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The surgical safety checklist: Why silence is the real enemy

Physician

February 5, 2026

There is a moment in the operating room so brief it almost disappears.

Names are spoken. Roles clarified. A question offered into the air: Does anyone see something we don’t?

For a heartbeat, hierarchy loosens. For a breath, the room remembers it is made of humans. That is the moment the checklist was built for. Not because surgeons forget steps, but because under pressure, even the best of us forget how to …

Tort reform medical malpractice: Why current laws fail

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

February 5, 2026

Tort reforms for medical malpractice preoccupy much of the legislative agenda for any state legislature as well as much of the time and budget of a state’s medical society. However, in truth, state legislators and the administrators of medical societies only care when it is to their advantage.

Because I am a physician in Maryland, I use Maryland as the example. In most states, tort reforms achieve six goals:

Caps: In …
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Tort reform medical malpractice: Why current laws fail

Remote second opinions bridge the gap in rural cancer survival [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 4, 2026

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

Practicing oncologist, adjunct professor at Duke University, and chief medical officer at AccessHope Yousuf Zafar discusses his article “Remote second opinions for equitable cancer care.” Yousuf explains how a patient’s zip code …

High-protein diet risks: Why more isn’t always better

Farid Sabet-Sharghi, MD

Conditions

February 4, 2026

Over the past decade, nutrition culture has increasingly revolved around a single macronutrient: protein. Popular media, fitness culture, and everyday health conversations often frame higher protein intake as a universal good, synonymous with strength, longevity, and metabolic health. In the process, many foods that once formed the foundation of balanced eating (whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and healthy fats) are quietly sidelined or dismissed.

Protein is essential. That point is not in …

Breaking the silence: mental health and racism in medical school

Michael F. Myers, MD

Physician

February 4, 2026

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

“I am a Black gay man from Detroit,” spoke Chris Veal mid-way into a podcast when he was a fourth-year medical student at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. He was coming out of a seven-year depression, COVID-19 had struck, he lost five family members to the disease, and on top of …

My wife’s story: How DEA and CDC guidelines destroyed our golden years

Monty Goddard & Richard A. Lawhern, PhD

Conditions

February 4, 2026

As health care writers and patient advocates, the authors are engaged in multiple projects intended to encourage major policy changes by highly resistant U.S. and state public health agencies. Misdirected policies and disinformation from these agencies are literally killing patients every day by denying them safe and effective management of agonizing pain, destroying the field of pain medicine, and criminalizing its practitioners.

This is institutionalized madness. It needs to stop. Now, …

Why AI in health care is the only fix for physician shortages

John C. Hagan III, MD

Physician

February 4, 2026

Archimedes said “Eureka,” the ladies at The Knights of Columbus Hall say “Bingo,” and as an ophthalmologist, I say “This is a real eye-opener.” You may or may not recall my exasperated September/October 2025 editorial. The title is self-explanatory: “You have sudden onset of chest pain? The doctor can see you in five months: The travesty of physician unavailability.” Many of you share my pain and concern. In post-publication discussions …

Health insurance waste: Why eliminating the middleman saves billions

Edward Anselm, MD

Policy

February 4, 2026

Health insurers have failed in their promise to deliver quality and value to the taxpayers, providers, employers, and their subscribers.

If you find a wasteful government program, isn’t there an obligation to foster a public discussion about it? Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP) has developed an analysis that reveals the waste in allowing private health plans to manage Medicaid medical services. According to PNHP, returning management of medical services …

Why scale of effort matters more than ego in health care

Ronald L. Lindsay, MD

Physician

February 4, 2026

The inventor of the Post-it note deserves a medal. Not for convenience, but for clarity. In my practice, those little squares became tactical weapons, bright flags of truth in a sea of institutional delusion. My mother once told Kathy, before our wedding, never to touch the scraps of paper I left everywhere. She understood that my visual memory depended on those markers. Each Post-it was a breadcrumb, a map, a …

End-of-life care cost substance use: When compassion meets economic reality

Brian Hudes, MD

Physician

February 4, 2026

At two o’clock in the morning, the emergency department doors open to a familiar story. A middle-aged man arrives with massive gastrointestinal bleeding, severe jaundice, and advanced cirrhosis from decades of alcohol use. He has no insurance, no primary care provider, no stable home, and no ongoing addiction treatment. The next 10 days bring mechanical ventilation, endoscopic procedures, dialysis, and intensive care. The total bill will exceed $100,000, nearly all …

Smart design choices improve patient care outcomes [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 3, 2026

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

Physical therapists Ziya Altug and Shirish Sachdeva discuss their article “Why your clinic waiting room may affect patient outcomes.” Ziya and Shirish explore how the ambiance of a medical office significantly impacts …

Breast cancer and the daughter who gave everything

Dr. Damane Zehra

Conditions

February 3, 2026

I had been trying to write this story for a long time. The topic is so heavy that it took a great deal of courage and emotional strength to finally put it into words. This story is not about a patient; rather, it is about a caregiver.

