Why good doctors are being jailed—and what it means for you

Physician
October 27, 2024

Today, in America, if you are suffering from certain medical conditions, physicians are being taught that you cannot be trusted or even treated. This results from a decade of law enforcement targeting physicians, pharmacists, and nurse practitioners for making medical judgment calls the police don’t agree with when it comes to the treatment of certain conditions. I use the term “police” here to include federal agencies, knowing that, while policing …

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Most medical school students are being seriously compromised in their future medical careers

Physician
October 27, 2024

The mythical belief that almost 100 percent of medical school students have accepted over the last century—that one can practice medicine without the need for a business education—has contributed not only to the crisis in health care and the physician attrition crises we see today, but also to the rapid disintegration of private medical practice in our nation.

The confusion covertly introduced into medical students’ minds stems from the missing segment …

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Work-life balance in health care: Is it a need or a necessity?

Conditions
October 27, 2024

As health care professionals, have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “How am I doing?”

A humble doctor once asked my team, “How are you doing on a personal level?” That question stopped me in my tracks. None of us knew how to answer. Were we okay? Were we coping? Maybe we were, but maybe we weren’t. The truth was, we didn’t know. His question echoed in my mind for days, …

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Why kindness is the missing link in medical education [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 26, 2024
YouTube video

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We welcome back internal medicine physician Vijay Rajput. Two years ago, he shared his insights on the KevinMD article, “Top 10 things new interns should do.” Today, he returns to discuss updates on …

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5 questions in mental health counseling – and life

Conditions
October 26, 2024

Dedicated to my friend and colleague Pat Irving to whom I first told the story.

I’m 80 years old and I’ve been writing for over 60 years—first in systems engineering, later in advanced technology, and more recently in public health policy for the regulation of pain medicine. At this stage of my life, some of my writing is introspective, in an attempt to extract and share “lessons learned” with others. Thus, …

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The hidden $935 billion problem in U.S. health care no one is talking about—and how to solve it

Policy
October 26, 2024

“Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly.”
– Thomas Edison

The escalating challenge of waste in U.S. medicine

The U.S. health care system is struggling with inefficiencies and waste that weaken its effectiveness, thus reducing accessibility and sustainability as a whole. According to a study by JAMA, between $760 and $935 billion is wasted …

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Health care reform requires better access and quality: dialysis as an example

Policy
October 26, 2024

Having spent two years in Oxford as a Marshall Scholar in the mid-1970s, I came back to medical school believing in a national health service—i.e., Medicare for all. But I learned firsthand that a monopoly can provide access without ensuring quality. When quality isn’t the priority, there’s no hope for lowering costs or alleviating suffering.

Medicare is already the single payer for dialysis and has failed patients miserably. As a result, …

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Why are hospitals cornering doctors with this legal trap? [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 25, 2024
YouTube video

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We sit down with Dennis Hursh, a health law attorney with decades of experience representing physicians in their interactions with hospitals. Dennis shares eye-opening stories of how hospitals use restrictive contracts and aggressive …

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The widow’s walk: a poignant tale of loss, love, and recovery

Conditions
October 25, 2024

A widow’s walk, also known as a widow’s watch or roof walk, is a railed rooftop platform often having an inner cupola or turret, frequently found on 19th-century North American coastal houses. The name is said to come from the wives of mariners, who would watch for their spouses’ return, often in vain, as the ocean took their lives, leaving the women widows. In other coastal communities, the platforms were …

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To avoid unwanted medical treatment: Choose a bulldog surrogate to fight for you

Conditions
October 25, 2024

“Health is a matter of choice, not a mystery of chance.”
—Aristotle

As an end-of-life (EOL) consultant, one aspect of my job is advance care planning, which involves helping people create an advance directive. An advance directive (AD) has two components. The living will portion lists the treatment options and choices you want or don’t want if you become incapacitated due to an accident or a medical crisis. In the second portion, …

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The maternal and child health crisis in Sudan: a call to action

Physician
October 25, 2024

The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has created one of the world’s largest displacement crises, forcing more than 10 million people to flee their homes. The warring sides, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, are inflicting horrendous violence on people across the country. Hospitals have been attacked, markets bombed, and houses razed to the ground, leading to a catastrophic toll on the health of …

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How flawed legal reasoning can tilt medical malpractice cases

Physician
October 24, 2024

A quote by Sir Winston Churchill: “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

Actually, Churchill never said this. It may have been Ian Gilmour, a member of Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, years after Churchill’s death. Nevertheless, this quote is often cited in the context of risk management. It is as relevant in a medical malpractice lawsuit as it is a warning to malpractice attorneys. No matter how elegant …

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As a doctor, what I learned from knocking on doors for the presidential election

Physician
October 24, 2024

When I’m not knocking on exam-room doors as a pediatrician in New York City, I’m knocking on voters’ doors in Northampton, Pennsylvania—a small county that could determine the outcome of this year’s nail-biting presidential election.

Each time I walk up to a voter’s front door, my heartbeat quickens. You would think a doctor who talks to total strangers every day would be immune to such jitters. But even with a door-knocking …

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From darkness to empathy: How one ICU patient transformed my perspective

Physician
October 24, 2024

My first ICU rotation of intern year was filled with great darkness. It was dark outside as I walked from my car into the hospital each morning before sunrise, and it was again dark when I walked to my car at the end of the day. Less than one hour into my first day in the ICU, a patient’s weak and ineffectual heart stopped beating, and CPR was swiftly initiated. …

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How technology can support nurses and improve patient safety [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 23, 2024
YouTube video

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We welcome Ann-Louise Puopolo, a nurse executive, to discuss the critical issue of the nursing shortage crisis and the impact of burnout and technology fatigue on health care workers. Ann-Louise shares insights from …

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Voting as a physician: How my parents’ story inspired me to advocate

Policy
October 23, 2024

My parents, both physicians, embody the American story. After completing medical school in Iran, they were recruited to the U.S. in 1968 to fill the gap left by doctors sent to Vietnam. Building a life from the ground up, they became pillars of their patients and communities — and our family, too. In 1992, they became citizens, finally gaining the right to vote, and they’ve never missed an election since, …

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It’s not a normal job, folks: How 3 elemental forces of reality shape the profession of medicine

Education
October 23, 2024

Introduction

In the book Ender’s Game, humans face a time-dilation war in which they must travel light-years into the future to face an enemy of unknown strength and scale. The weapons and technology they possess for the journey may be outdated by their arrival, because relativity minimizes the passage of time. The same dilemma is true for medical and premedical students who can spend decades in training, only to emerge without …

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How financial incentives transform health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 22, 2024
YouTube video

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We sit down with Taylor J. Christensen, an internal medicine physician and health policy researcher, to discuss his health care incentives framework. Taylor explains how restructuring financial incentives can encourage providers and insurers …

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Nurses sue over trans colleague’s actions

Physician
October 22, 2024

Eight female nurses at a United Kingdom hospital are suing their employer for not assuring their psychological and physical safety. The nurses work in specialized areas that require their changing uniforms once daily. There is a trans-female nurse, similarly specialized, who changes with them. He wanders about the locker room in briefs or nude, the women report, ogling them as they exchange clothing. It has also been related that he …

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