Month: August 2009

Sexual Assault in the Dental Chair

by

I have reported previously on two separate oral surgeons and assault of women during oral surgery. You can find the articles at http://blog.teethremoval.com/oral-surgeon-sexual-assault-acquital/ and at http://blog.teethremoval.com/sex-offense-and-assault-after-surgery/. Another case has come to light of Benva Oshana Lazar who so far has been accused by 8 patients who have said of groping during office visits. This is currently being reported in MercuryNews. Similarly one of the patients accused the San Jose dentist of groping her during a wisdom teeth extraction procedure. One of the women who is alleging  sexual abuse is 14 years old. I wonder if the judge this time will also find the dentist not guilty because the women were on “propofol” during the dentist visits and a known side affect is “sexual hallucinations”. This is a ridiculous  claim and clearly if you are a patient at the dentist you … Read more

Malpractice Liability Damage Caps and Their Effects on Rural Doctors

by

According to a paper by David A Matsa. who is an economics professor their is an effect on medical malpractice liability damage caps. In other words, the amount of money you can get if you sue a physician if something goes wrong is capped and you can only get X amount back as determined by a law in your state. (I have discussed this issue on my website about the legal standpoint of wisdom teeth removal.) Matsa finds that “Back-of-the-envelope calculation using estimates presented… implies that the enactments of damage caps are responsible for approximately 17 percent of the increase in frontier rural specialists in these states since 1970.” Even so, Matsa finds that there really is no significant effect on physician supply for most Americans (those who do not live in rural areas). If you are interested in the … Read more

Animals Have Room for Wisdom Teeth

by

An article recently posted by Popular Science http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-08/do-animals-have-wisdom-teeth suggests that animals have room for wisdom teeth. An evolutionary biologist named Leslea Hlusko of the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the shape of your jaw is partially determined by what you eat when you are growing up. Since unlike animals, humans cook all the meat they eat usually and do not just tear it off raw, jaws have become smaller in size. The article also suggests that if you eat a lot of raw carrots and other tubers as a child this may help to make the jaw larger when you get older and thus better accomedate your wisdom teeth so the wisdom teeth do not have to be removed.

People Often Tend to Find Like Minded Information

by

A new analysis of data from numerous studies shows that while people tend to avoid information that contradicts what they already think or believe, certain factors can cause them to seek out, or at least consider, other points of view. A new analysis was lead by researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida and included data from nearly a 100 studies and 8,000 participants. The team also included researchers from Northwestern University and Ohio University. The studies they reviewed generally asked participants about their views on a given topic and then allowed them to choose whether they wanted to view or read information supporting their own or an opposing point of view. The researchers found that people are about twice as likely to select information that supports their own point of view, 67%, as to consider … Read more

Todd Rozen – Geisinger

by

Dr. Todd Rozen, who was formerly at the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute has moved to Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA. I saw Dr. Rozen several times while he was located in the midwest, since it was in driving distance. However now that he is in Pennsylvania, driving is out of the question and I don’t think I will be seeing him anymore. This is unfortunate since he is without a doubt the best doctor I have seen thus far. I am not quite sure why he made the move as many at MHNI are quite upset. However, others in PA must be happy for the opportunity to possibly get treated for NDPH and their chronic headache conditions. I just thought I would make an update in case you missed it.