Author's posts
A terminal disease intercepted by modern medicine
I have been a physician for over forty years, with an office practice and providing geriatric house calls in our community. Now, I am also a caregiver. My partner, Robin, was diagnosed with a rare malignancy in November 2022, known as anaplastic thyroi…
Hope from an older doctor to those patients ready to give up their car keys
When you are older, you are considered a threat to other drivers. Reflexes are dampened, muscle responses are sluggish, cataracts obscure vision, and inflexible eye lenses slow focus. Cars are made to drive fast, and many whippersnappers navigate the s…
How team sports prepared me for a successful career in medicine
Nothing could have prepared me better for my career and life than playing team sports growing up. It’s hard to imagine someone now in their 70s pitching a fastball 100 miles per hour, bench pressing almost 400 pounds, and running the 100-yard das…
Costly care vs. cutting-edge treatments: the state of cancer today
For decades, many patients, their children, and grandkids have strived to answer, “What is cancer?” As a doctor and scientist, over the past 16 months, I have learned the latest cancer information from experts at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles…
Forced immigration and the American dream: a physician’s story
My grandfather was forced to immigrate from Japan to Canada in 1910. As I learned, he owned many sake factories in Japan, which were nationalized in a government takeover of certain businesses. Governments do that. The family was heavily burdened, and …
On being a doctor and an advocate
I opened my internal medicine practice almost four decades ago to serve a growing urban community. I gravitated toward the underserved geriatric population as they were vulnerable patients and eventually moved into the bygone realm of house calls for h…
Telemedicine’s impact on lifespan and cancer eradication
Forty years ago when I first started in medicine, there were no CT scans or MRIs. In the next forty years, I foresee cancer as an illness of the past, and life expectancy will be over one hundred years old. Scientific advancements will push medicine ah…
Nursing homes: How they impact the dignity of older adults
Call it what you want: nursing home, skilled nursing facility, rehab center, convalescent home, or post-acute care. They are all the same and a common destination should you survive a recent hospitalization. But they all have an existing reputation and…
Unmasking the profit-driven influence on American health care decisions
The practice of medicine has been significantly enhanced by advancing technology. However, even with four years of medical school and an MD degree, this only provides the foundation for what is needed to be a good doctor. A critically important skill i…
Holocaust survivor’s hidden past: a doctor’s discovery
As a medical doctor, I have peered into the lives of many patients who have unique experiences. When I started practice 40 years ago, some of my patients had parents who lived during the Civil War; a few fought in the Spanish-American War, and more rec…
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