protection.  

 

For your free skin screen in the Laguna office click here to schedule. 

Tyler and his dad on Mt. Kiliminjaro. 
Photo Courtesy of Paul Miller of CureDuchenne.
Mission Accomplished
8-year old Yorba Linda boy achieves his goal

For the past year we have been following the incredible quest of our patient, Tyler Armstrong,  to be one of the youngest climbers to ever reach the top of Mt. Kiliminjaro, Africa's highest peak and fourth highest in the world.  

  

Armstrong reached his goal at 12:30am (PST) on July 1. 

 

Last summer, Tyler was recognized as the youngest to climb California's Mt. Whitney in one day. Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the continental United States. 

 

Tyler was inspired to reach this goal to show support for the organization CureDuchenne, which is dedicated to helping young boys suffering from the muscular dystrophy disease.

 

You can learn more about Tyler's hike at topwithtyler.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/TopWithTyler. 
OR

SCHIZNICK?
 
The Case of the Know it All Daughter
Joanne is a 54-year-old woman who has never had a mammogram.  In fact during a recent physical exam, she told her physician she would refuse to have one.  When she told this story over a Sunday family dinner, her 30-year-old daughter said, "Mom, that's ridiculous!  Everybody knows mammograms are important." 

Joanne came to this conclusion based on her research of claims that mammograms often do more harm than good.  "They may diagnose breast cancer, but they don't really save any lives," stated Joanne. Joanne's daughter was outraged.  "Mom, our own respected U.S. government has released a statement informing women that mammograms in your age group definitely reduce your chances of dying from breast cancer!  In fact,  they have made it a law that screening tests like mammograms can never have an insurance co-pay.  It would be totally free to you to have the screening!" Joanne listened, but was hesitant. Her daughter was insistent:   "We are reserving an appointment online for you with Dr. Borrowdale at Caduceus to get this done this month; he can write the order for the mammogram right on the spot."

"FACT OR SCHIZNICK?" 
Did the U.S. Government actually conclude that mammograms save lives? Is there indeed a law requiring these screenings must be done with no cost to the patient?

Answer at bottom of newsletter...  
    Dr. Drew Could Never Work at Caduceus

 

Of the record-setting $3 billion settlement by GlaxoSmithKline for illegal payments to doctors, among the names on list of doctors was Drew Pinsky MD, aka "Dr. Drew," a regular medical news source and host of the former Loveline radio show.

 

The massive settlement for healthcare fraud was reached as part of the complaint by the Department of Justice alleging the ongoing payoffs to physicians to promote GSK drugs for uses not approved by the FDA ("off label" marketing).

 

Pinsky was paid as much as $275,000 to promote the anti-depressant drug Wellbutrin SR, highlighting the supposed libido-enhancing side effects.  According to the DOJ complaint, physicians received "every imaginable form of high-priced entertainment," in return for shilling GSK drugs.

  

 Click here to watch DOJ announcement. 

 

Long before it was popular, we knew that accepting samples and other forms of "gifts" from pharmacy marketing reps was a thinly-veiled form of inducement - and we took a stand against the practice when we published our credos in 2007.

 

As with all things in life, nothing is truly "free." Medical offices filled with Big Pharm-branded cups, pens, sticky notes, posters, and televisions are trading something for all of those gifts.  Additionally, one has to wonder how much cost was added to the cost of your medicine for the millions of dollars spent on this marketing.

 

Although Dr. Drew provided entertainment over the years, finding out that he (among other physicians) were paid to endorse the use of prescription drugs calls into question what true healthcare "value" he provided.  Thankfully, Caduceus patients will never have that worry.
Message from the Medical Director

And now the answer to our quiz....

FACT.  Although mammography can lead to false positive results, emotional stress, and unnecessary biopsies, the studies conclusively tell us that it reduces deaths from breast cancer by 15% if done after age 50.  These numbers were found and ratified by the US Preventive Services Task Force, a committee formed by the Federal Government to investigate outcome data on common tests and procedures.  In fact, the data was so convincing that is was one of the leading reasons that the health care reform law did away with co-pays for screening tests such as mammograms as part of their legal mandates.  


Sincerely,
Gregg DeNicola MD
Medical Director