Frugal Nurse - Seeking better health at a lower cost

Are ICD 10 diagnoses not so crazy?

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 26, 2016

OK, this post is just for fun.

Last year I mocked the new catalog of diagnosis codes, the ICD 10. Every medical bill must include a diagnostic code, and I thought the ICD 10, which increased the number of available codes from 13,000 to 70,000, was really over-the-top ridiculous.

New diagnoses included such notables as “injured when knitting,” “sucked into a jet engine” and “problems with the in-laws.”

But my niece, who just graduated from medical school and is now a first-year resident, toured one of the first hospitals built in Washington state and shared with me a list … Continue reading

“Brain on Fire” – A diagnostic odyssey

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 13, 2016

brain-on-fire I just finished reading a really gripping and emotional story—Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by journalist Susannah Cahalan. (Soon to be a movie!)

As a twenty-something cub reporter in New York, Ms. Cahalan began experiencing strange, seemingly unconnected symptoms, such as forgetfulness, paranoia and the sensation that bugs were crawling on one side of her body.

The details of her weeks’ long medical journey—which she had to piece together from medical records, her parents’ journals, and the recollections of friends, doctors and nurses because she couldn’t remember most of it—are a pretty frightening look at today’s fragmented … Continue reading

Kids’ health – Avoid medication errors

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 14, 2016

The right medication at the right dose

The journal Pediatrics recently published a study that showed about 85% of parents make mistakes when measuring out doses of liquid over-the-counter medications.

That reminded me of this short video from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio talking about medication errors made by parents or other caregivers.

Using over 10 years of data from the National Poison Center, researchers found that children under the age of 6 are exposed to a medication error every 8 minutes: too much, too little, or the wrong drug altogether.

Most often, they … Continue reading

Drug commercials do more harm than good

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 11, 2016

I think it was a mistake to allow prescription drug commercials on TV. In my humble opinion, at least.

But I’m not alone in disliking these commercials, or direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads, as they’re called.

The news website Vox recently released a video that explains more about how DTC ads came to be ever present on our TVs. They attempt to be fair and present both sides of the debate, but it seems to me they lean negative. What do you think?

One of my objections to DTC ads is that these multi-billion dollar campaigns are … Continue reading

Prevent eye infections with proper use of contact lenses

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 13, 2016

Bad lens hygiene, or what was I thinking?

I’ve worn contact lenses my entire adult life. I remember many, many times throughout high school and college when I would pop out a lens, stick it in my mouth to wet it, and then put it back in my eye.

I really can’t believe I used to do that!

But at least I’m not alone in being careless with my contact lenses and eye health.

A couple weeks ago the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a report that said more than 99% of contact lens wearers (and that’s well over … Continue reading

Parents – Don’t use FluMist this flu season

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 7, 2016

Kids need flu shots!

Pediatricians recommend all children over the age of 6 months get a yearly flu shot.

In previous years, a nasal spray version of the flu vaccine, FluMist, has been available to parents who wanted to avoid subjecting their children to another needle jab.

But for the last 3 years FluMist has not been nearly as effective as the standard flu shot. So for the 2016-2017 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) are recommending against FluMist for flu prevention.

For the 2016-2017 flu season, the Advisory Committee on

FDA finally bans triclosan, but only in soaps

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Frugal NurseSeptember 5, 2016

Triclosan isn’t effective

Finally!

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began drafting guidelines for the use of the popular antibacterial, triclosan, about 40 years ago.

Two years ago they announced they were ready to implement some much-needed oversight of this chemical. They asked the manufacturers of soaps and body washes to provide more evidence of both its effectiveness and safety.

Well, those companies came up short. Last week the FDA made its final decision to ban triclosan and some other chemicals used in “antibacterial” soaps.

Manufacturers haven’t shown that these ingredients are any more effective than plain

Get your hepatitis A vaccination!

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 30, 2016

Hepatitis A outbreaks

This morning I read about a hepatitis A outbreak in Virginia. The source is apparently contaminated strawberries used to make smoothies. So far, 40 people have become sick.

This outbreak follows on the heels of another in Hawaii, where 168 cases of the virus have been linked to frozen scallops.

