For over twenty years, I’ve had a recurring nightmare: I’m back in medical training, and my patient is crashing. To save them, I must enter my medical orders into the electronic health record (EHR). The only problem is, there are no open co…
Category: Conditions
PTSD: Why trauma’s impact is more complex than you think
According to the National Institutes of Health, the majority of individuals experience several traumatic events in their lifetimes, but do they all develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? If you question the general populace or the media, they w…
The urgent need for equity and accessibility in pediatric mental health care
Recently, I encountered a stark reminder of the challenges facing our mental health care system. A 16-year-old Black boy came to us at Boston Community Pediatrics (BCP) in a state of crisis, expressing suicidal thoughts and a deep sense of fear. As par…
Why rethinking cancer risk is critical to addressing rising cancer rates in young adults
I recently encountered a new patient, a seemingly healthy 25-year-old man who had just graduated from college and was working his first job. He was not a tobacco user and had no medical diagnoses, but shoulder and abdominal pain brought him to Mass Gen…
The dangerous impact of cognitive distortions on grieving
In the weeks after her mother died, Stacy’s mind was filled with thoughts about things she believed she’d done wrong and ways she’d let her mother down. “I shouldn’t have gotten so impatient with her”; “I shoul…
Toxic waste disaster: How Hughes Aircraft poisoned Tucson’s environment and people
An excerpt from Disabled Ecologies. The multicolored poisonous waste disposed of by Hughes Aircraft Company was never just TCE, the most infamous ingredient. It was always a toxic soup: dozens of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals, contaminant…
Restoring compassionate pain care: a call to action
As a patient advocate, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of policies leading to untreated and undertreated pain. As a mother who has lost a child to drug poisoning, I have also witnessed how drug policy is driving an increasingly letha…
The real cause of the opioid crisis isn’t what you think
For years, the U.S. public has been hearing that prescription opioid pain relievers are always and forever a bad thing—and that doctors and big pharma companies are supposedly responsible for an epidemic of addiction and drug overdose-related deaths. H…
Voices for the voiceless: lives lost in translation
Too often, language and cultural barriers prevent diverse immigrant patients from receiving the quality treatment they deserve. Hospitals frequently fail to provide basic translation services that are efficient and culturally complementary for immigran…
A fight against all odds: the story of a breast cancer fighter who became my inspiration, strength, and light
I lost an inspiration—my relative (Dr. PBA), a dedicated and talented doctor, who succumbed after a long and courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer and brain metastasis. She was the driving force behind my passion for oncology research, especi…
