MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'bullshit'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:19:50 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107803&cid=t_112684_133_f&fid=35084&url=https%3A%2F%2Fballastexistenz.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F13%2Fwhat-a-total-non-apology%2F I’m not generally one to throw a blog post out there every time someone uses a disability slur. But the way this was handled is just pissing me off on multiple levels. So a politician named Rahm Emanuel decided to insult a bunch of political activists by calling them “f.ing retarded” when they didn’t agree with him on something. Then when he realized this was going to get out, he called Tim Shriver (CEO of the Special Olympics) to apologize. This apology was apparently accepted. Newspapers are calling this an apology to the disability community. Here’s where my brain’s starting to stall on me coming up with the language for it. He didn’t apologize to the people the insult was aimed at. Argh brain splitting up into pieces. He apologized to Tim Shriv... Ballastexistenz blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107803 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:41:48 +0100 5107803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4575098&cid=t_112684_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F11%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-march-11-2011%2F I have a confession to make. Last year, I did something crazy and unlike me. I participated in a comedy show called Penn & Teller’s Bullshit on Showtime. For someone as introverted as I am, it was one of the most scariest and embarrassing things I ever did. It’s not something I am especially excited to share. But I’m doing so for a reason. The subject of the show was affirmations. It questioned whether there was anything really beneficial to it or just another laughable practice best turned into a parody on Saturday Night Live. You know like Stuart Smalley’s, “Daily Affirmations?” Surprisingly, it’s not all, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it people like me.” There are actually real benefits to affirmatio... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4575098 Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:37:29 +0100 4575098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795039&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fthis-made-me-bust-out-laughing-god.html Lady Gaga Kidnaps Commissioner Gordon GOTHAM CITY—Supervillain Lady Gaga brazenly abducted Commissioner James Gordon from a charity fundraiser Tuesday, leaving police baffled and the citizens of Gotham fearing for their safety. Known for her outlandish costumes and geometric polygon hair, the criminal madwoman made a daring escape from Arkham Asylum last week and has been taunting authorities by interrupting television broadcasts ever since. "If you ever want to see Commissioner Gordon again, you'll do exactly as I say," Lady Gaga said from her secret lair, adjusting her angular yellow Tyvek and spandex dress as henchmen danced menacingly around the bound commissioner. While the kidnapping occurred at stately Wayne Manor, home of playboy jet-setter Bruce Wayne, the eccentric billionaire ... The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795039 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:55:00 +0100 3795039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795040&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fthermal-matters.html I left work at nine and drove directly to Auburn to buy some thermal compound for my processor.  I thought I had a full tube of Arctic Silver, but it was empty.  I couldn’t install my processor without it.   I reluctantly came back to the Valley to start the job at my Benefactor’s house.  I really wanted to come home and play, but work beckoned.  Installing my processor would have to wait.  As I  had expected, it was a hot and sweaty job requiring lots of physical exertion.  I earned every bit of the $50 dollars my Benefactor paid me. “You work hard and very fast,” my Benefactor told me at one point as he stood in the backyard nosily surveying my efforts. “I can’t wait to get home,” I told him. “I have a new toy to play with. Com... The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795040 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:12:00 +0100 3795040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3772441&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fs-e-x.html I was sitting down in the park late last evening drinking my two sunset brews and talking to Kim on the phone.  We were talking about how long someone should wait before sleeping together for the first time after starting dating. “I slept with Rachel within days of us meeting,” I told her. “You know how that ended.  Divorce.  We moved way too fast.  Before I knew it I was married.” “I slept with Bill on our first date,” Kim told me of her ex-husband. “We seem to be moving at a much slower pace,” I replied, relieved.  I wasn’t quite sure I was ready for the big commitment yet. “The other night in your car was so hard, though,” she told me. “I wanted you to come inside and for us to make love.” “There will be plenty of time for that,” I ... The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3772441 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:33:00 +0100 3772441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3724566&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fwho-let-out-crazies.html My recent forays into writing honestly about my life have really shown me what my readership can be like at times and what blogging can be like when things go terribly, horribly wrong when you are honest.  