The political selectivity of medical freedom: a double standard

Policy
December 22, 2025

I’ve been thinking about “choice” a lot lately, not the rich, ethically grounded version we teach in medical school, rooted in autonomy, informed consent, and shared decision-making, but a thinner, more selective version now circulating in political and legal discourse. The kind that sounds principled until you read the fine print.

The message goes like this: You may choose, just make sure you choose correctly.

It’s the literary equivalent of Animal Farm: …

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The AI innovation-access gap in medicine

Meds
December 22, 2025

Artificial intelligence has transformed pharmaceutical science more rapidly than any other part of health care. AI can now:

  • Identify molecular targets faster than human researchers
  • Compress early discovery timelines from years to months
  • Simulate how millions of compounds might behave in the body
  • Predict toxicity or poor efficacy before a drug is ever synthesized
  • Help design personalized therapies built on real-world clinical data

Recent analyses in Drug Discovery Today and …

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Leadership buy-in is the key to preventing burnout [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 21, 2025
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Physician advocate and physical therapist Kim Downey and counselor Shari Morin-Degel discuss their article, “Why burnout prevention starts with leadership.” Shari shares her personal journey from a trauma-exposed mental health professional to …

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What to do if your lab results are borderline

Conditions
December 21, 2025

Every week in clinic, I meet patients who carry lab results like heavy burdens. Their cholesterol is “slightly high,” their thyroid level is “borderline,” or their blood sugar is “just above normal.” They arrive anxious, wanting certainty: Do I need treatment? Am I sick?

The truth is, much of medicine exists in the gray zone (values that are not clearly normal, but not clearly dangerous either).

What the research tells us

Borderline numbers …

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Direct primary care limitations for complex patients

Conditions
December 21, 2025

All of the arguments for direct primary care (DPC) from a provider perspective are valid. As a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, I have essentially run a direct care practice for the last 15 years. I don’t accept insurance and see patients as often and for as long as therapeutically necessary. So when DPC practices started rising in popularity, I was excited to try it. Unfortunately, as a patient who is medically …

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Understanding the unseen role of back-to-school diagnostics [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 20, 2025
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Health care executive Kevin King discusses his article, “How to stay safe from back-to-school illnesses.” Kevin explains why the return to classrooms often triggers a surge in respiratory illnesses (like the flu, …

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Public violence as a health system failure and mental health signal

Conditions
December 20, 2025

On a winter evening in Taipei, random violence erupted across two of the city’s busiest metro stations. Within minutes, lives were lost, dozens were injured, and a familiar cycle followed: shock, fear, calls for more security, and questions about public safety. But for those of us in health care, this should not be framed as a failure of policing alone. It should be recognized for what it truly is: a …

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Physician asset protection: a guide to entity strategy

Finance
December 20, 2025

A few years ago, I met a talented internist who had been practicing for 15 years. She owned a small clinic, worked long hours, and ran a thriving patient base, but when we reviewed her financials, I realized she’d been paying far more in taxes and taking far more risk than she needed to.

Her response was one I hear often: “Clint, I’m not a businessperson; I’m a doctor.”

It’s a mindset …

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Understanding factitious disorder imposed on another and child safety

Conditions
December 20, 2025

Factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), represents one of the most egregious and dangerous forms of child maltreatment encountered in clinical practice. Although terminology has evolved, the core phenomenon described decades ago remains unchanged: A caregiver, most often the mother, intentionally fabricates, exaggerates, or induces illness in a child to meet psychological needs. The child suffers not only from the caregiver’s direct …

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Physician grief and patient loss: Navigating the emotional toll of medicine

Physician
December 20, 2025

“Doc, I’ve seen enough doctors. I only trust you. I want you to do my knee replacement and fix my heart.”

I heard the conviction in his voice when I heard these words from this patient. Sitting across from me was a 76-year-old army veteran I had cared for over two decades. He had seen multiple specialists, endured countless consultations, and, in the end, he wanted me, the physician who had …

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Joy in medicine: a new culture

Conditions
December 20, 2025

Kelly D. Holder, PhD, and I first met at the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation Health Care Worker Well-Being Day in Washington, D.C., where she was a presenter. I was impressed with Kelly’s work, focusing on helping health care professionals and leaders co-create a culture of well-being, which is so critical in medicine today.

