Category: COVID

Prevention is the key to saving lives: What the pandemic taught us

An excerpt from Prevention First: Policymaking for a Healthier America. Little did I know that when Prevention First was first published in December 2019, a novel virus with pandemic potential had begun to stealthily spread in China. The subsequent glo…

Prevention is the key to saving lives: What the pandemic taught us

An excerpt from Prevention First: Policymaking for a Healthier America. Little did I know that when Prevention First was first published in December 2019, a novel virus with pandemic potential had begun to stealthily spread in China. The subsequent glo…

Trust me, I’m an expert: the pandemic parade of pompous professionals

In a world where experts are our go-to for solving everything, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed just how fallible these specialists can be. Despite impressive titles and years of experience, many experts were just as clueless as the rest of us, often with…

Has COVID-19 changed the way oncologists talk about cancer?

War metaphors in oncology are controversial, to say the least. For some patients with cancer, the idea that they are “cancer warriors” in a “battle” with their disease is inspiring. Using such language gives them a sense of agen…

Pandemic lessons: How better staffing and communication can save health care

An excerpt from Healing Healthcare: Evidence-Based Strategies to Mend Our Broken System. The greatest challenge facing our professional workforce today is creating a healthy work environment in which nurses care for patients. A significant characterist…

Health care communication in a post-COVID world: What’s changed and what’s not since the pandemic

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 …

The U.K.’s pandemic missteps: insights from the ongoing inquiry

Since June 2022, the U.K. has been carrying on an inquiry, still ongoing two years later, into the response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to learn lessons that could be useful in the future. Here are a few of its revelations. Matt Hanc…

Long COVID and your brain: the effect of virus and vaccines

A bunch of symptoms, which may persist many months or even years after an acute COVID infection has cleared, have been described in the medical literature with increasing frequency since the onset of the pandemic. This constellation of findings has bee…

Navigating COVID: a journey from academic intensity to healing

Springtime. Blooming trees. Green grass. Cool winds. Sunny skies. COVID. That is where my mind wanders every year since 2020, when the season turns. I flash back to the drive between the hospital and my home. Every evening after fighting a losing battl…

A potential discovery of highly fatal SARS coronavirus?

Has a highly fatal SARS coronavirus already been discovered? Maybe yes, but just its report is highly concerning. On January 4, 2024, a letter to the editor was uploaded to a preprint server which gave too few details but described a 100 percent fatal …