tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post7024372499029499342..comments2023-08-21T02:57:37.362-05:00Comments on Dr. Wes: Patient-Laundered Direct-to-Consumer AdvertisingDrWeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17438019699222125477noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-55557419511370191062014-08-06T11:37:13.863-05:002014-08-06T11:37:13.863-05:00Unfortunately Ms Hills is biased in her moderating...Unfortunately Ms Hills is biased in her moderating along with another lady policing that site. The posters are closely scanned for any criticism of Pharmaceuticals and conventional Medicine. One such thread was locked by Ms Hills due to what she referred to as "attacking" Drug companys in a thread titled "The high cost of Meds". Some posters speaking of alternative care and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-22118885947144612692007-06-19T20:30:00.000-05:002007-06-19T20:30:00.000-05:00The American Foundation for Women's health has a o...The American Foundation for Women's health has a one-page website, that states its founder is Mellanie Hills. There's not much more info than that, except for mention of the StopAfib.org website. Interestingly, the foundation's website is also designed by Etna.<BR/><BR/>This whole situation is awfully circuitous. Frankly, from my point of view, all of this is by and for Mellanie Hills, web Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-77385032665575359952007-06-19T11:05:00.000-05:002007-06-19T11:05:00.000-05:00Dr. Wes,You have a valid point that it's not on th...Dr. Wes,<BR/><BR/>You have a valid point that it's not on the About Us page, but here is why that happened:<BR/><BR/>First, since ".org" addresses are just for non-profits, I made the presumption that the address stood on its own. However, in retrospect, perhaps not everyone knows that.<BR/><BR/>Secondly, in writing the About Us page, I figured that folks would be coming from the home page and mhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-66480824771141883642007-06-19T09:49:00.000-05:002007-06-19T09:49:00.000-05:00I feel this mission so passionately that I sometim...<I>I feel this mission so passionately that I sometimes fail to distinguish myself from our mission, which is only natural when one intensely believes in the mission.</I><BR/><BR/>Thanks for the clairifications. Unfortunately none of these facts appear on your <A HREF="http://www.stopafib.org/about.cfm" REL="nofollow">About Us</A> web page, do they? And here we are, the interested public and DrWeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17438019699222125477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-38042917798404282302007-06-19T09:23:00.000-05:002007-06-19T09:23:00.000-05:00Dr. Wes,You wrote: "I was puzzled that Mr. Miller ...Dr. Wes,<BR/><BR/>You wrote: "I was puzzled that Mr. Miller described Mr. Hills’ efforts as a “foundation” – did I miss something?"<BR/><BR/>Clearly you did! <BR/><BR/>While I personally erred in my earlier posts in not being more clear that StopAfib.org is a product of a 501(3) non-profit foundation, the American Foundation for Women's Health (http://www.americanwomenshealth.org), which is mhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-48059242575325189162007-06-18T22:38:00.000-05:002007-06-18T22:38:00.000-05:00Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed),...Advanced Medical Technology Association (<A HREF="http://www.advamed.org/MemberPortal/" REL="nofollow">AdvaMed</A>), to which Atricure belongs, is the largest medical technology association in the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, Advamed is a medical industry lobbying organization that represents more than 1100 manufacturers of medical devices, diagnostic products, and medical informationDrWeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17438019699222125477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-24634333048242943482007-06-18T20:58:00.000-05:002007-06-18T20:58:00.000-05:00imo, you have not fairly represented the data rega...imo, you have not fairly represented the data regarding success and risks of either catheter ablation or mini-maze on your site.<BR/><BR/>i was just wondering what your personal interpretation of the existing data is.<BR/><BR/>thanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-17435443786775217682007-06-18T19:17:00.000-05:002007-06-18T19:17:00.000-05:00III wrote: "Which school(s) and what years did you...III wrote: "Which school(s) and what years did you graduate? If you claim you are a scientist, then you would not leave this information out when someone asks what your credentials are."<BR/><BR/>Obviously, you and I are coming from a different place regarding degrees. Your degrees were obviously more significant to you than mine were to me. I was never really able to use my textile chemistry andmhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-81532003771179188322007-06-18T16:27:00.000-05:002007-06-18T16:27:00.000-05:00The website claims to want to foster no attachment...The website claims to want to foster no attachments to any particular company or its device and attempts to justify this "belief" by stating others should submit their stories. If this is the case than why is there only one story and it only refers to one company which "sponsored" the site? The site makes use of a number of visuals to indicate that more than one "perspective" has been included Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-26344673516458252202007-06-18T15:59:00.000-05:002007-06-18T15:59:00.000-05:00"Regarding my scientific background, my undergradu..."Regarding my scientific background, my undergraduate work was in Textile Chemistry and Physics, and my graduate work was in the same with a minor in Biostatistics."