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 […]
{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 […]
{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 […]
{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 […]
{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 […]
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, […]
{Update from Sam} Natural selection is a process that many non-scientists deny in terms of evolution but embrace as an explanation when elderly people die because of the inability to outrun flood waters or a fire. Those deaths are caused by natural disasters and represent, to some, a “culling of the herd.” Through science and […]
{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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