Most people don’t reveal much on their blogs except the feel good stuff – the kind of stuff you only reveal in polite company. I guess I should as well.  I’ve always had suspicions that 95% of my readership are just gawking at my unorthodox life that I blather on about like an idiot – laughing at me and marveling that a 38 year old man can live this way. Navel gazing.  Only one person who reads the blog calls me regularly and attempts to reach out to me beyond the blog and it is Kirs.  She has been very supportive about the anxiety attacks giving me tons of su... The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3724566 Sun, 04 Jul 2010 09:15:00 +0100 3724566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3588935&cid=t_112684_111_f&fid=34834&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FMentalNurse%2F%7E3%2FnqEq6jj3QKo%2F [Guest post by Rasselas, Prince of Dysthymia] Firstly, my personal motto: I’m not anti-psychiatry, I’m anti-bullshit. So whether you’re talking about so-called laissez-faire economics, the madness of Chavez, or the corrective utility of Seroquel, to me it makes no difference. Bullshit is bullshit, no matter the shape, size and texture, no matter what arsehole it’s extruded from. All bullshit stinks. I have a question. I’m hoping some of you will be willing to give it serious consideration. In the subcultures of criminalised psychoactive drug taking there are many wisdoms. One of them is that you will get the best deals from trusted, established, peer-reviewed dealers who, by and large, will be users themselves. Coleridge knew this, and so did de Quincey, Baude... Mental Nurse blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3588935 Fri, 21 May 2010 17:08:10 +0100 3588935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239794&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fmercuric-matter.html This is just a little short blurb.  I was on a dog owner’s forum this morning.  I wrote about giving Maggie tuna for breakfast and how happy it made her.   A curmudgeon wrote back that I should be worried about giving dogs tuna due to the high mercury content of canned fish.   Excuse me?  Mercury in tuna?  Shouldn’t we be more worried about the human aspects?  I seriously doubt the FDA would allow high mercuric content canned fish to be sold in the US.  It reminded me of that myth that vaccines were causing autism.  It is the same paranoid mindset.  I should know.  (Source: The 4th Avenue Blues) The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239794 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:08:00 +0100 3239794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3106882&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F12%2Fthis-is-for-birds.html Well, y'all, I tried. I tried to be frugal and turn my heat way down. This morning I woke up and the house was 52 degrees. "This is crazy!" I thought to myself. "I am miserable!" I walked into the hall and turned the thermostat up to 80, shed my clothes down to a pair of socks, a white cotton t-shirt, and my boxers. I sat basking in the heat in the den as I puffed on the most wonderful cigarette I've had in weeks. Just me and my underwear. I will try to justify this in that I spent THOUSANDS of dollars a year on booze when I was drinking. A $160 utility bill a month ain't that bad. It makes me feel better.   Ah, Warmth!!!!!   (Source: The 4th Avenue Blues) The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3106882 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:33:00 +0100 3106882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859110&cid=t_112684_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fa-newly-discovered-poem%2F I was going through old backup CDs on the computer and found a file simply called “08212004.txt”. I don’t remember actually writing the poem but it’s definitely mine. It has no title: I am a burning force, an explosion of furious, blinding light. Unstoppable. Immovable. I am a raging blue firestorm. All consuming. I am a cold steel frame. Indestructible. I cannot see. I am crusted over. Blind. Hardened. Small. Crunched and cracked. Pathetic. -car It’s clear to me now that I was trying to express the two very different, but very real impressions I have of myself. I am very proud, but equally ashamed of myself. I’m amazing. I’m a f.ing badass. I survived cancer, and all the bullshit since then. I have lived life on a razor’s edge. I know way mo... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859110 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:31:24 +0100 2859110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859127&cid=t_112684_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fthe-god-complex%2F Since I just wrote about the cancer demon fantasy, it reminded me why there is so much anger in me. It is all frustration. Mostly, I hate that I don’t have something concrete to blame for all this crap. So I make up things to blame. As a kid and teen, it was mainly that demon thing. As I’ve grown older, I mostly blame God. The invisible guy that almost everyone says is there. Are you there, God (it’s me, Chris)? I don’t know. In fact I killed you too.  You know when that happened? It wasn’t when I was diagnosed with cancer. It wasn’t when I had to recover from surgery. It wasn’t when I was being poked, prodded, and bugged every hour. It wasn’t even when I found myself puking almost every day. No, I killed you the day I found out Manuelita (g... