An excerpt from The Mumbo Jumbo Fix: A Survival Guide for Effective Doctor-Patient-Nurse Communication. If you’re like me, you mark life’s timeline by three milestones—before COVID, during COVID, and after COVID. While most of us no longer …
Category: Conditions
The hidden pain behind a smile
(Trigger warning: suicide attempt) It was dinner time at this hospital’s psychiatric unit. They shuffled into the dining area—slippers, pajamas, disheveled, sad, lonely, depressed … and forgotten. Head count. All were present except for one…
Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients
Half of my family and many of my friends are doctors. I admire them enormously: they are smarter, work harder, and are more compassionate than any group I know. Yet sadly, they are all wimps. Despite non-stop carping about the dangers and cost of healt…
The unspoken emotional toll of trauma surgery: a medical student’s journey
It’s one thing to choose a career dedicated to saving lives; it’s another altogether to confront the harsh reality of death. As a third-year medical student, my trauma surgery rotation highlighted that distinction. For all the patients we s…
When corporate hospitals cause real harm
When patients go to the hospital seeking help, they are vulnerable and fully trusting of the modern hospital system to do only what is needed and nothing more. And with good reason—patients are well aware of the incredible sacrifices doctors have made,…
Embracing data-driven solutions to prevent falls
Released in 2000, the landmark report “To Err is Human” aimed to transform patient safety by highlighting the prevalence of medical errors and their devastating impact. The report underscored various issues, including medication errors, fal…
The dark psychology of medical con-men
Paolo Macchiarini, MD, is a thoracic surgeon and regenerative medicine researcher who gained international fame for pioneering surgeries that involved implanting synthetic tracheas seeded with the patient’s own stem cells. However, Macchiarini…
Are e-cigarettes harming your reproductive health?
In recent years, e-cigarettes have emerged as a popular alternative to traditional cigarettes, often marketed as a safer choice. However, accumulating evidence reveals that e-cigarettes pose significant risks, particularly to reproductive health. This …
Why we need to stop blaming people for their diabetes
“You brought this on yourself with poor eating habits and bad lifestyle choices.” If you or someone you know has diabetes, you have likely heard this harmful misconception or even thought it yourself. While the federal government’s pr…
Closing the colorectal cancer screening gap: the need for clear guidance on the use of new screening options
As a practicing gastroenterologist, I never want to say to a patient: “You have advanced colon cancer.” Just last week, I discovered an early colon cancer in an asymptomatic patient who was referred to me after a positive result on a non-in…