<BR/><BR/>Which school(s) and what years did you graduate? If you claim you are a scientist, then you would not leave this information out when someone asks what your credentials are. <BR/><BR/>BTW, I am a patient and a polymer Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-17506095186874334242007-06-18T11:51:00.000-05:002007-06-18T11:51:00.000-05:00Anonymous and III,In reply to your questions:Anony...Anonymous and III,<BR/><BR/>In reply to your questions:<BR/><BR/>Anonymous,<BR/>The passage you quoted was taken from an overview on catheter ablation. On the more detailed pages I addressed in detail the success rates and risks described in multiple studies. Rather than going into lots of details here, or pasting in pages and pages of text, please refer to these pages:<BR/><BR/>Catheter Ablationmhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-67224128629465287522007-06-18T11:33:00.000-05:002007-06-18T11:33:00.000-05:00To all - I regret deeply that I have not been able...To all - <BR/>I regret deeply that I have not been able to respond as yet due to the fact I was away from computer access this weekend and am presently involved with patient care repsonsibilities. I will post a response to the above commentors later this evening. I appreciate your patience.DrWeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17438019699222125477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-87371949086887579382007-06-18T06:08:00.000-05:002007-06-18T06:08:00.000-05:00I'm on the patient end of things, not the medical ...I'm on the patient end of things, not the medical care end, but I have enough contact with doctors (family members, medical blogs) to have it impressed upon me the degree to which doctors think of "patients" as stupid. Perhaps individual patients are bright and thoughtful, and as such are likely to be mentioned if the doctor develops a relationship with them, but in the abstract - stupid. At bestAlison Cumminshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06370841996857073237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-29660224474101325892007-06-18T00:07:00.000-05:002007-06-18T00:07:00.000-05:00Dr. Wes,Your post stirred up a lot of feelings for...Dr. Wes,<BR/><BR/>Your post stirred up a lot of feelings for me this weekend. I felt sad for Ms. Hills, who gives so much of her time, energy, and money to educate men and women about heart health issues and treatment options. I was angered about your allegations that we are coaching doctors to skirt California's Business & Professions Code. I was disappointed in the inaccuracies in your post Ryan Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06752184269030413974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-81386864775059252942007-06-17T22:04:00.000-05:002007-06-17T22:04:00.000-05:00Mellanie Hills said, "I happen to be a scientist b...Mellanie Hills said, "I happen to be a scientist by training (undergrad & grad)."<BR/><BR/>On your website mellaniehills.com, you make no mention of your education. You list nothing at all about an undergraduate or graduate degree. Care to explain?<BR/><BR/>I have seen this before, a person claims to be a scientist and have an advanced degree, then can offer no substantive evidence of such.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-59322628913632377732007-06-17T17:45:00.000-05:002007-06-17T17:45:00.000-05:00MH-Could you clarify a few statements from your we...MH-<BR/>Could you clarify a few statements from your website-<BR/>you state that with regards to catheter ablation "success to date in curing afib (sp) has been very low, but has been improving at centers with large numbers of procedures accomplished. ... With catheter ablation there is less control by the EP because catheters are threaded through the blood vessels(,) and thus there is no direct Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-9508397531164770182007-06-17T16:52:00.000-05:002007-06-17T16:52:00.000-05:00Dr. Wes,Now that this article is showing up around...Dr. Wes,<BR/><BR/>Now that this article is showing up around the web without the Addendum, I request that you either set the record completely straight or pull this article completely from your blog and stop it from circulating. This article is absolutely NOT TRUE. <BR/><BR/>This article also questions my integrity. My integrity is everything, and it is not for sale! <BR/><BR/>If you cannot set mhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-2167076240170132462007-06-16T17:06:00.000-05:002007-06-16T17:06:00.000-05:00Dr. Wes,There are a couple of additional facts in ...Dr. Wes,<BR/><BR/>There are a couple of additional facts in your comments that are very concerning, so let me address them:<BR/><BR/>1) I did not have either a stroke or a TIA, though I did have a close call with stroke due to blood clots. It was my Electrophysiologist who took me off of Coumadin(R) 3 months following surgery after a month of monitoring showed no further afib. I don't recommend mhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-85708429732987646022007-06-16T11:22:00.000-05:002007-06-16T11:22:00.000-05:00Dr. Wes,Thanks for calling me to find out more abo...Dr. Wes,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for calling me to find out more about StopAfib.org. I returned your call as soon as I received it, which was in less than 2 hours. I do wish we'd spoken before you posted your original comments, but thanks for your corrections.<BR/><BR/>I would appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight - I wrote EACH and EVERY word on StopAfib.org and have invested countless mhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02100607547197446693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18943510.post-51351424217574128142007-06-15T16:46:00.000-05:002007-06-15T16:46:00.000-05:00Excellent detective work, my friend!"She states At...Excellent detective work, my friend!<BR/><BR/>"She states Atricure was "very careful" to remain detached from the project" - detached except for the dollars changing hands...<BR/><BR/>This reminds me of the stories about patient "survivors" testifing at FDA hearings, but being paid by Big Pharma. <BR/><BR/>http://www.forums.pharma-mkting.com/showthread.php?t=229Margaret Polaneczky, MD (aka TBTAM)https://www.blogger.com/profile/16555722791007332247noreply@blogger.com