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859127 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:30:54 +0100 2859127 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2442760&cid=t_112684_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fnew-nalts-video-resurfaces-enlightened.html Kevin Nalts (aka Kevin Nalty, former Merck Marketing Director), self-proclaimed YouTube comedian and "viral video genius," revealed to me a video piece he did about a year ago that remained private (restricted access) until just recently.The video, entitled "Enlightened Stupid Marketer," was "inspired by some comments from someone that spoke at a Florida conference, but some of my colleagues took offense of it," said Nalts.In his video notes, Nalts says "This educational video helps you understand the mind of a marketer, and what shapes our decision making, workplace behavior and marketing mix. Can you become a marketer, or are they born? Find the answer you've long sought.""A non-marketer might be looking at this and saying, 'Stupid Marketer...isn't that an oxymoron," says Nalts in the vi... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2442760 Wed, 27 May 2009 11:19:00 +0100 2442760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1563864&cid=t_112684_111_f&fid=34834&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FMentalNurse%2F%7E3%2F325029635%2F Everything’s far too affable and agreeable here. So, cat, meet pigeons : Why have nurses in mental health? Really, stop and think for a moment. Maybe on in-patient units, where arguably nursing may still have a role for some patients some of the time (but is it RMN stuff?), some nurses may be needed some of the time. But not necessarily. In the community, shouldn’t they all be banned? If you need psychological work, the expert is the psychologist. If you need to optomise function, the expert is the occupational therapist. If you need diagnosis or drugs, the expert is the psychiatrist. If you need social and practical support, the expert is the social worker. Informal support from friends and family. Peer support from group work facilitated by a STR worker. Support w... Mental Nurse blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1563864 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:49:47 +0100 1563864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1560776&cid=t_112684_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Flord-darzi-offensively-inoffensive.html This report is, more than anything, about front line NHS services; about what you will get when you walk into your local general practice, or your local accident and emergency department. Lord Darzi knows nothing of general practice. He knows nothing about front line nursing care, or physiotherapy, or of the Community Mental Health Care Team (God help us all). Next the government will be asking Dr Crippen and the Jobbing Doctor to write a report about “Future developments in laporoscopic surgery”.The best way to cover up lack of knowledge is to brazen it out, to lie. And so Darzi starts with a whopper:In previous reviews of the NHS, frontline staff have been on the fringes or bystanders. This Review has been different. We and our colleagues in the NHS have been at its core.Utter bolloc... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1560776 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:22:00 +0100 1560776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1344257&cid=t_112684_93_f&fid=34891&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshortwhitecoats.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fhomeland-medicine.html A family friend has recently returned from a holiday to her homeland - a place of sunnier climes, good food, breathtaking scenery - and, unfortunately, plenty of medical BS. This weekend, I was asked for my advice on a drug that said family friend had been prescribed out there and had brought back with her. When I say advice, I mean an elaboration, or an explanation as to why it's important that she takes the drug at the required time. The family friend is elderly, and has little understanding of what her different drugs do, but she's happy to follow instructions if she understands why she has to do them. I asked what the drug had been prescribed for. "My high blood pressure," she replied. "Oh, I didn't know you had high blood pressure," I said. "Did the doctor out there measure it for you... Of Short White Coats and Stethoscopes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1344257 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:21:00 +0100 1344257 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1033445&cid=t_112684_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Flove-puts-on-new-face.html I've had some of the most vivid dreams of my ex-wife lately. I wake up feeling lonely and missing her. Tonight, we were lying in the bed after making love in my dreams -- laughing and teasing each other. It was the first sexual arousal and avarice I've had in months coming off all those many psychiatric medications and I woke up elated. Her eyes looked into mine in my dreams and I just melted. She could be such a pretty woman in her own way and had her special moments. I'm just glad my dreams were pleasant, and not of the many vicious arguments we seemed to have on a regular basis during our tenure as husband and wife. I don't know how many nights she locked me out of the house. That truly would be a nightmare in its most vivid sense to relive those old moments. She's working at a local ba... The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1033445 Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:00:00 +0100 1033445 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=706560&cid=t_112684_88_f&fid=34857&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscalpelorsword.