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Flexible health care funding: Moving beyond disease eradication

Selena Kattick

Policy

February 14, 2026

The moment the text message lit up my watch, I knew my life had irrevocably changed. I looked down at the miniature screen and found that I could not look away from the gray bubble and the three words that shattered my world: My aunt had passed away. An all-consuming grief overtook me as I processed a reality where my aunt’s boisterous laugh no longer echoed off the walls, along …

Why a chief wellness officer hid her medication use for 13 years

Michael F. Myers, MD

Physician

February 14, 2026

An excerpt from Physicians With Lived Experience: How Their Stories Offer Clinical Guidance (APA Publishing, 2025).

“Here is the truth: I have been on a stable dose of Wellbutrin (Bupropion) for thirteen years, and despite being quite a public advocate about self-disclosure and mental health, I have never once said that out loud. If you have ever read anything I’ve written before …

Physician patient advocacy: Fighting insurance denials effectively

Neil Baum, MD

Physician

February 14, 2026

Our nation and the health care industry have been in shock following the assassination of the CEO of one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. in December 2024. The reaction to Brian Thompson’s death and suspected shooter Luigi Mangione appeared to have captured America’s attention. The assassination has focused public outrage toward the health care insurance industry and a lack of empathy for the victim and his …

Health care’s Upside Down: Addressing systemic dysfunction and burnout

Ganesh Asaithambi, MD, MBA

Physician

February 14, 2026

If you have watched Stranger Things, you know the premise: A quiet town appears functional on the surface while a darker, parallel world creeps into everyday life, or the Upside Down. The true danger is not just the monsters but also the refusal of adults in power to believe what is directly in front of them. Modern health care is living in its own Upside Down.

The metric trap

In my practice, …

How February and Valentine’s Day impact lonely patients

Crystal W. Cené, MD, MPH

Conditions

February 14, 2026

Last year, at her annual physical, one of my patients told me that February was the hardest time of the year for her. Her husband died three years earlier in February. Her daughter lives out of state and doesn’t visit often. She has a neurologic condition which makes it difficult for her to get around. Her days are marked by TV dinners eaten alone, a phone that rarely rings, and …

The specter of death: Why mortality gives life meaning

Steve Sobel, MD

Conditions

February 14, 2026

The looming specter of death exerts significant psychological power over the living. Perhaps the most common ways of coping with our persistent death anxiety are to ignore it, actively deny it, or deliberately distract ourselves from it; but removing our protective blinders ultimately enables us to live a more meaningful and authentic life. If we genuinely wish to live well and to die well, we must intentionally develop our emotional …

Systemic strain creates the perfect environment for medical gaslighting [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 13, 2026

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Otolaryngologist Alan P. Feren discusses his article “How system strain contributes to medical gaslighting in health care.” Alan explores why encounters that patients experience as dismissive or manipulative often stem from communication …

In the age of AI, what makes a physician REAL?

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Physician

February 13, 2026

It was 3:17 a.m. when the trauma pager went off. “Level 1 incoming. MVC. Hypotensive.” The trauma bay shifted instantly from stillness to choreography. Blood coolers opened. Monitors lit up. A resident’s voice tightened as he called out the vitals. The patient was young. Too young. Blood pressure in the 70s. Oxygen saturation falling. The kind of numbers that make the room feel smaller. CT was not ready. Labs were …

The cost of clinician absence in the boardroom: a 30-year perspective

Christopher Mastino, MD

Physician

February 13, 2026

I have spent 30 years as a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician in solo practice. In three decades of treating patients, I have witnessed the slow, systematic transfer of health care decision-making from clinicians to people who have never touched a patient.

When I started my career, physicians led health care. Today, private equity firms own hospitals, insurance company algorithms override clinical judgment, and administrators whose primary loyalty is to shareholders …

My wife wants me to retire

Sandy Brown, MD

Physician

February 13, 2026

At our yearly Christmas medical staff dinner this last year, our chief of staff asked all the doctors present who had been working at our hospital for five or more years to stand up. Quite a few of us rose. He then asked those who had been there 10 years or more to remain standing. After half of us sat down, he upped the ante to 15 years, then to …

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My wife wants me to retire

2026 Winter Olympics rumors: the truth about ski jumpers and hyaluronic acid

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

February 13, 2026

An excerpt from Still Life with Stethoscope and Typewriter: Essays and Echoes of Narrative Medicine.

