<span itemprop="author">Therese Zink, MD, MPH

Author's posts

Dog poop, the social contract, and pandemic behaviors

Dogs have been part of my extended family for most of my sixty-plus years. With a dog comes poop. It doesn’t really matter on a farm, but in the city, there is an expectation, a social contract of sorts. In the public parks and boulevards, the dog owne…

The long journey of COVID

I really shouldn’t complain. I haven’t lost my housing or job. I have plenty of food and toilet paper, and so far, no close friend or family have died from COVID. That said, this pandemic is hard. In fact, it is exhausting. During the spring and summer…

It’s the R-word again: rationing

Here in the U.S., we slip and slide around the reality of rationing. We like to believe we can have it all, do it all, that there are no bounds. And if you have money in the U.S., that is more or less true. Until now. Personal protective equipment and …

The obscene price of insulin: This is what happens when health care is for profit

I recently had a patient whose blood sugar was well controlled until he lost his health insurance. He purchased his diabetes pills because they’re cheap, but he couldn’t afford the insulin. His diabetes had been well controlled. Now, almost a year late…

Getting old ain’t for sissies

These days we are talking more about advanced directives and living wills in health care. This is progress, but as a member of the sandwich generation, I am focused on the aging process. I don’t have kids, but I have parents and have the honor of watch…