Author's posts
It is time for Supreme Court to help stem gun deaths
Every morning when I turn on the local Philadelphia TV news to hear the weather report, I also hear about the shootings that have occurred. This morning I heard that a 66-year-old man was shot while driving past his old high school. A fight had broken …
The unvaccinated and a history of cynicism
The vitriol that characterizes discussions about vaccines, masking, and school policies has been deeply disturbing. I am a physician who is concerned about COVID. At first, I thought that everyone would want to be vaccinated. I thought that the pandemi…
A person-to-person strategy is needed in the pandemic war
In June 2020, I wrote a short piece about the COVID vaccine that turned out to be prophetic. I said that the vaccine’s immunity might wane over time, that there might be bothersome side effects immediately, and that the public might ignore social dista…
A successful COVID vaccine requires more than Warp Speed
“Warp Speed” is a name that does not inspire confidence. It is a politically inspired slogan, not a serious name for a campaign to save lives. It suggests speed, not carefulness. It suggests politics, not science. The success of Warp Speed …
How can we stop the spread of coronavirus?
I have chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and I do not want anyone to infect me. Because of my leukemia, I have low immunoglobulin levels, so I am extremely cautious. If I were to become infected, it would mean that I did something to put myself in danger. …
What could go wrong with the coronavirus vaccine?
What could go wrong with the coronavirus vaccine? I have opinions. I am not a virologist or an infectious disease specialist. I am just a doctor who has been following the pandemic in the journals and in the newspapers. But I am worried because there i…
We shouldn’t be our own doctors, but we can’t forget what we know
Like a lot of doctors my age, I was too busy to have checkups, working 60 hours a week plus night and weekend call. But that all changed in 2013 when at age 67, my dentist felt a submental lymph node. A CBC had 35,000 white cells, and I had chronic lym…
