I have written previously about the raging opioid epidemic in Ohio. Attacking and reversing this tidal wave will require many weapons, resources and time. Opioid addiction is a crafty and elusive adversary that will be difficult to vanquish. Our battle plan will have to be nimble and adjusted over time, much as military leaders must do in actual armed […]
There are so many theories out there about what we should or shouldn’t be doing with our complex and fragmented health care system. We are facing a perfect storm of factors: an aging population, a huge increase in chronic disease, new and expensive treatments, and rising expectations of what care we should be receiving. All […]
Since the two very sudden public suicide deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, society has again recognized that we never know what is under the surface of another’s façade. As physicians, these tragic occurrences emphasize that our caregiving requires seeing the entirety of an individual’s many parts. While we acknowledge that the façade is […]
Generally speaking, patients and physicians are working towards good health. While many patient expectations can be unreasonable, others are practical; this article amalgamates them. Can you identify the absurd demands? But multiply half of the listed expectations by hundreds or thousands of patients, and we begin to understand why there is such a high rate […]
We live in incredible times. A time when a millennial with a YouTube account clears six-figures a year (sometimes, seven figures!) with just a computer and a webcam. A time when a small-town girl with a love of fashion and an Instagram account can go from Nowheresville, America to front row at New York Fashion […]
Altruism is killing us. Take a second to let that sink in. Truly think about it. Resist your conditioning to refute this claim and try to apply it to your life. Still having trouble? Let me try to explain. In order to understand the truly destructive force of altruism on medicine, one must first define […]
I am frequently asked what I do at social gatherings. My response, naturally, is that I am a physician. The individual then asks what your specialty is and I respond that I am a board-certified family physician. Then, I hear, “Oh, you are a GP.” Really! After all these 35 years, I am perceived as […]
The initial doubts first surfaced mid-way through our flight bound for Montego Bay, Jamaica. In fact, we were not entirely sure that this trip was such a good idea after all. Our eldest son, 13 and in eighth grade, was already complaining about how much school he was missing and how much homework he had […]
You are a child of Thanos. “Hear me and rejoice!” “You have had the privilege of being saved by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. (Yeah, I know we said the same thing when we prescribed low-fat diets to decrease the risk of heart disease, but you gotta give us a […]
