Melinda Beck penned a nice piece on the reflux-colic debate in today’s Wall Street Journal. The article, Baby Crying? Doctors Say It May Be Acid-Reflux Disease, is nicely balanced and catches the clear and present trend that the concept of colic is finally approaching DNR status.
Favorite quote: The suggestion by Dr. Vikram Khoshoo that as a doctor the purpose served by the treatment of acid reflux in a baby is to get mothers off your back (note to self: reassess West Lafayette, Lousiana as a leading center of thought in medicine). And there's lots of good press for Beth Pulsifer-Anderson and PAGER (Pediatric/Adolescent Gastroesophageal Reflux Association) who are always working to legitimize screaming babies.
You’ll find me, the pediatrician desperately pulling up the rear, with the contrarian view that babies who scream deserve real attention. While The Wall Street Journal identifies my daughter Laura as the source of my reflux epiphany, I have to admit that the success of treating thousands of babies misdiagnosed as colic perhaps represents my greatest influence.