The war on drugs: America’s secret racist war today

Health Policy
June 8, 2020

When former U.S. President Richard Nixon officially declared his crusade against drugs, notoriously referred to as his so-called “War on Drugs,” on June 17, 1971, America’s police-prison-profit industrial complex could at best prognosticate and at worst balefully pray for the downstream disproportionate impact criminalization of narcotics would have on certain communities from then until now.

If there is one thing that has been made unassailably clear to us in the decades …

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The war on drugs: America’s secret racist war today

Where’s the big COVID data?

Health Policy
June 8, 2020

The United States has been the most impacted country in the current COVID-19 crisis.

Is COVID, the only common denominator? What else is common to the over 100,000 deaths in the United States, who is collecting and analyzing the death data comprehensively apart from the snapshot of admission and discharge diagnosis from death certificates?

Out of the deaths so far, how many were children, healthy adults, pregnant women, long term facility residents, …

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Where’s the big COVID data?

Coronavirus is an elusive enigma

Conditions and Diseases
June 8, 2020

How did coronavirus become so widespread? By the time Dr. Zhang Jixian first reported the cases, it is thought that 180 patients were already infected.

The problem with this is that SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19, presents in many different ways and spreads in patients with no symptoms. By the time we were even able to identify that a novel virus was infecting humans, it was already too late. …

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Coronavirus is an elusive enigma

Listen a little closer. Understand a little deeper. Heal a bit better.

Physician
June 8, 2020

When news started coming in that throngs of protestors were gathering in Chicago to protest the horrific killing of George Floyd, my initial feelings of anger were tempered by a hope that maybe this time things would turn around for our black brothers and sisters.  Quickly, as the protests became infiltrated with violence, and I saw more and more photos of my old neighborhood looted or boarded up, …

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Listen a little closer. Understand a little deeper. Heal a bit better.

The economics of primary care in a COVID-19 world

Physician
June 8, 2020

Much has been written about the response of the governmental agencies in the foreseeability of COVID-19 spread and management in the United States. Travel restriction from mainland China seemed to be a very timely intervention. However, instead of considering it as an initial step in a prolonged exercise of vigilance in preventing the disease from getting a foothold on the continent, it was considered the only one. Now it is …

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The economics of primary care in a COVID-19 world

During the pandemic, faith keeps us together [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 7, 2020
YouTube video

Thank you for listening to the podcast. There were some audio difficulties, which I hope you can overlook. It certainly does not take away from Dr. Syed’s message and her wonderful interview.

“An essential part of daily living for many people is faith. No matter what faith you belong to, people practice their faith in different ways. Most people have faith intertwined …

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During the pandemic, faith keeps us together [PODCAST]

How CRISPR technology can solve our COVID-19 testing problems

Conditions and Diseases
June 7, 2020

To contain COVID-19 and re-open the economy, the U.S. should be performing 500,000 tests per day. We are nowhere near that number.

Widespread implementation of CRISPR-based testing would address deficits in the current testing landscape. The most common method of testing for COVID-19—reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)—costs $100 per test, takes four-six hours to run, involves Read more…

How CRISPR technology can solve our COVID-19 testing problems

We need to stop seeing patients as dollar signs

Physician
June 7, 2020

I am a newly minted surgical specialist, less than one year into practice. Residency was no walk in the park, but the clinical experience, along with hours of studying, reading papers, and reviewing practice guidelines, undoubtedly gave me the tools to practice modern, evidence-based medicine. As residency came to a close and the light at the end of the tunnel grew bigger and brighter, my excitement to move on to …

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We need to stop seeing patients as dollar signs

Health care workers in the time of COVID: reluctant superheroes?

Physician
June 7, 2020

Invisible and unassuming, the radioactive spider slowly descends from the ceiling, and before he knows it, Peter Parker’s life has changed forever. With that one bite, he is transformed from a normal man into a reluctant superhero. Only, that infamous spider is COVID-19, and Peter Parker is a health care worker during these troubled times.

It may surprise you to know that many of us in health care are uncomfortable being …

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Health care workers in the time of COVID: reluctant superheroes?

Anti-racism must be a priority for medical institutions

Health Policy
June 7, 2020

I want to start with a moment of silence to remember so many who have been stolen from their families and communities as a direct result of rampant white supremacy, anti-blackness, and police violence: George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and too many others.

