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How a pregnancy test on a male patient revealed health care flaws

Eric Goldfarb

Conditions

January 20, 2026

My father’s last medical bill suggested he might be expecting a child. He was 88 years old. Somewhere in the hospital’s system, common sense had vanished. We found the pregnancy test charge only after paying the bill in full. My mother and I wrote to the hospital. The first reply was warm and procedural: Thank you for contacting us. We will submit this to Revenue Integrity. You should expect a …

Beyond burnout: the rise of the optimized, dissociated executive

Jenny Shields, PhD

Conditions

January 20, 2026

The man sitting across from me is a Titan.

In the taxonomy of the 2026 economy, he is the apex predator: an MD, a CEO, and the chair of multiple boards. He has navigated the post-pandemic attrition and the algorithmic market corrections that swallowed lesser firms. He is wildly, empirically successful.

But recently, he sat across from me, sharing a shade of rage I hadn’t seen before. He had just navigated a …

How system strain contributes to medical gaslighting in health care

Alan P. Feren, MD

Physician

January 20, 2026

Medical gaslighting has become a widely discussed concept in health care. The term is often misunderstood as implying intentional dismissal or manipulation by clinicians. In reality, most encounters that patients later describe as gaslighting do not arise from ill intent. They arise from something far more common and far more complex: communication breakdown under system strain.

Understanding medical gaslighting requires examining the clinical encounter from both sides of the stethoscope, not …

Black women’s health resilience: the hidden cost of “pushing through”

Latesha K. Harris, PhD, RN

Policy

January 20, 2026

As a nurse, I have been with patients during their first breath and their last. While with grieving families, one statement that stays with me is, “At least now she/he can rest.”

This statement almost always comes from a grieving Black family who lost a family member to a premature death of a preventable or manageable disease. Why must we wait until we are six feet under to rest?

As a Black …

Why tele-critical care fails the sickest ICU patients

Keith Corl, MD

Physician

January 20, 2026

Not long ago in a community intensive care unit (ICU) in a midsized American city, I cared for a sick young woman who had just delivered a baby. Part of the placenta, which is supposed to be fully expelled following delivery, remained in her uterus. This condition, known as “retained products of conception,” provided an opportunity for bacteria to infect the retained tissue. The infection spread from her uterus to …

True peace in medicine requires courage not silence [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 19, 2026

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

Professor and coach Kathleen Muldoon discusses their article “Why humanity in medicine requires peace with a spine.” Kathleen explores the dangerous misconception that peace in health care means silence or compliance. The …

Medical misinformation: a fracture in public trust and health outcomes

Muaz Ahmad

Education

January 19, 2026

When a correlation between acetaminophen and autism was claimed on the national stage recently, it did more than produce a headline; it signaled a fracture in public trust. Oftentimes dismissed simply as fringe rhetoric, medical misinformation is anything but, having lasting impact on public health outcomes. The same way the U.S. health care system suffers from a paradox between high spending and substandard outcomes, our information ecosystem suffers from high …

How fNIRS and light therapy are shaping precision psychiatry

Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD

Conditions

January 19, 2026

Light drives human biology. Morning light sets the daily clock. Daylight supports attention, energy, and mood. Evening darkness supports sleep. Modern routines disrupt that rhythm through indoor lighting, screens, night shifts, and rapid travel. Psychiatry sees the costs. Sleep disruption feeds anxiety. Circadian drift worsens depression. Cognitive speed and motivation fall when sleep timing slips. Most recently, screen time has joined circadian disruptors.

Light as a diagnostic tool

Light already powers diagnosis …

Difficult patients in medical history

Joan Naidorf, DO

Physician

January 19, 2026

During the COVID-19 pandemic, while some people learned to bake bread and my family made the dubious choice of adopting a high-anxiety poodle who bites, superstar author Lisa See spotted an unopened book on her shelf about women’s medicine in Imperial China. In a fortuitous chain of discovery, Ms. See stumbled upon the name of Tan Yuxiang, a lady doctor during the Ming Dynasty, who published a book of her …

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Difficult patients in medical history

The emotional labor of volunteering in an aging society

Gerald Kuo

Conditions

January 19, 2026

Hospitals are not the only ones who rely on volunteers.

