Children’s health

Nutrition in pediatric oncology is not a fixed meal plan

Dr. Manjari Chandra

October 25, 2026Oct 25, 2026

In pediatric oncology, nutrition is often reduced to a simple question: Is the child eating enough? In practice, it is rarely that straightforward. During intensive cancer treatment, appetite, swallowing, taste, gastrointestinal tolerance, body weight, body composition, and functional capacity can change within days. A nutrition plan that works well in one phase of treatment may become difficult, or even impossible, a few weeks later.

This is the journey of a twelve-year-old …

Michael L. Saile Jr., Esq

Teen driver insurance protects your child when others crash

October 23, 2026Oct 23, 2026

As the father of three active boys, including two teenagers approaching driving age, I know the day I hand over the car keys isn't far off. Right now, our days are filled with practices, wrestling meets, school activities, and the…

As the father of three active boys, including two teenagers approaching driving age, I know the day I hand over the car keys isn’t far off. Right now, our days are filled with practices, wrestling meets, school activities, and the constant shuffle of getting everyone where they need to be. Before long, they’ll be the ones behind the wheel, driving themselves to those same activities. Like most parents, I’ll worry …

Parental instincts caught what normal tests missed

Jayme Higgins, RN

October 22, 2026Oct 22, 2026

As a nurse, I understand why medicine depends on objective data. We rely on lab results, imaging studies, vital signs, and physical examinations to help guide decisions. We are trained to avoid unnecessary testing, unnecessary radiation, and unnecessary interventions. I fully understand the risks of overdiagnosis, radiation exposure, and the reality that many childhood illnesses improve with time and supportive care.

But recently, I learned a lesson from the other side …

Real physician voices, twice a week

Free, and one click to unsubscribe.

Is teen anxiety normal or a disorder? Both answers can fail.

Timothy Lesaca, MD

October 21, 2026Oct 21, 2026

Teenage anxiety is real, but if we treat every feeling as a medical issue, we might overlook what is truly important. When a teen says, "I'm anxious," we shouldn't have to choose between saying, "You have a disorder," or "That's…

Teenage anxiety is real, but if we treat every feeling as a medical issue, we might overlook what is truly important. When a teen says, “I’m anxious,” we shouldn’t have to choose between saying, “You have a disorder,” or “That’s just adolescence.” Both responses can shut down a conversation before it even starts.

A 2026 study in JAMA Pediatrics reveals this distinction. Analyzing 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health …

What David Satcher taught me about health disparities

October 18, 2026Oct 18, 2026

In December 2001, I received an invitation that surprised me. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher invited me to present at his final official conference, Closing the Gap: Surgeon General's National Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation. The invitation was…

In December 2001, I received an invitation that surprised me. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher invited me to present at his final official conference, Closing the Gap: Surgeon General’s National Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation.

The invitation was unexpected. At the time, I was directing Ohio’s Rural Developmental and Behavioral Clinic Initiative, a program designed to bring developmental and behavioral services to underserved communities. The work aligned closely with …

What Gold Star families need beyond flags and funerals

October 15, 2026Oct 15, 2026

At 2 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, 1970, someone started pounding on our apartment door. My mother thought it was a prank. She had ignored the buzzer downstairs because neighborhood kids occasionally rang doorbells in the middle of the night.…

Instead, he found two Air Force officers standing at the door. One was a lieutenant colonel. The other was a chaplain. …

Why I built a medical home model for military families

October 12, 2026Oct 12, 2026

The Franklin Medal sits in a box in my attic. Most days I don't think about it. Life has a way of burying old honors beneath newer responsibilities. Yet every so often I remember that silver medal and what it…

The Franklin Medal sits in a box in my attic. Most days I don’t think about it. Life has a way of burying old honors beneath newer responsibilities. Yet every so often I remember that silver medal and what it represents.

I am not a descendant of Benjamin Franklin. I am one of his heirs.

More than two centuries ago, Franklin left money to the city of Boston to reward academic merit …

Who protects children from a livestreamed execution?

Timothy Lesaca, MD

October 10, 2026Oct 10, 2026

Before this or any government broadcasts an execution, it should first consider an obvious public health question: How will it protect children and other vulnerable people who might see the footage? This question needs a medical answer, no matter what…

On October 8, 2026, the United States Pentagon announced plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, who was convicted for the 2009 Fort Hood mass …

Measuring autism treatment progress beyond therapy hours

EarliPoint Health

October 9, 2026Oct 9, 2026

One of the things I value most in medicine is our ability to ask a seemingly simple question: Is the treatment working? In many areas of medicine, we have objective measures that help us answer it. When caring for a…

One of the things I value most in medicine is our ability to ask a seemingly simple question: Is the treatment working?

