It is all about the nurses and the respiratory therapists. I watch countless brave actions every day in the ICU. These are people who, in “normal” times, spend nights, weekends, and holidays caring for the sickest of the sick. They are modestly paid…
Last night, a cable news host raised an anguished alarm about the crisis of the pandemic in America’s nursing homes. It resonated. As a physician, I have worked in those places across the U.S. From the pastoral rural to the gritty inner city. Face…
As death tolls rise from the global spread of a novel coronavirus, I have observed an increase in anxiety among my patients. I am writing this article to provide physicians with tips on how to help their patients cope with anxiety from the coronavirus….
I was about to step out for an evening shift when I caught a small quiver in my wife’s lip as she was saying good-bye. This drew me up short. I could tell that she was worried about me; it occurred to me she had a point. I’d had about a week off, and i…
A troubling type of social media post I’ve recently seen from providers (often not directly taking care of any COVID-19 patients) is one of excitement at the prospect for the medical community coming together to defeat this invisible foe. This mentalit…
One needs to look no further than any mainstream news or social media outlet to realize that our public health system and hospitals are overwhelmed. Whether it be the lack of adequate testing reagents to properly monitor the current COVID-19 pandemic o…
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered a powerful document at present, more than 70 years after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 3rd session on December 10, 1948, in Paris, France. Since its creation, it is …
America greatly stands to benefit from a universal face mask policy that mandates face coverings in public. Understandably, adoption of such a policy raises concerns, including: Universal public masking will come with an exaggerated sense of security, …
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many vulnerabilities in the U.S. health care system. While shortages of safety equipment and ventilators have been widely reported, the shortage of physicians and staff to manage patients in respiratory failure is also…
Spanish Flu. Japanese Encephalitis. Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. West Nile Virus. Wuhan Virus (and lately, the “Chinese Virus” as many have begun calling the pathogen that causes COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2). What do these names all have in common, yo…
