Faculty Bibliography

Numb3rs [Television Program] -- The premise: Vick Johnson, a baseball star coming off two injury- ridden seasons, is trying to make a comeback. But, stretching a double into a triple, he dies sliding into third base. An autopsy determines that he died of a massive brain hemorrhage and that his blood contains an artificial, difficult-to-trace anabolic- androgenic steroid called thorocycline. Bound by FDA regulations, the chemical is supposed to be prescribed only for adolescent males with pituitary malfunction and growth disorders. The reality: Thorocycline is a fictional steroid, an unrealistic hybrid of an artificial growth hormone, a nutritional supplement and an anabolic-androgenic steroid. In real life, anabolic-androgenic steroids are manufactured substances similar to male sex hormones. Anabolic refers to muscle-building properties, and androgenic refers to male sexual characteristics

Jericho [Television Program] -- They consider administering an intravenous drip of 10% ethyl alcohol as an alternative method of slowing the contractions, but April begins to bleed profusely and so is taken to the operating room. The surgeon, Dr. Kenchy Duwhalia, soon concludes that the fetus cannot be saved (one of the nurses hears the fetal heart rate at five beats per minute), but he continues operating for several hours in an attempt to stop the bleeding and stabilize the patient. The last power generator goes off in the middle of the operation, and as Kenchy continues to operate by candle and battery light, April's blood pressure drops to 66/30 and she dies

Novartis has a new drug, called Tekturna, that has just been approved by the FDA. It is the first new class of hypertensive drugs in 10 years, something well worth celebrating. But its 'coming out party' has received little medical attention. Those who make an unremitting habit of bashing drug companies about unforeseen side effects could cost them so much money and public embarrassment that it takes the legs out of important projects like the one that led to the birth of Tekturna

Crossing Jordan [Television Program] -- The reality: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome has been found in humans in 30 states (460 cases as of January 2007), as well as South America and Canada, though it continues to be quite rare. Outbreaks in the U.S. have been traced to rodents -- spread via their urine, droppings and saliva, which can become aerosolized and inhaled by humans. Antibodies to the virus have also been found in cats, dogs, pigs, cattle and deer. No cases of human-to-human transmission have been reported in the U.S.; however, an outbreak in Argentina in 1976 did appear to be spread among humans. The show's depiction of an asymptomatic spreader is improbable but not impossible. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no proven treatment or effective vaccine for a hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Ribavirin, the only approved antiviral treatment that has been shown to be effective against hantaviruses in the test tube, has not yet been shown effective against the syndrome in patients. And a study in the January 2006 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by the CDC, reported that a genetically engineered hantavirus vaccine that has been tested in hamsters and monkeys is likely to be of limited use because of variations in the strains of hantavirus

No one questions the fact that CT scans of the lung aid in early detection. Chest X-rays often miss primary lung cancers before they are at least one centimeter in size and have often spread beyond the lung; CT scans routinely discover malignant lesions that are just a few millimeters in size. This strategy should be in place before the test is ordered. Having the best team available to order and interpret results is not a factor that can be weighed or studied in clinical research. But a CT report that tells me to repeat it in six months, or a needle biopsy for an irregular uncalcified nodule performed by a discerning expert, is far better for a clinician like me to have in hand then no CT scan or biopsy at all. When my patient Mr. 'Azziz,' a two-pack-per-day smoker for more than 25 years reached the age of 45, I decided to order a screening CT scan. The results showed a nodule at the top of his left lung, a common place for lung cancer. The biopsy showed squamous cell, a common type of cancer that is often fatal

Law & Order: Criminal Intent [Television Program] -- The premise: After journalist Josh Lemle (Lee Tergesen) develops weakness and coughs up blood, he goes to the hospital where doctors discover he has been poisoned by polonium-210, a radioactive material. They predict he will die within a week. Josh contacts the crime-solving Major Case Squad and his old friend, Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth). Josh later develops irreversible multisystem organ failure, has trouble breathing, loses his hair, develops severe ulcerations to his skin and dies

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is the pioneer in the area of creating a social program necessary to combat AIDS in the poverty-stricken countries of Africa. Its 'Secure the Future' program focused on developing an infrastructure that would support medicine use, rather than just throwing pills at poor people who did not have food or clean water. The current program does not utilize or market BMS's own drug, but rather provides funding to the communities which allows drugs to be purchased through the countries' own programs. The program has grown to $150 million, supported by over 200 grants

The inch-long sore was pale, a whitish gray against the red background. Unfortunately, it told his future. The oral pathologist had performed a biopsy, which had shown the sore to be melanoma, and a CT scan revealed that it was already invading the bones of [ARTHUR]'s face. A few weeks after Arthur's death, a woman in her late 50s came to see me with firm rubbery lymph nodes on the front and back of her neck. I immediately thought that lymphoma was the most likely possibility, but at the same time I noticed that her hair was very thick and dark for her age. I probably wouldn't have noticed her hair at all pre-Arthur, since hair is not the usual stalking horse for an internist. But I was now alert to things out of the ordinary. This more innocent possibility -- hair dye allergy -- quickly eclipsed lymphoma as my lead theory. I ordered a CT scan of the neck rather than going straight to a biopsy, as I would have done if I had had no other explanation than cancer. We were relieved that the CT scan showed 'reactive nodes' rather than suspicious-for-cancer nodes. Eventually, after the patient washed the dye out of her hair, the swellings in her neck began to shrink

NCIS [Television Program] -- The premise: In an abandoned warehouse in Georgetown, a man is proposing to his bride-to-be when he discovers the dead body of a sailor covered with maggots. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is called and uses the maggots to determine that he has been dead for almost five days. NCIS medical examiner Dr. Donald 'Ducky' Mallard (David McCallum) finds no signs of trauma or injury but discovers a blood alcohol level five times normal, a worn-out (cirrhotic) liver and multiple organ failure. Other recreational drugs, including Ecstasy, are found in the man's bloodstream. At first, the team believes that the sailor must have died of a combination of drugs and alcohol. But forensics expert Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) uses a mass spectrometer to identify high levels of a mystery compound that turns out to be a poison derived from the oleander plant

Vaccines are better preventatives than invasive procedures. Millions of women infected with the offending virus can develop pre- cancers requiring removal. These women must be carefully screened as they live in fear of one abnormal Pap test to the next. Given a choice, most women would prefer a vaccine to this unpleasant routine, and the $360 cost of the vaccine is far less than the thousands spent on a biopsy or colposcopy procedure. The problem with combating the human papilloma virus in the United States isn't only cervical cancer or precancerous cells. The problem also is an epidemic of sexually transmitted genital warts. The CDC says HPV causes more than 6 million new cases of genital warts in this country every year. Gardasil is not only effective; it's quite safe. It is a non- infectious, mercury-free vaccine genetically engineered using viral particles and simple yeast. Studies in 11,000 girls have shown it to be without significant short-term side effects. Dr. William Schaffner, vice president of the National Foundation of Infectious Disease and chairman of the Department of Preventative Medicine at Vanderbilt University, says: 'I strongly believe this great cancer- prevention benefit should be extended to all girls and young women for whom the vaccine is indicated.'