In many areas of medicine, we have objective measures that help us answer it. When caring for a child with diabetes, we can follow hemoglobin A1C. When managing hypertension, we monitor blood pressure. Those measurements do not replace the physician’s judgment or the patient’s experience. They give us another …

Good trouble: lessons from a physician whistleblower

October 8, 2026Oct 8, 2026

Rep. John Lewis nearly lost his life on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, marching for rights that should never have required a march. His courage redefined the moral calculus of resistance, what he called "good trouble, necessary trouble." I've…

I’ve created trouble too. Not on bridges, but in boardrooms. Not with batons overhead, but with data, dissent, and quiet refusal. I’ve challenged supervisors, disrupted systems, and questioned protocols that harmed more …

Physician leadership roles have a cost no résumé shows

October 6, 2026Oct 6, 2026

The other day, LinkedIn informed me that I was a strong match for a developmental-behavioral pediatrics section chief position at an academic medical center in the Midwest. The irony was hard to miss. Years ago, I held essentially the same…

The other day, LinkedIn informed me that I was a strong match for a developmental-behavioral pediatrics section chief position at an academic medical center in the Midwest.

The irony was hard to miss. Years ago, I held essentially the same leadership position. It nearly killed me.

The recommendation arrived complete with all the reassuring language modern recruiting systems like to use. My qualifications matched the position well. My experience aligned with the …

The developmental pediatrician shortage is about to deepen

October 3, 2026Oct 3, 2026

A recent Guardian article described a troubling reality unfolding across England: Nearly 1 million people are waiting for ADHD assessments, approximately 295,000 are awaiting autism evaluations, and some National Health Service (NHS) regions have imposed minimum waiting periods of two years before patients can even be assessed. “Two-year waiting times highlight NHS struggle with rise in ADHD and autism awareness” reported that overwhelmed health systems are struggling to keep …

Are antidepressant prescriptions for teens rising too fast?

Timothy Lesaca, MD

October 2, 2026Oct 2, 2026

She is fifteen and has been taking sertraline for three weeks. Her mother asks if we can increase the dose, since the first dose didn't work quickly enough. I look at her medication list, which is already longer than mine…

She is fifteen and has been taking sertraline for three weeks. Her mother asks if we can increase the dose, since the first dose didn’t work quickly enough. I look at her medication list, which is already longer than mine was at twice her age. I find myself doing something I rarely do during a seven-minute visit: I pause.

I do not doubt the value of antidepressants. I have seen these …

Why do charity commercials leave clinicians uneasy?

September 28, 2026Sep 28, 2026

Every night on mainstream streaming platforms, I see the same rotation of charity commercials: protect dogs, save Syrian children, shelter American runaways, support childhood cancer care, preserve wildlife. Each one asks for a small monthly donation (99 cents, $5, $19),…

As a physician, I don’t respond to the emotional script. I respond to the ethical one. And the ethical script …

Return or resign: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act at work

Isabella Hower, MOT

September 26, 2026Sep 26, 2026

The first time I treated a newborn with the same congenital heart defect my unborn son was expected to have, I hesitated at the doorway. I couldn't stop picturing my own baby intubated and sedated, a fresh incision running the…

The first time I treated a newborn with the same congenital heart defect my unborn son was expected to have, I hesitated at the doorway. I couldn’t stop picturing my own baby intubated and sedated, a fresh incision running the length of his sternum.

I thought a terrifying fetal diagnosis would be the primary stressor of my pregnancy. I was wrong. The greatest obstacle wouldn’t come as a parent navigating her …

The history of the medical home includes an Air Force base

September 26, 2026Sep 26, 2026

In the early 1990s, while the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was formalizing its vision of the "medical home," we were already living it, without a name. At Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, our pediatric team operationalized what…

In the early 1990s, while the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was formalizing its vision of the “medical home,” we were already living it, without a name. At Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, our pediatric team operationalized what would later be codified: interdisciplinary care, family partnership, coordinated services, and continuity across settings. We didn’t call it a medical home. It was excellent pediatric care, and we simply made …

Medicaid managed care and the case for mutual stewardship

Steven Merahn, MD

September 23, 2026Sep 23, 2026

Roughly half of American children receive their health care through Medicaid or CHIP. These programs were legislated to cover them, and the choice has been made (repeatedly, across decades and both parties) not to fund them at the level their…

However, that choice, and the confines it creates, defines the real-world conditions …

Pediatric euthanasia and the fear of a new eugenics

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

September 21, 2026Sep 21, 2026

Adapted from The New Eugenics in Medicine: Two Novellas About Power, Science, and the Future of Human Worth. The Netherlands' first reported termination of life in a child between ages 1 and 12 under its 2024 framework for regulating pediatric…

Adapted from The New Eugenics in Medicine: Two Novellas About Power, Science, and the Future of Human Worth.

The Netherlands’ first reported termination of life in a child between ages 1 and 12 under its 2024 framework for regulating pediatric euthanasia has become a global lightning rod for debate over the merits and sins of euthanasia.

A Dutch child was almost 2 years old and had been born at 26 …

The Pennsylvania measles outbreak and the cost of forgetting

Christine King, CRNA

September 17, 2026Sep 17, 2026

On Saturday, August 29, 2026, a headline in my local paper caught my eye. There were 460 confirmed measles cases in Pennsylvania as of Friday, August 28, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. As of Wednesday, September 16, there are 731…

A brief search of the CDC website shows that since 1991, the number of measles cases nationwide has been in …

A military pediatrician inside the nuclear readiness system