Benjamin Abella, MD MPhil Profile picture
Feb 8, 2022 7 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Dr. Oz is running for #PA senate.
Dr. Oz is a quack doctor. A fraud.

What's up with that? What IS a quack doctor?

An educational thread.

#MedEd #medtwitter

(1/7)
So I decided to look into this whole "quack doctor" thing.

Comes from old Dutch word QUACKSALVER, meaning "hawker of ointment".

Now it means someone who sells bogus cures.

(2/7)
Turns out, quack doctors have been around a long long time. They are con artists who know what people want from medicines.

We all want to:
lose weight
be younger
be smarter
have more energy

(3/7)
Quack doctors also know we are afraid - afraid of epidemics we don't understand.

Every plague brought miracle cures. Sound familiar?

(4/7)
Which brings us to the modern time.... and this guy.

Dr. Oz.

Who has hawked diet meds, vitamins, and all sorts of cures.

He was even hauled in front of Congress in 2016, and grilled for his false claims.

Didn't stop him. And why should it? He was making bank.

(5/7)
So the questions are:

* shouldn't medical boards and orgs protect the public?

* why don't people like this lose their licenses and get tossed out?

Oz still has title of "professor emeritus" at Columbia Univ; why?

turns out, we're lousy at self policing in medicine.

(6/7)
Unless the House of Medicine starts to take these quacks seriously & sanction them....

... we will keep having more quacks.

I helped prove hydroxychloroquine doesn't prevent #COVID19 in a randomized trial, but quacks still push the stuff.

For personal profit. Grrr.

/fin

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More from @BenjaminAbella

May 16
I have received a ton of questions about the red hands seen on protesters such as today in congress

some say "oh, it's just saying people have blood on their hands". Oh really?

Here's some history for those who want to learn - a tweet thread:

#antisemitism #redhands #protestersImage
Image
Image
Read 5 tweets
Jan 4, 2023
ER doc & CPR professor here with some thoughts on cardiac arrest survivorship.

As we all wait nervously to see if Damar Hamlin recovers, I thought it was worth compiling some inspiring stories of survival.

A thread of hope below 🧵

#Hamlin #CPR #BuffaloBills #DamarHamlin
2/15

now, before I begin: we cannot yet say if Mr. Hamlin will recover. He has a long and difficult road ahead.

But what is medicine without hope?

As an ER doc, I couldn't do my job without it.... so let's learn from these survivors:
3/15

1. FABRICE MUAMBA - 2012

A soccer player in the UK, Mr. Muamba collapsed at age 23, during a game. It was observed that he "fell like a tree trunk. He didn't put his arms out to break his fall, or anything, he just dropped."

Cardiac arrest. People sprung into action....
Read 16 tweets
Jan 3, 2023
ER doc & CPR professor here - with a second thread tonight to explain what comes next, AFTER CPR....

it seems that Damar Hamlin is alive, in critical condition... so what does this mean, & what happens now?

a new thread, below 🧵

#Bills #DamarHamlin #CPR @NFL @nflnetwork
2/8

in my first thread earlier tonight, I briefly explained CPR.

When CPR is successful, and heart function is restored, patients require specialized ICU care to support organ and brain recovery - this is known as POST-ARREST CARE.

It is slow and careful work.
3/8

One of the keys to post-arrest care is TARGETED TEMPERATURE MANAGEMENT (TTM) - the use of technologies to avoid fever and precisely control body (and hopefully brain) temperature.

It can look like this - cooling pads hooked up to a coolant machine:
Read 9 tweets
Jan 3, 2023
Having received a number of texts and calls tonight....

as a emergency doc who studies cardiac arrest for a living: a mini thread on CPR and #cardiacarrest

#hamlin #CPR #BuffaloBills #emergencymedicine
2/5

cardiac arrest is when the heart stops - abruptly and with little warning

this is different than a "heart attack" when there is a blockage to a coronary artery, and USUALLY the heart doesn't stop
3/5

cardiac arrest is 100% fatal UNLESS actions are taken immediately - those actions include CPR and the use of a defibrillator
Read 7 tweets
Jun 28, 2022
A tragic consequence of #RoeVWade decision that will harm women:

time to talk CANCER during PREGNANCY.

Without abortion access, women with cancer will have an impossible choice: risk delayed cancer care or severe fetal harm

angry ER doc thread... (1/8)

#reproductiverights
(2/8)

1,000s of pregnant women each year in the US are diagnosed w cancer. These include breast ca, rectal ca, melanoma.

Treatment may require radiation, chemotherapy. But here's the problem....

radiation & chemo can cause great fetal harm in up to 15%-20% cases

what to do?
(3/8)

imagine: you're a pregnant women, excited to have your 1st child. You receive terrible cancer news. And you are told that you need chemo NOW - or you risk the cancer spreading.

But you are told chemo has a big chance of harming the fetus.

If you live in many states....
Read 10 tweets
Jun 27, 2022
Here's my 2nd tweet thread on how the #RoeVsWade decision will hurt so many people.

Today let's talk about ectopic pregnancy. Common, and deadly. A medical emergency that can affect anyone.

Thread below...
(1/11)

#WomensRightsAreHumanRights
#ReproductiveRightsAreHumanRights
(2/11)
Ectopic pregnancies, sometimes called "tubal pregnancies" are when the fetus is growing in the wrong place.

A fetus should take root in the uterus, where it can grow safely. If it gets stuck elsewhere, that's an ectopic.

It's super common - 1 in 50 pregnancies! Image
(3/11)

many women have no idea that their pregnancy is ectopic.

One day, they have abdominal pain and/or vaginal bleeding, and they go to the ER - and an ultrasound confirms it. It's a serious emergency that ER providers see ALL THE TIME.

Every damn day, really.
Read 14 tweets

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