2000: At the start of the decade that never settled on a name (the “00s” or the “aughts” never caught on), we were immersed in the Y2K millennium computer bug scare. Fears mounted that computers running hospitals, medical devices, and everything else would not distinguish the year 2000 from the year 1900, potentially causing massive system glitches. If a pacemaker reset to 1900, it would disappear because the device had not been invented yet. Experts had script writers from the movie Back to the Future on hand to come up with a solution. Fortunately, there was no disaster at 12:01 AM 1/1/2000.

2001: A national outbreak of Googleitis. Never before did patients have access to so much good and bad online health information, about everything from arthritis to zoonosis. One major downside of seeing a patient with a Google printout in hand: she probably knows more about the topic than you do. The nurse working with me in the clinic would give me a warning: “Positive Dr. Google sign in room 3.”

2002: Cruise ship travelers were stricken with a highly contagious stomach bug, the Norwalk-like virus. More than 1,000 passengers spent their vacations rotating in and out of a tiny bathroom. One passenger suggested the virus be renamed the “Nor-shuffle” virus.

2003: The year of HIPAA, which as you all know stands for “Health Insurance Pain in the Astrocyte Act.” Many of us developed a case of HIPAA-titis, becoming so inundated with training sessions that we entered a HIPAA-notic state. I don’t mean to be a HIPAA-crit, but I have never read the mandatory form as a patient, and I have yet to see other patients (other than one law student) read the darn thing.

2004: The flu shot shortage compelled people who never had a flu shot to suddenly want one. A common attitude amid scarcity: if something is hard to get, more people want it. Riding the wave of this mentality, we tried something new at the clinic. We put up a sign that read: “Warning! Colonoscopy shortage.” There were no takers.

2005: The United States Department of Agriculture performed a major redesign of the classic food pyramid. Versions of the new vertical-striped pyramid were added for various age groups. The information was enhanced with podcasts, web links, charts and graphs, and a food pyramid video game for kids. Another story of the year: Video games are associated with poor dietary habits.

2006: New York City—known for street vendors peddling hot dogs, sausages, and knishes—banned trans fats. The arguments among individuals who feel they should have the right to eat trans fats were drowned out by millions of happy arteries.

2007: The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to give cough medicine to children under the age of 2 because of potential life-threatening side effects. Authorities recommended using nonpharmaceutical remedies as an alternative to cough medication. This recommendation was based on studies showing that nonpharmaceutical treatments don’t work very well—just like the cough medications.

2008: Studies showed that cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed correctly can triple the chance that someone survives a heart attack. The study found that teaching CPR to the beat of the Bee Gees’ song “Stayin’ Alive” helped students perform compressions at the proper rate. This tune is almost exactly 100 beats per minute—the rate recommended by the American Heart Association for CPR chest compressions. One author also noted that the tune by the band Queen “Another One Bites the Dust” also has the proper 100 beats per minute. Whichever tune you choose, sing to yourself. 

2009: The year of 2 big “H” issues: H1N1 and health care reform. Both of these presented us with frightening moments and periods of dormancy. These 2 topics will continue to entertain us in 2010, you can count on it. I wish you a happy and healthy new decade. By the way, do we call this new decade “the tens”?