Nonprofits rely on them for aging programs. Faith communities rely on them for spiritual formation. Philanthropy relies on them for legitimacy. Even emerging “wellness” and “compassion training” industries rely on them for content and credibility.

But no one ever asks: Who sustains the sustainers?

For more than 20 years, I have watched hospital volunteers become the invisible infrastructure of modern care. We are …

Understanding the evolutionary mismatch in health and modern disease

Max Goodman, MD

Conditions

January 19, 2026

As a family medicine resident physician who practices primary care, it is my responsibility to be the first doctor a patient, their family, and their community may visit for any undifferentiated issue. No other field of medicine increases the life expectancy and the quality of life in a community as much as primary care, which provides more meaning to me than can be qualified. My objective is for people to …

Silence is a survival mechanism that costs women their joy [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 18, 2026

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

Obstetrician-gynecologist Priya Panneerselvam discusses their article “How medicine reflects women’s silence.” Priya discusses how the quiet deference observed in their mother’s generation continues to manifest in patients who apologize for their pain …

FDA loosens AI oversight: What clinicians need to know about the 2026 guidance

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Policy

January 18, 2026

On January 6, 2026, the FDA announced revised guidance that loosens oversight for certain AI-enabled digital health products, most notably clinical decision support (CDS) software. The goal was to cut unnecessary regulation and promote innovation, accelerating time-to-market for tools positioned as clinical assistants rather than autonomous decision-makers.

At first glance, the change looks pragmatic, even overdue. For years, developers and clinicians alike have complained that prior FDA interpretations forced artificial …

Why the U.S. health care system is failing patients and physicians

John C. Hagan III, MD

Policy

January 18, 2026

United States (U.S.) health care, once a citadel of innovation and quality, has sadly devolved into a complex, frustrating, and frequently inaccessible system. It is so disorganized and inefficient it might not even meet the definition of a “system.” U.S. health care fails to address the needs and expectations of patients on many occasions and in many ways. For most of my career, I have considered U.S. health care the …

Focusing on outcomes over novelty prevents AI failure in health care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 17, 2026

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

Health care executive Dave Wessinger discusses their article “How to adopt AI in health care responsibly.” Dave explains why organizations must move beyond the hype of artificial intelligence to focus on measurable …

What is the minority tax in medicine?

Tharini Nagarkar and Maranda C. Ward, EdD, MPH

Education

January 17, 2026

“Oh, good, there’s our diversity in the slideshow!” said my supervisor. I was a college student leading a mentorship program for community youth at my predominantly white university, and I was one of two students of color on the leadership team. We were putting together a grant presentation, and in our slide deck there was a slide entitled “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” which addressed in detail the program’s awareness of …

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What is the minority tax in medicine?

Putting health back into insurance: the case for tobacco cessation

Edward Anselm, MD

Policy

January 17, 2026

As major public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and state health departments face reductions in scope and resources, a unique opportunity arises for health insurers to take a leading role in improving public health, while also enhancing their own reputations and financial sustainability.

Consider tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, …

Why Brooklyn’s aging population needs more vascular health specialists

Anil Hingorani, MD

Conditions

January 17, 2026

When I began my surgical training in the 1990s, vascular surgery looked very different than what it does today. At that time, only a small number of physicians specialized in treating blood vessel diseases, and even fewer practiced in Brooklyn. I chose to complete my education and surgical training here in New York so I could stay rooted in the community I care most about. As the second board-certified vascular …

Escaping the golden cage of traditional medical practice to find joy again [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 16, 2026

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

Urologist Tracy Gapin discusses their article “Is your medical career a golden cage?” Tracy explores the paradox of achieving professional success while feeling trapped in a demoralizing and insurance-driven health care system. …

Why pediatricians are key to postpartum depression screening

Mikenna Reiser

Conditions

January 16, 2026

When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer changed from ballerina to teacher to everything in between. One thing remained constant: I wanted to be a mother. I have narrowed my career aspirations to becoming a physician, but my desire to be a mom has been unwavering. In a climate where maternal mental health is so misunderstood, I constantly wonder what support I will have …

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