COVID

Our institutions have given up on the COVID-19 pandemic. We should not.

Conditions

July 11, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic is over. On May 5, The World Health Organization announced that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency. The U.S. followed suit on May 11, allowing the public health emergency declaration to expire.

The pandemic did not end because of vaccination efforts nor from acquired herd immunity. The pandemic is over because of the capitulation and resignation of public health authorities as they concede …

COVID-19 vaccine neglect: a tale of regret and debilitating symptoms

Jenna Podjasek, MD

Conditions

June 29, 2023

As an allergist-immunologist who trained at Mayo Clinic, one might assume that I’m up to date on my COVID-19 booster vaccinations. However, I realized months ago that I was overdue for a booster; it’s been over a year since my third vaccination. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I didn’t stop at the pharmacy or schedule an appointment with my primary doctor. I was among the roughly 85 percent of …

The heartbreaking reality of a nurse’s struggle: a father’s tale

Anonymous

Physician

June 28, 2023

I love two nurses. One of them is my son, and the other is someone very close to me. She’ll have her own article.

My son has just finished his seventh 12-hour ICU shift. He’s wiped out, devastated, and shell-shocked. Let me introduce him to you before sharing his pain.

The kid was always enthusiastic about medicine. He wanted to be a physician more than anything. Maybe it runs in the family; …

The unsung heroes of disease detectives: Controlling outbreaks and pandemics to save lives

Nicholas A. Daniels, MD, MPH

Conditions

June 27, 2023

An excerpt from Outbreaks and Pandemics: The Life of a Disease Detective.

The importance of disease detectives in solving and controlling outbreaks and pandemics must be recognized. We are the backbone of our public health system. We are scientifically savvy, inquisitive, detail-oriented, and able to follow the data wherever it leads, …

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

Gretchen LaSalle, MD

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 …

On the front lines of COVID-19: the untold sacrifices and heroic efforts of health care professionals

Nicole M. King, MD

Conditions

June 14, 2023

There is a phenomenon sweeping across various medical circles on social media that is forcing people to address accusations from those who were not on the front lines of COVID at the beginning of the pandemic. Though I have refused to pay much attention to the details, I have become more and more enraged at the audacity and frank ignorance that it takes to judge when not in the arena. …

COVID-19: Unveiling the transformative shifts in health care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 13, 2023

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

Join us as we chat with medical writer Steven Marshall about the evolving health care landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss the transformative effects on health care delivery, the availability of testing, vaccination, and therapies, and …

Surviving the chaos: an inspiring journey of health care heroes

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions

June 13, 2023

Calling all health care personnel: EMTs, paramedics, nurses, CNAs, respiratory therapists, police, firefighters. All of you.

You’ve been cursed at, spat upon, hit, and scratched by fingernails. You never got that 30-minute break during those 12 long hours. You had to beg to use the restroom. Your staffing was minimal, and your 24/7 manager was nowhere to be found. Your fellow doctors are shouting at you, and patients’ family members are …

Unveiling the global pandemic threat: insights into risk factors and urgent measures for prevention

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

Policy

June 4, 2023

As the current COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the globe, many are left wondering when the next pandemic will occur. The reality is that pandemics are not a new phenomenon, and throughout history, we have seen numerous instances of infectious diseases causing widespread devastation.

While we cannot predict with certainty when the next pandemic will occur, there are certain circumstances under which they are more likely to occur.

One such circumstance …

Why the WHO’s pandemic accord is critical for global health care

Elizabeth Métraux

Policy

June 2, 2023

In a recent article in Health Affairs, U.N. Foundation vice president Peter Yeo and former Director of The Global Fund Mark Dybul, MD, broke down the elements and imperatives of a process underway to develop a better approach to pandemic preparedness. Currently in draft form, the “Pandemic Accord” is being shepherded by the World Health Organization at the behest of its 194 Member States after the global COVID-19 response called …

How chronic illness and disability are portrayed in media and the importance of daily choices for improved quality of life

Juliet Morgan, MD and Meghan Jobson, MD, PhD

Physician

May 24, 2023

Let’s say that you have it all together: you are accepting your illness and it is enriching your life. Now turn on the TV, pick up …

Processing grief: a vital step for health care workers during COVID-19 [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 24, 2023

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

In this episode, our guest Susan MacLellan-Tobert, a pediatric cardiologist and physician coach, delves into the challenges faced by healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being …

Transparency and honesty: the keys to fixing America’s broken health care system

Michele Luckenbaugh

Conditions

April 23, 2023

When I was growing up, I remember my father saying the phrase, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” In today’s world, I find myself often recalling those words. Most of life these days should not be taken at face value.

It also appears that if you shout out falsehoods frequently enough, then it seems that members of extreme political groups will believe it as the gospel truth. …

Understanding the end of the COVID public health emergency

Steven Marshall, DNP, RN

Conditions

April 22, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented event for worldwide health care. The call to action for organizations included setting up mass testing sites to serve their communities. I helped set up multiple locations across several counties using a mobile model. We tested hundreds of patients each day in various places. Once the vaccine was approved, we began our vaccination efforts using our mobile model and mass vaccine sites, including …

Medicine and history: a seemingly unlikely but necessary duo in understanding COVID-19 disparities

Grecia Quiroga

Policy

April 21, 2023

“Hispanic community makes up more than half of coronavirus cases in Southwest Michigan county” was the headline in the newspaper that caught my eye in August 2020 – that infamous year that the nation went into lockdown to prevent the spread of what was still a new and emerging virus.

It shocked me to realize that only three counties west of my Southcentral Michigan home, Latinos were …

A medical advocate’s role in the COVID ICU [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 10, 2023

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

In this episode, guest Sara L. Merwin, co-author of The Informed Patient: A Complete Guide to a Hospital Stay, shares her experience helping a family navigate their loved one’s hospital stay during the height of the COVID …

Healing from the pandemic: a journey to recovery

Susan MacLellan-Tobert, MD

Physician

March 13, 2023

While it appears we are on the downhill slope of COVID-19’s integration into everyday life, burnout rates are rising, and organizational trust is taking a nose-dive. Aren’t we supposed to be in the post-disaster recovery phase? What is the bottleneck holding us back from moving toward our new horizon? On the surface, issues like operating losses, staffing shortages, and scarcity of supplies appear to be a few of the big …

The vaccination dilemma: Protecting patient rights or caregiver freedom?

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions

March 10, 2023

Recently, I heard a news report regarding several state attorneys general suing the federal government to eliminate the requirement that health care providers be immunized against COVID. They argued that as fully immunized individuals still contract COVID, and that allowing unimmunized people to be rehired would relieve provider shortage, the regulation was unhelpful.

Initially, I agreed, as rehiring these individuals would generate some relief for those staff members who have worked …

Gratitude takes practice. How come health care workers aren’t better at it?

Craig Bowron, MD

Physician

March 8, 2023

Like interest rates and food prices, burnout among health care providers continues to rise.

From my perch—as a hospitalist in a large tertiary hospital—the sheer terror of the early days of the COVID pandemic has been replaced by a grinding fatigue fueled by staffing shortages across the entire health care system.

Patients and their families are burned out too, frustrated by delays and shortcomings in care that inevitably arise in an overworked …

Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

Kellie Lease Stecher, MD

Physician

February 21, 2023

During the COVID pandemic health care workers needed to work tirelessly to correct the false information that politicians easily spread through the country. The President made claims that the virus was not real, that physicians were getting financial kickbacks from using COVID on death certificates, and that health care workers were benefiting from the pandemic. Physicians, nurses, and staff needed to talk to patients about COVID, and it really took …

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