by Marian Wang ProPublica, Jan. 13, 2011, 3:14 p.m. Photo by Andrew Magill [1] We’ve reported extensively on the ties between pharmaceutical companies and the physicians they fund to speak, consult and do research [2]….
A Massachusetts man was charged with manslaughter in Connecticut last week, in what is being referred to as the assisted suicide, or mercy killing, of his Alzheimer’s afflicted father. Remarkably, the commentary sections of the…
DEAR DOCTOR KATHLEEN, My wife of 14 years just announced that she wants a divorce! I am so shocked! She told me calmly, as if she was asking me to go to the store, instead…
Another reason why our health insurance goes up by double digits every year: Doctors performing unproven surgeries that could hurt patients more than help. Bloomberg News tells the story of truck driver Mikel Hehn, who…
DEAR DOCTOR KATHLEEN, My family has so much, and yet it’s Christmastime, the season of giving. I want to give my children presents from Santa (they are 5 and 6 and still believe!), but I…
by Robin Fields ProPublica, Dec. 9 (iStockPhoto) Patients treated at dialysis clinics run by the largest U.S. for-profit chains have a higher risk of death than patients treated by the biggest nonprofit chain, a study…
by Marian Wang ProPublica An Abbott Laboratories logo is visible on a security gate near its headquarters in Abbott Park, Ill. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images) After a Baltimore hospital barred a cardiologist for allegedly performing unnecessary…
GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay $750 million to settle criminal and civil complaints charging that the British firm knowingly sold contaminated baby ointment and an ineffective antidepressant for years. The New York Times said the…
LIFE GOES ON Hello Readers, I’ve received such a huge response from so many of you in response to my column about inappropriate magazine covers in grocery stores. I want to suggest that if we…
An investigation by ProPublica has uncovered hundreds of doctors on company payrolls who had been accused of professional misconduct, were disciplined by state boards or lacked credentials as researchers or specialists. “This story is the…
As the result of litigation or pressure seven drug firms have made public the names of doctors they paid to push their drugs. ProPublica has compiled the $258 million payment into one database. You can…
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced today that Connecticut has joined with other states and the federal government in a preliminary agreement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation to settle allegations involving illegal off-label drug marketing and kickback…
WORKING WITH GRACE By Kathleen Cairns, Psy.D. Dear Doctor Kathleen, I have heard that you work in your office with your Maltese dog Grace and that she was a therapy dog in a hospital in…
DEAR DOCTOR KATHLEEN,
While waiting in line at the grocery store, my 6-year-old daughter asked., “Mommy, how do you have lots of orgamas?? What’s an orgasma???” I realized she was reading and mispronouncing the cover of a popular magazine! I felt so embarrassed as the other customers looked at me to see what I would say, (as if I would know the answer!). How can we protect our little children who can read from these ridiculously inappropriate headlines in public places? I don’t know what to do, other than not taking her to the grocery store with me. What a sad world!
Dear Doctor Kathleen,
I have been in therapy with a very nice woman for about 8 months. Although I like talking to her because she’s a good listener, she doesn’t say very much. I feel better talking to her, but nothing has changed in my life. How can I tell if I’m getting the help I need? How do I know if my therapy is “working”?
Am I Getting Help?
I first met Dr. Kathleen Cairns, Psy.D at a Caribean airport where my friend Frank Morgan (better known in West Hartford by his alias Marcus Franklin). She was standing behind us going through customs and I asked her where she was from.
Kathleen said Connecticut. I then asked where? She humored me and said West Hartford. I again asked where? She humored me some more and gave me her street name. I explained that I lived one block away.
While no one is recommending super dosing Vitamin D or burning to a crisp oiled up, more health officials believe that higher dosage of the vitamin can have positive effect against cancer, heart disease and…
Arnie Kozak, Ph.D. a clinical psychologist, meditation instructor, and author, is joining CtWatchdog.com as a blogger. He has published Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom, 2009). He also the founder of…
Another symptom of what is wrong with our education system: Stupid teachers. Honest to God, teachers in Milwaukee have launched a fight for Viagra drug coverage. AP Reporter Ryan J. Foley wrote that despite a…
Richard Johnston, who for 20-years ran the Connecticut Humane Society as its controversial director and board chairman, was given more than $100,000 in compensation when he left the charity under pressure in March. That fact…