health Archives - Diane Hamilton

Reinventing Your Life with Scott Harrison

We all make mistakes, but what you do in the aftermath is what’s going to make you stand out from the rest. Scott Harrison, the Founder and CEO of Charity Water, talks about the realization that led him to reinvent his life. Scott gets candid about his decade-long lifestyle on the dark side before getting his wake-up call. Having his eyes opened while living in Africa, he started a charity that addresses the need for transparency through a system. Scott’s story of life-reinvention is phenomenal. Even if you can’t go to Africa and dig a well, the invaluable lessons you can glean from this episode may just be the wake-up call you need to live in a more impactful way. Continue reading “Reinventing Your Life with Scott Harrison” →

Scary Things Doctors Do: New Investigative Tool for Patients

Most doctors do wonderful things. They take care of their patients and work very hard. I’m married to a fantastic doctor, so I know they exist. However, having spent 15 years as a pharmaceutical representative, I saw some scary things out there. It’s important to keep in mind that someone had to graduate last in their class. Here is a list of things that I actually saw occur in doctors’ offices while I was in the field.

Illegal drug use in doctor’s office – There was one office where the receptionist actually had her boyfriend shoot something (I assume heroine) into her arm while I talked to her through the glass partition that separated the waiting room from the doctor’s area. The reaction she got from the medication made it clear it was some form of illegal substance. The doctor walked right by and had no reaction.
Doctors popping pills – There was one doctor I called on who would take Prozac while he chatted, bragging, “I take these things to lose weight.” This same guy was always popping some form of pill, usually for an off-label use.
Doctors committing fraud – Another doctor in my territory was arrested for charging the government for testing blood that he never actually tested.
Doctors not using best medications to save money – I called on a doctor who once told me that he would not prescribe a drug that he thought he was good for his patients because, as he put it, “that comes out of my budget . . . if they go to the ER, someone else pays for it.” He had no problem telling me that he didn’t mind if his patients suffered if it meant he could make a few more bucks from the HMO.
Doctors getting paid by pharmaceutical companies – It is not unusual for a doctor to get paid to speak for certain pharmaceutical companies. I remember calling on a particular doctor who made it very clear that he not only spoke for a particular company but also had a great deal of stock in that company. Because of this relationship, he had no intention of using competitive products even if they were better.

The good news is that the Internet allows for patients investigate issues with their doctors. According to the article, How To Find Out if Your Doctor and Drugmakers Are In A Relationship, “The nonprofit investigative journalism outfit ProPublica has a tool you can use to see how much money your doctor has received from drug companies.” To find out if your doctor is profiting from drug companies, click here to go to the ProPublica site.

Related Articles

Boomers Worry More about Their Brain than Their Body

Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, have long been associated with having rejected traditional values. Their notions about what they value in terms of their mind and body may not fit the traditional outlook as well. Although they fear cancer and heart disease, it may be a surprise to note that they list “fear of memory loss” as their second biggest concern. Cancer is their first and heart disease their third. This information was obtained from a Strong.com poll by Knowledge Networks of Menlo Park, conducted through interviewing 1078 Baby Boomers.

As boomers age, they aren’t taking care of their health as well as they could. In the article Boomers Losing the Battle of the Bulge, the Arizona Republic reported, “Boomers are more obese than other generations, a new poll says, setting them up for unhealthy senior years. Only half of the obese Boomers say they are regularly exercising.”

Rather than focusing on having a healthy weight, Boomers are working on avoiding dementia. In this same article it was noted, “More than half of Boomers polled say they regularly do mental exercises such as crossword puzzles.”

Marilynn Mobley from Baby Boomer Insights reported, “We boomers live in fear of being diagnosed with Alzheimers. Too many of us have watched our grandparents die with it and some of us are already dealing with parents who are showing signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s. Now, there’s evidence that our fear is not unfounded. We boomers are actually now regarded as “Generation Alzheimers.” One out of every eight of us will die with or from the disease. And unlike other common boomer diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and heart conditions, there’s really nothing we can do about it. There’s no cure; in fact, there’s not even a known way to significantly slow the progression of the disease.”

Boomers are not the only ones that fear Alzheimer’s. They may have good reason for this. The Examiner.com recently reported statistics from: The Metlife Foundation survey, What America Thinks. “Recent estimates show more than 26 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s. The number of Americans aged 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to reach 7.7 million in 2030 – a greater than 50 percent increase from today because of the aging Baby Boomer population.”

Plastic Surgeon of the Millennium D. Ralph Millard Dies at 92

Picture: D. Ralph Millard, MD and Diane Hamilton, PhD

My cousin, D. Ralph Millard, once nominated as one of the 10 “plastic surgeons of the millenium” died recently of heart failure. The Miami Herald included an article about this amazing man’s life. According to that article, “He was best known for developing “rotation advancement’’ surgery in the ‘50s. The method conserves tissue that doctors had routinely removed when correcting a cleft lip, producing a natural-looking mouth in much less time. Before he developed it, surgical procedures were performed on patients into their late teens. With his method, most children are operated on by 4 or 5. Millard also made major advances in corrective rhinoplasty— nose surgery—for people disfigured by accidents, cancer, war wounds, even cocaine abuse. “His work is considered pure artistry,” Dr. Bernard Fogel, dean emeritus of the medical school, told The Miami Herald when Millard retired in 2000, three months before the death of his wife of 45 years, Barbara Smith Millard. “He’s a giant.”

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Ralph was an inspiration to me and so many others. For information about Dr. Ralph Millard and the Millard Society, click here.

Reinventing Your Life with Scott Harrison

Reinventing Your Life with Scott Harrison

Top 25 Links to Change Your Body, Career and More

Scary Things Doctors Do: New Investigative Tool for Patients

Boomers Worry More about Their Brain than Their Body

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Plastic Surgeon of the Millennium D. Ralph Millard Dies at 92