A health and public policy blog
In 2021 the Mexican Supreme Court decriminalized abortions. Now many in the US have started talking about abortions in Mexico for some Americans should Roe v. Wade be overturned. In Chile abortion Read More…
Several recent studies show that not all who get a positive COVID-19 diagnosis by RT-PCR develop antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus or seroconvert. An Israeli group showed that 5% of all their CRead More…
It is more than 18 months since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection was diagnosed in the US. Most of us hoped for a vaccine which we believed will end the pandemic. Today we have several vaccineRead More…
Many over the centuries have sought political power for the prestige it provides. Some have sought power to bring about the changes that they wished for in their communities or societies. There are aRead More…
When we think of tyrannical theocratic regimes our minds go to the Middle East. Countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Yemen feature strongly. These nations, unfortunately, appeaRead More…
In the past one year we have lost more than half a million Americans to Covid-19. My worst estimate in March 2020 was a quarter of a million in a year. At that time I was very confident we would not Read More…
This post is my attempt to bring the vaccine experience to a larger audience. To do this I polled about 500 vaccine recipients over about 24 days. A prior survey that I conducted suggested that manyRead More…
Interestingly, two pre-prints were released this week that looked at the same issue. These papers were a comparison of the immune response to the first shot of an mRNA vaccine between those who have Read More…
There is an anti-COVID vaccine video making the rounds on SM. It stars a black lady called Khalilah Mitchell who claims she works as a registered nurse in Nashvillee, TN. According to her heart wrencRead More…
About a year ago our world was upended when it became clear the respiratory virus spreading through China was not going to be contained locally. China dragged its feet trying to figure out how to hanRead More…
The Boston Smallpox Epidemic For many centuries’ smallpox was the scourge of humanity. It decimated human populations and in the New World wreaked havoc among Native Americans with the influx oRead More…
After almost 10 months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. There are several SARS-CoV-2 vaccines on the horizon, with two approaching FDA approval. As Read More…
This evening, like a lot of evenings, I sat down to write. Today, I could not. I was overcome with a deep sadness for my adopted home, the USA, and the way she is being devastated by COVID-19. TheRead More…
Many countries have seen their peak in cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the rear view mirror. Unfortunately the United States is still forging ahead in this epidemic. I wrote a previous post about preparing fRead More…
As a surgeon who has been working in the US healthcare system for the last twenty years. I never imagined I would ever see what has transpired in the first quarter of the year 2020. Never in my wildeRead More…
Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare has always been a feature of the American health system. This is an issue that all minorities in the healthcare field address in their own way. Some get emRead More…
In the early 1990s, HIV spread like wildfire in the Chinese provinces of Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Shanxi. Between 200,000 and 300,000 were infected because of the trade in blood and blood prRead More…
Social distancing & Abortion Restrictions With roll out of social distancing rules across the country some states are facing problems likely created by anti-reproductive choice activists. ThiRead More…
There have been multiple Coronavirus outbreaks in the pasts, SARS-CoV-1 was first reported in Asia in February 2003, though cases subsequently were tracked to late 2002. This virus quickly spread to Read More…
Anytime I hear any debate on the HPV vaccine Gardasil, I remember a fact that most of us tend to forget. This simple piece of common sense was brought to my attention by a classmate in a class Read More…
On the first approach by our division chief to work on a project to develop an anal cancer screening program I must admit I was a skeptic. Like most physicians I believed high resolution anoscopies weRead More…
I passed by those ambulances on a daily basis. Lined up in neat rows on the parking lots of power. The controversy swirled around them. The need beckoned. The death data swelled. And still they sat, wRead More…
January is being celebrated in Ghana as cervical cancer awareness month. This is laudable considering the fact that cervical cancer, a very preventable disease, kills many Ghanaian women. It is greatRead More…
The examination room gets cleaned at least 3 times a day however the ever pungent smell of blood appears to defy all the efforts of our ever zealous cleaning staff. The smell was strong and overpoweriRead More…
When I saw the CT scan my heart sank. The beautiful symmetry that the brain has, the different shades that white and grey matter imprint on the LCD screen were gone. The lines that divide the electricRead More…