The Doctor Is In: Catching Up with Nortin M. Hadler, M.D.
When it comes to medical advice, Dr. Nortin M. Hadler is an authority–his books Stabbed in the Back: Confronting Back Pain in an Overtreated Society and Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America are go-to guides for those interested in the way medical care works, as well as how it needs to change.
Recently, Hadler’s name and a wide variety of his writings have appeared around the Internet, with topics ranging from worker’s comp to his philosophy on advance screening and comparative research. Here’s a sampling of what the medical community is saying:
- The Progressive Pulse, a blog sponsored by NC Policy Watch, comments on and excerpts from a Hadler essay, “‘Comparative effective research’ and Kindred Delusions” (found in full here).
- On ABC News’ Health page, Dr. Hadler weighs in on the controversial results of a Swedish study finding that a positive prostate cancer diagnosis may increase a patient’s likelihood of heart problems and suicide.
- Writing on his blog, Back Chronicles, Chris Barker delves into the nightmare relationship between worker’s compensation, psychological pain, and back pain, quoting from Dr. Hadler’s Stabbed in the Back to illustrate how worker’s comp actually tends to hinder back pain sufferers instead of help them. It’s a fascinating, easy-to-understand read. Barker includes this telling quote:
“If you have to prove you are ill, you can’t get well. . . . Being challenged naturally causes anyone to focus on his or her symptoms, to recall the waxing more than the waning of symptoms, to be less inventive in circumventing activities that might aggravate them, and to consider any coincidental regional musculoskeletal disorder as yet another setback.” –Nortin M. Hadler, M.D.
— Matt
Update: Let’s add one more item to that list!: The Nation includes Worried Sick (as well as Hadler’s previous book, The Last Well Person) in a list of recommended books “to assist in understanding medical decision-making, the day-to-day practice of medicine, and the lives of physicians.”–ellen 1/19/2010