It has been about three weeks since I’ve had my favorite tortilla. The plant that makes them, located on the lower west side of Chicago, closed after one of its workers died of COVID-19. Unlike workers in the meat-packing industry, the employees …
Category: Infectious disease
Are you a mask wimp? Get over it.
As the reopening was being evaluated, I found myself contemplating the routine use of a mask in public. I was already wearing it 12 hours a day in the hospital. On one of the clinic days, after constantly conversing while wearing the mask, I also found…
A pathologist’s urgent pandemic message to the public [PODCAST]
“The events over the last couple of weeks have affected me deeply. Of course, I’m concerned about a novel virus that is infecting and killing people. But, I’m more distraught over the reaction of the people, the response of the state and federal …
4 things people should know about COVID-19 antibody testing
1. Not all antibody tests are the same. There are currently over a hundred different antibody tests – in different phases of development. Only a small subset of these tests has FDA approval for diagnostic purposes and emergency use authorization. A maj…
When COVID hits memory care
“Have you ever been on a cruise?” Betty asks. It’s a strange question in the age of COVID-19, where thousands of people have been stranded on large ships over the past few months. I’m a wound physician who rounds at nursing homes, and my gloved hand ho…
COVID-19 through the eyes of an ophthalmology resident
Since the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 has upended our lives in a turn of events that, just months ago, would have only seemed possible in a science fiction movie. What is traditionally an exciting time of year for medical trainees has instead become a …
How NEJM’s ethical recommendations on the fair allocation of scarce medical resources perpetuate inequity
This past March, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published six ethical recommendations to guide the allocation of scarce medical resources during COVID-19. In their second recommendation, they stated that “critical COVID-19 interventions — t…
What could go wrong with the coronavirus vaccine?
What could go wrong with the coronavirus vaccine? I have opinions. I am not a virologist or an infectious disease specialist. I am just a doctor who has been following the pandemic in the journals and in the newspapers. But I am worried because there i…
We can’t breathe: black and brown trauma in COVID-19
The sirens wail as the ambulance approaches, bouncing off New York City skyscrapers and empty storefronts. They swirl around one building, sweeping up old paint chips and dust from centuries-old stairs. Inside on the third floor, a family paces around …
Feeling guilty for not being on the frontlines of the pandemic [PODCAST]
“Do all physicians and scientists not on the frontlines of this pandemic feel this, or is it unique to women? Women in medicine and science have long struggled with the sense of never having ‘done enough’ and have pushed themselves ev…