I met Mrs. N. in 2020. She travelled from Gujranwala to Islamabad (a distance of 223 kilometers) to begin her treatment. Mrs. N. was …

Physician wellness is not yoga: Why resilience training fails

Tomi Mitchell, MD

Physician

February 3, 2026

Let’s talk about physician wellness.

Not the version that looks good in press releases or PowerPoint slides. I am talking about the lived, messy, heart-and-body version of wellness, the one that actually matters.

Because somewhere between the lavender oil diffusers and the “wellness committees,” the real meaning of physician well-being got lost. It has become a buzzword, something hospitals display proudly on banners and conference agendas, as if saying the word “wellness” …

Visual language in health care: Why words aren’t enough

Hamid Moghimi, RPN

Conditions

February 3, 2026

Picture a “No Entry” sign or a speed limit. A simple red circle needs no translation for a driver in Tokyo, Tehran, or Toronto. That’s more than just convenience; it’s a global safety net.

But in health care, where a misunderstanding can be deadly, our communication hasn’t kept up. We still rely overwhelmingly on words, pages of dense text handed to patients who are stressed, exhausted, older, or struggling with a …

The coffee stain metaphor: Overcoming perfectionism in medicine

Maryna Mammoliti, MD

Physician

February 3, 2026

I recently attended a very large professional conference. In a rush to make it everywhere and yet feed myself, I was running to get breakfast before the sessions and spilled the majority of this much-desired coffee all over my shirt. Here I was, standing with an impressive, unmistakable, impossible-to-hide giant stain of dark liquid spreading across the front of my solid blue shirt and sleeve with nothing to hide it.

It …

From pediatrics to geriatrics: How treating children prepared me for dementia care

Loretta Cody, MD

Physician

February 3, 2026

As a pediatrician, I spent many years in a busy, at times hectic, mostly enjoyable practice before retiring and segueing into teaching. Now as an adjunct professor in pediatrics, I aspire to help future health care workers pursue a career in pediatrics.

I have often asked myself: Have I missed anything about the day-to-day of practicing pediatrics?

My answer was what I truly missed were the interactions I had with the children: …

Medical expertise does not prevent caregiving grief [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 2, 2026

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

Triple board-certified physician in adult and geriatric psychiatry and addiction medicine, and the founder of The Aging Parent Coach Barbara Sparacino discusses her article “Why caring for a parent is hard for …

Why AAP funding cuts threaten the future of pediatric health care

Umayr R. Shaikh, MPH

Policy

February 2, 2026

During my pediatrics rotation in my third year of medical school, the most important skill I learned was how to listen more carefully.

Children rarely have the language or power to fully articulate their needs. They are forced to rely on adults, systems, and institutions to advocate on their behalf. In pediatrics, that responsibility is not an abstract idea. It shows up in exam rooms where parents must choose to pay …

Oral Wegovy: the miracle and the mess of the new GLP-1 pill

Shiv K. Goel, MD

Meds

February 2, 2026

A patient stopped me in the hallway recently, not in an exam room, not seated, not “ready” for a clinical conversation. Just a human being catching me between visits and asking a question that felt heavier than any lab result:

“Doc, is this finally the thing that will work? Or is it just another trap?”

That question is the GLP-1 era in one sentence. And with the launch of oral Wegovy, it …

Why dietary advice changes: It is not the food, it is the world

Gerald Kuo

Conditions

February 2, 2026

We owe patients a better explanation about food.

The food didn’t change. The world did, and our guidelines followed.

For many patients, dietary advice feels less like science and more like whiplash.

Their breakfast looks the same. Their milk is the same. Their daily habits are exactly where they left them. What shifts, sometimes violently, is the label we attach to it: healthy, unhealthy, recommended, discouraged.

Consider milk

For decades, we told patients to switch …

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