Gretchen LaSalle is a family physician and author of Let’s Talk Vaccines.

Unveiling the truth: How headlines shape our world and the urgent need for reliable news

Physician
June 24, 2023

This is a story of headlines and the power they wield for good and evil (apologies for the melodrama). Words matter, and I, for one, am frustrated with the words in headlines often doing more harm than good.

I am a family doctor whose passion in life is preventing disease. I don’t want to see my patients suffering from diabetes or heart failure, nor from a contagious disease that is preventable …

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Unveiling the truth: How headlines shape our world and the urgent need for reliable news

Ignoring COVID-19 won’t make it go away

Conditions and Diseases
April 3, 2020

Ignoring a problem won’t make it go away. I say this all the time, with love and compassion, to my patients who are having trouble accepting a diagnosis. Ignoring your Type 2 Diabetes, for example, won’t make it any less real. It will only land you in renal failure and on dialysis, or with a foot amputation, or a heart attack or stroke. Sometimes, we have to set ego aside. …

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Ignoring COVID-19 won’t make it go away

In the midst of COVID-19, triage is a four-letter word

Conditions and Diseases
March 27, 2020

In my career as an outpatient family physician, triage is not something that I commonly do. But now, with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, it seems the large percentage of my day is spent in triaging patients. And I have to say, I don’t really care for it. (This is an understatement. I’m trying really hard not to use other four-letter words in describing how I truly feel.)

In my …

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In the midst of COVID-19, triage is a four-letter word

We need vaccine advocacy now more than ever

Conditions and Diseases
October 16, 2019

It was flu season.

I was meeting the usual frustrations of trying to convince my patients to get the flu shot. The flu vaccine has such potential to save lives, yet its reputation is marred by misinformation, leading people to decline this simple, inexpensive, and effective way to limit disease and death. Day in and day out, I felt like I was beating my head against a wall.

This particular day, I …

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We need vaccine advocacy now more than ever