This resonates deeply with Sarah Hollander, MD’s belief that the culture of medicine must change, starting in …

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Is medical school culture replacing academic rigor?

Education
December 20, 2025

Medscape recently released a report entitled, “A Constant Evolution: The Unique Culture of Medical School: Medscape 2025 Report.” The report’s underlying premise is that a warm, welcoming, and supportive culture in medical school allows students to not only “survive” their training, but to truly “thrive” in their educational journey.

What defines medical education today

Yet, reading between the lines, this emphasis on “culture” and environment also poses a very different question: …

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Understanding alternative drug funding programs

Policy
December 20, 2025

As elected officials and citizens brace for the possible expiration of federal subsidies for health insurance premiums, many wonder if there are alternatives to the confusing rebate/copay/deductible/premium drug coverage word salad (see: PSAOs, GPOs, NADACs, ASOs, MLRs, AWPs, WACs, U&Cs, MACs, BERs, GERs, DFERs, GDRs, NDCs, DIRs, and ERISAs).

Just because patients don’t understand the opaque layers/players behind the drug procurement affordability crisis, doesn’t mean that lawmakers do, say experts (which …

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A pediatrician’s reckoning with applied behavior analysis [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 19, 2025
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Developmental-behavioral pediatrician Ronald L. Lindsay discusses his article, “A pediatrician’s reckoning with behavior therapy.” He shares his profound professional and personal pivot, …

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Is primary care becoming a triage station?

Physician
December 19, 2025

Let’s discuss primary care. That’s primary care, as in P-R-I-M-A-R-Y C-A-R-E.

Why the emphasis?

  • Because I believe high-quality primary care is the bedrock of a well-functioning health care system.
  • Because I believe access to primary care is a marker of a healthy nation.
  • Because I believe quality primary care can save lives, extend lifespan and healthspan, and importantly:
  • Because I believe quality primary care can reduce health care costs.

Sadly, I don’t …

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Violence against physicians and the role of empathy

Physician
December 19, 2025

It was past 7 p.m. when I finally reached home after another long day in the outpatient oncology clinic. My mind still echoed with the day’s stories: patients fighting pain, families clinging to hope, and the small victories that made the exhaustion feel almost worthwhile. There was emotional fatigue, but also peace.

Then I opened WhatsApp. The headline jolted me: “Doctor in Chennai stabbed by patient’s son after mother’s death.” He …

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The impact of policy cuts on ableism in health care

Policy
December 19, 2025

I am a disabled doctor. Being in residency, where many of my peers are young and able-bodied, I entered medicine with extensive experience on the other side of the examination table. I also entered medicine wanting to emulate the best of the care I received, and minimize the worst.

Over time, I have met more and more doctors like me who struggle with temporary or permanent disability. I see how systems …

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How deprescribing in psychiatry offers a path to safer care

Meds
December 19, 2025

America learned to add medications. Add one for sleep. Add one for nausea from the first. Add one for weight gain from the second. Add a second antidepressant when the first loses effect. Add a stimulant when a mood stabilizer slows a teenager down. Add an antipsychotic when anxiety erupts in the clinic room. Add a statin because a lab number sits outside a guideline range. Patients, however, feel the …

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AI in prior authorization: the new gatekeeper

Conditions
December 19, 2025

The denial came back in less than three seconds.

A physician had just submitted a renewal for a medication her patient had taken for years, one that kept her stable, out of the hospital, and able to function. She expected the usual wait time. Maybe an hour. Maybe a day.

Instead, an automated message appeared: “Denied: automated appropriateness determination.”

No reviewer. No rationale. No path for appeal. Only an algorithm, silent, opaque, and …

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Why learning specialists are central to medical education [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 18, 2025
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Assistant professor of professional practice Adrian Reynolds discusses his article, “What is professional identity formation in medicine?” He explores how a student’s frustrated question, “Did I get dumber?” reveals the deep crisis …

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