Brain matter was spilling out the top of the patient’s head in the trauma bay. It doesn’t take a neurosurgeon to know that this is not normal. My pager screamed, “GSW to head – ED Room 1.” Gunshot wound to head – Emergency Department Room 1. As t…
Category: Public Health & Policy
Is our health care system based on untruths?
As Americans, we live in one of the most affluent countries in the world. Outwardly, many of our citizens seem to possess the necessities of life: shelter, food, job employment, and world-class health care. But what happens when we take a closer look? …
We must work harder to provide COVID relief to other countries
Currently, U.S. officials are considering expanding eligibility for the monkeypox vaccine. Yet, elsewhere, people are still struggling to get access to the COVID-19 vaccine. In many low-income countries, less than half of the population is fully vaccin…
A stark contract between American and Canadian health care
An excerpt from A Short Primer on Why Cancer Still Sucks. The United States has the world’s most expensive health care system. It spends about twice as much each year on every American as the Canadian system spends on Canadians. Per capita, the U…
Don’t let vindictiveness creep into medicine like it has in politics
The callous and inhumane dislocation of migrants recently perpetrated by governors of the states of Florida and Texas reminded me of an equally disdainful and appalling tactic utilized by health care workers since the 1960s: “Greyhound therapy.&#…
Patients come to you for treatment, not your politics
As he was being wheeled in for surgery, President Reagan joked, “I hope you are Republicans.” The surgeon, a liberal Democrat, replied, “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.” All very appropriate and from another era. A…
The true story of a Hungarian Jewish man’s fight for freedom
An excerpt from Not A Real Enemy: The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man’s Fight for Freedom. The first signs that something terrible had happened were the lights. The hospital was brightly lit through every corridor. In communist Hungary, electricit…
The Inflation Reduction Act: Can it build back medicine better and reduce climate change?
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 is an ambitious piece of legislation that was signed into law on August 16 of this year. This was a revised, negotiated version of the Build Back Better Plan that failed to pass in December 2021. Like many pi…
Bulletproof backpacks: There’s more we can do
As a parent of elementary school children, every mass shooting, particularly ones killing school children like in Uvalde, jolts my doing-the-mom-thing-just-keep-busy-can’t-stop denial. On the last day of school before summer vacation, when the bu…
How you can donate effectively after tragedy [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “Gun violence, war, pandemic, natural disasters — listening to the news or doom scrolling on social media during times of tragedy can leave us feeling devastated, discouraged, and ang…
