Category: Policy

Navigating the abortion debate: How physicians foster healing and bridge societal divides

Weighing in on abortion invites scorn and derision from all sides. However, physicians should help frame the medical context with the aim of therapeutically healing the gaping societal wounds that the abortion debate has opened. Our Declaration of Inde…

Medical reparations are long overdue in medicine

The Philadelphia Inquirer has been covering health inequities and potential remedial solutions for years. One recent story described how a new policy requires that patients’ kidney function be estimated without taking their race into account, hig…

Philadelphia’s devastating gun violence epidemic: a wake-up call for action

It’s become my morning ritual on the way to the hospital. Cruising down a main Philadelphia stretch, just as the road crests and the hospital becomes visible, I steel myself for the line. Is it going to be long today? In just a few more blocks, m…

The fight for reinstatement: Advocating for early opportunities for excluded health care professionals battling opioid use disorder

I’ll begin by saying that I have a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) secondary to PTSD. I began diverting Norco from a pharmacy with which my hospice company had a contract. At the time, I had access to various narcotics as an RN case manage…

Dems’ Drug Price Controls Would Mean Fewer Drugs And Fewer Jobs

Less spending on research almost certainly means fewer drugs would make it through the expensive and time-consuming FDA approval process.

An alarming rise in military suicides: Unveiling hidden crisis and urgent need for action

During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, suicides among active-duty troops were frequently reported. Since then, news reports have subsided but the suicides have not. In fact, a 2022 report from the Defense Suicide Prevention Office revealed that there we…

Unlocking the power of value-based care: How collaborative partnerships drive health care success

Value-based care (VBC) holds the opportunity to re-create partnerships designed to increase health care sustainability by strategically improving processes, care delivery, and patient outcomes. However, the potential of the Institute of Healthcare Impr…

EHRs must do more to help combat climate change

Each day, as an internal medicine specialist who practices primary care, I care for patients who are experiencing the brunt of climate change. These patients have various medical conditions due to different causes. However, it is evident that greenhous…

Evaluating conferences’ stands on states limiting care for women and the LGBTQ community

I’ve spoken at many medical conferences since co-founding the Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education & Advocacy following my mother’s death from a C. difficile infection in 2010. Unfortunately, I am often the only patient advocat…

Unveiling the hidden impact of social inflation: Soaring costs for medical professionals revealed

In Philadelphia, a family alleged that a birth injury had led to their baby’s cerebral palsy. They sued Penn Medicine and were awarded $183 million. In Boise, a jury recently awarded the state’s second-highest-ever award, $13.5 million, in …