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2F54-million.html Only in America could a diaper-clad elderly nursing home resident's life be worth that much. (Source: Scalpel or Sword?) Scalpel or Sword? blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=706560 Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:53:00 +0100 706560 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=675616&cid=t_112684_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Falli-newspeak-oily-spotting-is.html George Orwell coined the phrase "newspeak" in his 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984). In the novel, it is described as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year." An example of Orwellian newspeak is the elimination of the word 'bad' and replacing it with "ungood." That sort of thing. Eventually, by eliminating enough words you can make anything sound less "ungood" as exemplified by the slogan "War is Peace."Now another well-known British entity -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) -- has applied newspeak principles to direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. It's latest promotional video for the over-the-counter diet pill ("treatment") Alli blatantly replaces all the nasty-sounding Alli side effect terminology -- including "Oily Spotting," "Flatus with Discharge,"... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=675616 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:06:00 +0100 675616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=645007&cid=t_112684_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fis-big-pharma-shifty.html The allegations against Avandia have re-ignited the criticisms of pharmaceutical marketing. An Adweek article claimed that a recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive for the Pharmaceutical Safety Institute showed that "Consumers think Big Pharma is shifty as well as greedy."Adj. shifty - 1. characterized by insincerity or deceit.In other words, Big Pharma is a big fat liar!According to Adweek:"[The poll] documents the degree to which people don't trust the industry to disclose bad news about its wares. Asked how confident they are that drugmakers 'will eventually disseminate all information—positive or negative—that they have regarding the safety of their drugs,' few said 'extremely' (4 percent) or 'very' (10 percent). Thirty percent said they're 'fairly' confident, with another 27 ... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=645007 Mon, 28 May 2007 15:02:00 +0100 645007 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=631583&cid=t_112684_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Falli-ad-campaign-promises-honesty-but.html Do you have a "extra pair of pants" with you today! GSK recommends you do when starting a regimen of its over-the-counter diet pill alli! But you might also sh*t your pants when you hear how much GSK is spending on its Alli ad campaign this year -- $150 million!I think I read that right in the WSJ article "Company Touts Over-The-Counter Diet Pill."But the year is nearly half over! On an annual basis then, GSK is spending closer to $300 million promoting this product!I've blogged about the pooping-in-pants side effect of alli before (see "Alli Oops! I Just Pooped Myself!"). It's going to take some effective marketing BS to counteract that!And what's GSK marketing strategy?Is Alli Honesty the Best Policy?"We've done everything to go out of our way to be honest," said Steve Burton, vice presi... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=631583 Wed, 23 May 2007 11:17:00 +0100 631583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=587926&cid=t_112684_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fpfizers-exubera-strategy-needs-bong.html Exubera -- Pfizer's new insulin delivery system for the treatment of diabetes -- has not been well-received so far by physicians and payers (see "Pfizer's Inhaled Insulin Fails to Impress Doctors, Insurers"). People with diabetes also seem to dislike the "bong" as it is affectionately called by some (see "Are you happy to see me, or is that just your Exubera Bong?").My friend Sunil S Chiplunkar, author of the Pharmaceutical Healthcare Blog, posted the following little limerick to the Forums at Pharma Marketing Network. I have edited it somewhat (see the original here):Pfizer with high hopes, launched the Exubera bongThought it would click like a gongBut missing is physician exuberanceAll it got was malevolenceSo will Exubera bomb?If Exubera were actually to crash and burn it would be a ser... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=587926 Wed, 02 May 2007 11:34:00 +0100 587926 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=548773&cid=t_112684_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fbotox-bs-piled-higher-and-deeper.html Have you seen the latest ads for Botox? The tag line is "freedom of expression..." The ads go on to say "Don't hold back! Express it all!" The copy writers certainly don't hold back on the exclamation points!!The not-so-subtle subliminal message is "despite what has been reported in the press and on blogs by patients (see "Botox Banality Not a Boon for TV Sitcoms"), use of Botox does not limit your range of facial expressions." To prove the point, ads like the one shown here feature a woman in several different poses, presumably showing a range of impressions.Pretty impressive evidence, wouldn't you say?I have tried to fathom the thoughts of the woman in the ad and put these in thought balloons superimposed on the ad (see image). I think I captured the essence of these expressions. Don't y... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=548773 Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:30:00 +0100 548773