Public Health & Policy

There is endless profit potential to treat chronic diseases

Conditions
August 8, 2020

I have noticed several articles describing how antibiotic development has bankrupted some pharmaceutical companies because there isn’t enough potential profit in a ten-day course to treat multi-resistant superbug infections.

Chronic disease treatments, on the other hand, appear to be extremely profitable. A single month’s treatment with the newer diabetes drugs, COPD inhalers, or blood thinners costs over $500, which means well over $50,000 over an effective ten year patent for each …

Read more…

Declaring racism as a public health crisis from the lens of two Latinx student doctors

Policy
July 15, 2020

“I often heard as a child that Mexicans were lazy and dirty. As a Mexican-American, I did not wear shorts for years despite the heat because I thought my knees looked dirty. Now I fully embrace my identity. However, as a medical student, I still feel the pressure to disprove these stereotypes.”
– Camila Hurtado

“Growing up in the barrio, my white classmates would tease and bully the brown Latino kids constantly. …

Read more…

Uninsured medical students are at risk

Policy
July 14, 2020

During clinical training, medical students worry about caring for patients, learning how to do procedures, memorizing drug interactions, and documenting their work in the electronic medical record —they shouldn’t be worried about paying medical bills at the same time. Shortages of personal protective equipment and the subsequent dangers of working in health care permeate the news and threaten our ability to overcome the COVID pandemic. However, there is another often-neglected …

Read more…

The uncertainty of an international medical graduate during the COVID-19 pandemic

Policy
July 13, 2020

A quarter of the physician workforce in the United States consists of international medical graduates (IMGs). This year 4,222 non-U.S. citizens matched in first-year residency positions. I am an IMG from Guatemala, where I completed medical school. In March of 2014, I matched to an internal medicine residency in the United States. The road has been both satisfying and challenging, with all kinds of uncertainties. I have always been attracted to …

Read more…

Immigrant physicians: Acknowledge our privilege and move to action

Policy
July 12, 2020

Born in the United States of America to Nigerian parents, I was raised in Nigeria and returned to the U.S. after medical school for residency training. I have practiced medicine in Chicago, IL for 25 years, and like many others, have had to deal with microaggressions and racism within and outside the workplace. However, this article is not aheabout outlining my personal experiences. This is a call to action to …

Read more…

3 reasons why doctors don’t unionize

Policy
July 10, 2020

In a market economy, business leaders take every opportunity to shrink the cost line of labor on the balance sheet to boost profits and shareholder/investor value. It’s the metric on which they are evaluated, and left unopposed; they will do it more and more.

The core strategy for shrinking labor costs (along with automation and offshoring) is to drive increased “efficiencies” by demanding more and more work from the same number …

Read more…

Minorities and medical research: Who is still excluded?

Policy
July 6, 2020

In the United States, there is clear evidence that minority populations continue to be underrepresented in clinical research related to new therapies for common and serious long-term medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). This is despite these same populations facing a continuing and disproportionate burden of T2D, which shows no signs of abating.

Black people have one of the highest rates of T2D (13.2 percent), a rate almost twice …

Read more…

Primary care is dying: Why that should scare every large employer

Policy
July 6, 2020

Primary care is on life support. COVID-19’s toll on American health care extends beyond the hospitals and medical workers besieged by infection. An equally insidious but less-visible crisis is engulfing primary care, the long-neglected foundation of our health care system. Given the role of America’s largest corporations in providing health care benefits, the C-suite should be on high alert.

As growing numbers of patients postpone appointments over concerns about …

Read more…

A graduation speech to a residency class

Physician
July 4, 2020

I feet truly honored to have been asked to speak at your graduation and to have a chance to share on this day with all of you. We are experiencing a truly singular moment, and I imagine you are hoping that I might say something that would be comforting or inspiring, and I really can’t think what that could possibly be.

For the last half of your third year of residency, …

Read more…

COVID-19 is a grim reminder of my roots

Physician
July 4, 2020

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped New York City, I have come to dread calling home to my parents. Every conversation ultimately leads to the question: “Is everyone okay?” This is always followed by a pause as my parents consider how much to tell me. Over the past few months, I learned on an almost weekly basis of a new family member, family friend, or neighbor who was hospitalized, transferred …

Read more…

Why do Black Americans have worse COVID outcomes?

Education
June 28, 2020

Our country is currently battling two urgent and severe health care crises: COVID and systemic racism. We believe that addressing systemic racism now is as urgent and as dangerous to the health of our nation and its people as the COVID19 pandemic. In addition, we believe systemic racism is intersecting with the COVID-19 pandemic, as seen through disproportionate access as well as morbidity and mortality among people of color.

While it …

Read more…

ADVERTISEMENT

What the police and psychiatrists have in common

Policy
June 23, 2020

“Give ‘em out like candy,” advised a senior resident while handing me a stack of small flyers. The text outlined a list of services provided by a nearby community resource center for help with things like housing, food, education, employment, and legal issues. I never thought this quarter page of paper would prove so critical throughout my time working as a psychiatry resident in our county clinic.

Read more…

The cancel culture and the erasure of less just times and imperfect people

Policy
June 22, 2020

Two years ago, my wife and I spent our 20th wedding anniversary in Charleston, SC, a city steeped in national history, both good and bad. Nothing could be more iconic of good history than Fort Sumter, and nothing more iconic of bad history than the Old Slave Market on Chalmers Street. We learned a great deal about how our country grappled with its shortcomings. The Great American Experiment, through blood …

Read more…

Proactive care is the linchpin for saving America’s health care system

Policy
June 21, 2020

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. health care system needed a significant overhaul. For too long, we have operated in a reactive mode, prioritizing treating illness over ensuring health and wellness. In the post-COVID-19 era, stakes are even higher. Our health care system faces an unprecedented demand surge from millions who put their own care on hold over the past several months. How we approach this impending surge will determine …

Read more…

South Asian physicians must be part of the solution against racism

Policy
June 15, 2020

Over the last few days, physicians and nurses across the country have taken a knee, galvanized by the recent death of George Floyd, as well as the disproportionate effect of the coronavirus pandemic on African-American families. The White Coats for Black Lives movement firmly identifies racism as a public health issue and calls on everyone in the health care system to take action.

As physicians, we can see what …

Read more…

How medical education fails minority students

Education
June 14, 2020

“You have to work twice as hard to get half as far.”

As a black woman, this sentiment has haunted me for my entire life. Minority individuals are consistently forced to go above and beyond to prove themselves, regardless of the setting. Unfortunately, medical education is no different. Black and Hispanic students, often referred to as underrepresented minority (URM) students, consistently face racial bias, which places them at a disadvantage to …

Read more…

It’s time for a comprehensive universal health care system in America

Policy
June 11, 2020

When it comes to health care, this election cycle has been different than previous ones. Either it is Medicare for all or public option in the ACA, democratic candidates have shown support for some version of universal health care. As the health care costs, including prescription drug prices, keep rising, many Americans have started to advocate for universal health care coverage. At the same time, others still believe in the …

Read more…

Anti-racism must be a priority for medical institutions

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 …

Read more…

45
pages