George Floyd was murdered on May 25. Protests began the following day in Minneapolis and have catalyzed a swift wave of righteous anger and rebellion …

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Anti-racism must be a priority for medical institutions

Opening up America for the sake of mental health

Conditions and Diseases
June 7, 2020

Fighting to protect the health of the economy and the health of the people are not mutually exclusive endeavors. In fact, they are strongly related. While COVID-19 does present a significant threat to the physical health of at-risk individuals, the shut-down poses a more significant threat to the mental health of all individuals.

As a physician anesthesiologist practicing pain medicine and addiction medicine for the past 25 years. In my pain …

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Opening up America for the sake of mental health

We need more black cops. We need more black physicians.

Health Policy
June 7, 2020

I am neither black nor white. I’m brown. I can choose to stay silent and indifferent, but the human and the American in me urges me to express my feelings and opinion about the current situation in the country resulting from a series of unfortunate events, particularly George Floyd’s blatant murder in broad daylight.

 I immigrated to this great country about fifteen years ago. From a distance, …

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We need more black cops. We need more black physicians.

It is unethical for the United States to send hydroxychloroquine to Brazil

Medications
June 7, 2020

Much controversy surrounds whether or not hydroxychloroquine is effective in preventing or treating infection with COVID-19. While much of the data so far suggests that hydroxychloroquine is not effective at treating COVID-19, and perhaps that it might even be harmful, multiple clinical trials focusing both on prevention and treatment are ongoing. The controversy around …

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It is unethical for the United States to send hydroxychloroquine to Brazil

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Why whole person care is needed for better population health management

Health Policy
June 7, 2020

Many health care organizations – health plans and hospitals alike – continue to debate what it means to provide population health management (PHM). Most have landed on a definition that aligns closely with what PHM means to them, rather than operationalizing an overly broad definition that doesn’t resonate with the populations and communities they serve. This is smart. But what’s missing is the focus on a more important question: What …

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Why whole person care is needed for better population health management

How emotional antibodies can help recover from the impact of COVID-19 [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 6, 2020
YouTube video

“In my lifetime, I have encountered those who have seemingly endured far greater states of human privation than I could ever imagine (though I try to eschew establishing comparative equivalencies [or non-equivalencies] among human suffering as much as possible because such an impossibly herculean task never ends well). And what I have come to realize is that the nexus of all …

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How emotional antibodies can help recover from the impact of COVID-19 [PODCAST]

When imposter syndrome becomes incompatible with the profession of medicine

Medical Education
June 6, 2020

When people ask me what A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is about, I have trouble describing it beyond the story of a young man named Jude with a horrific past and his relationships with the people he meets in college. The heart of the story lies not in the plot but in the connections that Jude makes with his friends, professors, and colleagues. Jude has a traumatic childhood that …

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When imposter syndrome becomes incompatible with the profession of medicine

Racialized violence and health care’s call to action

Health Policy
June 6, 2020

Over the last few months, we have faced a relentless pandemic and seen humans rising to serve the most critically ill. However, we have also borne witness to the relentless evidence of health and health care disparities during a time in our country’s history in which the discourse around race, nationality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, class, and religion have reached a fever pitch of discord. We have become increasingly frustrated, …

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Racialized violence and health care’s call to action

During this terrible pandemic, let’s make compassion go viral

Physician
June 6, 2020

Right now, we are facing a living nightmare. Thousands of people across the globe, perhaps even people we know, are dying from COVID-19. This pandemic has left death and disability in its wake. The main way we are being asked to help is by staying at home in order to lower the chances of the virus spreading from person to person. This is especially important since it has been shown …

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During this terrible pandemic, let’s make compassion go viral

How this physician incorporated medical students in COVID care

Physician
June 6, 2020

More than once, I have joked with my medical student leader that I look forward to the day when she will be my boss. I have mentored hundreds of health professions students over the past ten years. Teaching young thought leaders to address complex issues is rewarding and rejuvenating; it only seemed natural to incorporate these learners during the coronavirus pandemic. 

COVID has disrupted the education of health professions students; indeed, …

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How this physician incorporated medical students in COVID care

The 2 calamities killing Americans: COVID-19 and racism

Health Policy
June 6, 2020

There are two calamities killing Americans: COVID-19 and racism. One is novel, and the other is perennial.

It is not coincidental that black Americans have died of COVID-19 at almost three times the rate of white people. Both biological and socioeconomic factors contribute to this alarming statistic. However, as emergency physicians and public health practitioners who care for patients from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, we are keenly aware that biological …

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The 2 calamities killing Americans: COVID-19 and racism

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