The VapoRub Warning

Remember the role of Windex in the Portokalos family in the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding? That was the status of Vick’s VapoRub in our family when I was a kid. Dad used it during virtually every respiratory infection, and even considered cracking it open for scarlet fever and chicken pox. Thirty five years too late to save me from the dreaded blue jar, researchers have found that the menthol medication may be harmful for use in infants and small children due to the size of their airways. Read all about it in this month’s issue of Chest.

Will electronic medical records decrease medical errors and save our economy? President-elect Obama thinks so, and I know a couple dozen laid-off IT professionals eyeing the healthcare sector right now in hopes that jobs will emerge. And speaking of the federal government, SCHIP is back in the news. The tobacco industry would provide the perfect vehicle for SCHIP expansion, and I’m okay with that.

Move over Jenny McCarthy, here comes Paul Offit, MD. I hate reading that he’s getting death threats in his attempt to educate the public about vaccine safety.

The American Journal of Medical Genetics has published a special issue regarding the genetics of ADHD that is worth browsing . The search for genetic markers is a complex but important task for the potential discovery of new treatments. Also, the ADDitude online information resource for ADHD also has an article that patients might ask you about regarding definitive diagnosis using brain scans. Yikes.

That’s it for now. Have a happy remainder of the week, and enjoy the inauguration. Next Wednesday, we’ll have entered a new chapter in American history.