Let these outbreaks be a reminder or an incentive to anyone NOT vaccinated against the hepatitis A virus—get vaccinated!

The hepatitis A virus attacks your liver and causes varying degrees of nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and jaundice. It rarely causes long-term liver damage or … Continue reading

Vaccines and immunization schedules

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 30, 2016

Kids and vaccines

It’s that time of year when the days shorten, stores advertise trendy back-to-school clothes, and parents scramble to make appointments with their kids’ pediatricians for sport physicals and immunizations.

At least, I hope they do.

I am a fervent believer in vaccinations, even though I live in the state (Washington) with–sadly–the highest “opt out” rate in the country.

In 1998 a medical journal published a paper by (now debunked and disgraced) scientist Andrew Wakefield. He implied a link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism. Since then, many parents have feared vaccinating their … Continue reading

Outrageous cost of EpiPens finally getting some attention

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 25, 2016

Wow. Talk about timing.

I just posted a few weeks ago about my dread of renewing my EpiPen prescription because of its cost—over $700 without insurance, and still over $600 with my insurance!

It seems other healthcare advocates, the media, Congress and even the presidential nominees are at last realizing how insane it is to charge that much for literally a few cents worth of epinephrine.

EpiPens are not even new to the market, like so many other high-priced drugs. It’s been around for a long time, so Mylan pharmaceuticals can’t claim it’s trying to recoup R&D costs. In fact, … Continue reading

View Prevnar 13 ads with caution

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 22, 2016

Prevnar 13: As seen on TV

I was watching TV the other evening and, as usual, was forced to sit through multiple back-to-back prescription drug commercials.

One that caught my attention was for Prevnar 13, which is one of the pneumonia vaccines. (13 because it protects against 13 strains of streptococcus pneumonia.)

The commercial stated Prevnar 13 was for adults aged 50 and older.

That statement’s true, but needs some clarification.

Yes, Pfizer did get FDA approval a few years ago to market Prevnar 13 to adults over the age of 50. Previously, the vaccine was only used for … Continue reading

How NOT to whiten your teeth

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 17, 2016

Bad advice to whiten your teeth

I have a lot of fun on Pinterest and have been collecting different “pins” of home remedies for all sorts of minor afflictions. Some are commonly used, such as aloe for sunburn, but others can be pretty far out there, such as human breast milk to treat pink eye.

One by one, I research these remedies, and I am creating a “board” on my Pinterest page dedicated to the frugal home treatments I think have some benefit.

Mostly these home remedies do not have a great deal—if any—research to support their claims. University … Continue reading

Doctors don’t know what healthcare costs

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 16, 2016

Heard on the golf course

I don’t want to reinforce the cliché that all doctors play golf, but my husband (not a doctor) plays with a lot of them.

Recently he shared with me a couple of conversations he’s had with his MD golf buddies about the cost of healthcare, specifically prescription medications.

A few weeks ago I posted about how much it costs to buy an EpiPen—over $700 for a pack of two, if you don’t have insurance. Even with insurance, it can cost well over $500.

My husband mentioned this to a friend, a urologist, during a … Continue reading

EHR – Electronic Hell Records

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 11, 2016

Healthcare Not Fair is a satirical YouTube video series created by a real-life physician, Dr. Waqas Khan, to highlight problems within our broken healthcare system.

Their latest video takes a stab at electronic health records, EHR—or, as they call it, Electronic Hell Records!

Other videos by Healthcare Not Fair:

I just saw my primary care physician a few weeks ago, and I can relate to the fictional patient’s experience in the video. Receptionists really do keep their eyes glued to their computer screens!

My physician isn’t that bad, … Continue reading

Everything is filthy – Wash your hands!

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Frugal NurseAugust 8, 2016

Germs and travel

I recently returned from a road-trip vacation with a nasty summer cold. It was my own fault—I didn’t heed my own advice to wash my hands as frequently as I should have.

Related post: Hand washing 101

Our hands are responsible for bringing a lot of germs into our bodies. We touch our nose, eyes or mouth, or our food, and voilà! the germs have found a nice, new home.

Although we usually associate colds with the winter months, germs for colds and other common viral illnesses are all over objects we touch every day, year round.… Continue reading