Archive | Health Care Reform

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Why Biden is too old to be my next President

Can responsible Democrats allow the nomination of an 82-year-old candidate? I say, no. One of the medical take-home lessons that a long-term physician absorbs regarding disease and death is that, like the fundamental principle of entropy, on average, the most likely thing is going to happen. People are going to age, weaken, and die. The […]

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I feared Long COVID and then I got it

{Update from Sam} When I went into the practice of gastroenterology and internal medicine 40 years ago, I was excited about being the new kid on the block. I was well trained in the most up-to-date treatments and endoscopic techniques. I was looking forward to a busy career. New techniques were on the horizon. I […]

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The Controversial Approval of Aducanumab: Beneficial Treatment or Grift?

{Update from Sam} Last week, I could hardly contain my frustration with the FDA’s inexplicable approval of a controversial medication for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Aducanumab, the new drug in question, is a monoclonal antibody engineered to attack the amyloid plaques in the brains of AD patients, the bio-plausible hypothesis being that removal of […]

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Was Dr. Birx correct about excess COVID deaths?

{Update from Sam} If you’ve been scratching your head about Dr. Birx’s math following the CNN Special about the COVID war inside Trump’s White House, you’re not alone. We already knew that the pandemic response was dysfunctional and that poor everything (messaging, coordination, testing, truth-telling, leadership, etc.) led to countless lost lives. But how many […]

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Alex Trebek’s Legacy: What Has It Taught Us?

{Update from Sam} On November 8, 2020, Alex Trebek, the long-time host of the unwaveringly popular game show Jeopardy, died of pancreatic cancer. It was twenty months and two days after his public announcement of the diagnosis of advanced (Stage IV) cancer and his “plan to beat it.” What have we learned? Well, my initial […]

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COVID Management Catastrophe: the End of an Error

Now that we have a new president-elect and can look forward to a new approach to the management of Covid-19, how will Joe Biden appeal to those citizens who see it as their constitutional right to intentionally disregard public health measures? A right they define as being able to assert their liberty and individuality. And, […]

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What Covid-19 Teaches us About A Good Death

{Update from Sam} When the coronavirus and its resultant disease, Covid-19, first appeared on the scene in New York and Washington State, alarms went off throughout each state’s respective government offices. “Would there be enough personal equipment to protect front line health care workers? Would there be enough health care workers to care for the […]

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How Safe Will You Be? The Proper Use of Gloves and Masks

As a gastroenterologist, I have had to get up close and professional (sometimes much more up close and personal than any normal person would want to be) with a host of germ-laden material. Try giving someone a fecal transplant through a colonoscope. And, during the early phase of the AIDS epidemic, gastroenterologists were frequently the […]

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The Ritual of Medicine Is Threatened By the Rise of Telemedicine

Recently I saw an article describing the tension between a patient and her oncologist when considering a follow-up appointment during this coronavirus pandemic.  On the surface it posed simple questions. Should they meet and risk cross infection? Could they accomplish their goals through telemedicine? Below the surface it underscored the value of medical ritual and […]

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