Every Olympic Games eventually produces its own mythology. Not the noble kind, ancient Greeks crowned in olive leaves, but the modern variety, where rumor, technology, desperation, and money form a cocktail best consumed at a safe distance.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan have already delivered one such legend: the claim that elite ski jumpers were …

Immigration policy and child health: a medical student’s perspective

Adam Zbib

Policy

February 13, 2026

“Do no harm.” Upon entering medical school, my classmates and I uttered these words with pride and joy, unaware of the deeper meaning behind them. While it may sound cliché, many of us choose to become doctors because we have a strong desire to help others in some capacity. The esteemed title M.D. fortunately allows us to wear many different hats in serving our communities. Medical doctors have expanded their …

Peyronie’s disease symptoms: Why men delay seeking help

Martina Ambardjieva, MD

Conditions

February 13, 2026

A man notices it in a moment he did not plan to analyze.

An erection that used to be straight now bends. There is a new ache. Sex feels different, less reliable, more tense. He tells himself it is temporary. He avoids looking too closely. He stops initiating intimacy. And most of the time, he does not say a word.

That quiet delay is one of the most overlooked parts of Peyronie’s …

Why medical students need health care economics

Angela Wei

Education

February 13, 2026

These days, it is not uncommon to hear complaints from doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff about policies made by “higher-ups.” Stories of physician burnout, frustration with appointment time limits, and dissatisfaction with policy changes are all too familiar. As a medical student, I have often felt this sentiment that “administration is the enemy.”

However, this past summer, I had the unique opportunity to serve as a medical student business intern, …

From Williams-Sonoma to medicine: What retail taught me about difficult patients

Jason Wilt, MD

Physician

February 13, 2026

Toward the end of undergrad, I was desperate for money to support myself and feed my figurative babies, which at the time took the form of MCAT prep and medical school applications. This desperation led to some outside-the-box thinking about how to make ends meet.

One of the most out-of-character things I did was work at Williams-Sonoma. My main motivation for working there was that it was right next to a …

Tobacco cessation offers untapped revenue for medical practices [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 12, 2026

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Board-certified internist with a long-standing focus on public health, tobacco control, and preventive care Edward Anselm discusses his article “The economic case for investing in tobacco cessation.” Edward reveals that while smoking …

Executive order on homelessness: Why forced treatment fails

Gary McMurtrie

Policy

February 12, 2026

In his recent executive order, Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets, President Trump directed federal agencies to utilize forced institutionalization of unhoused individuals under the guise of public safety, lambasting evidence-based harm reduction programs in the process. Unhoused people are framed as threats by Trump, engaging in open-air drug use and vagrancy. In response, the National Homelessness Law Center condemned this executive order and projected even worse outcomes due …

The medical referral process: Why it fails and how to fix it

Abhijay Mudigonda

Education

February 12, 2026

For clinicians, trainees, and health system leaders, the referral process is meant to connect patients to the specialty care they need. But in everyday practice, this bridge often feels like a maze. Many of us, whether as physicians in training or practicing providers, have watched patients become lost in delays, miscommunications, and inappropriate specialist visits that worsen outcomes rather than improve them.

The consequences of a broken system

In my own experience …

Physician wellness theater: Why pizza parties do not fix burnout

Patrick Hudson, MD

Physician

February 12, 2026

There are resilience workshops. Mindfulness apps. Yoga sessions scheduled between clinics. Burnout surveys. Pizza in the call room on Doctor’s Day.

There is nothing wrong with any of these efforts. Some are thoughtful. A few are genuinely helpful.

Yet many physicians feel a quiet unease. A sense that something important is being performed rather than addressed.

I have come to think of this as wellness theater.

By this, I mean programs that signal concern …

Antimicrobial resistance causes: Why social factors matter more than drugs

Maureen Oluwaseun Adeboye

Conditions

February 12, 2026

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is being talked about more now than ever before, and for good reason. When medicines stop working for common infections, everyone loses. The World Health Organization has described AMR as one of the top global health threats, and in October 2025 published data suggesting that in parts of Africa, as many as one in five infections are resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

That statistic should alarm us. But …

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