Freedom Is Not Free

I have enormous respect for the military who have suffered the highest costs of protecting the freedoms that we often take for granted. I have never served, but these men and women serve me and the rest of us every day.

The Whistleblower blog is not an anonymous samizdat, such as was present in the former USSR. I criticize the president openly under my own name. Those who challenge governments in other countries risk imprisonment or worse.

To those who protect our freedoms to write, speak, assemble, pray and criticize our leaders, please accept our collective endless gratitude, knowing that it will never be sufficient for what you have done and will do for us.

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When Should Doctors Retire?

I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term. Years ago, I never received such inquiries. Why now? Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area? Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring. “Interesting,” I remarked. Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work. I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from. I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight. Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other interests. Indeed, reading and ...

Stop Medical Malpractice: The White Coat Wall of Silence

Photo Credit Leisure Guy, one of my most faithful commenters, opines that I am omitting an important aspect of the tort reform argument. He has implored me repeatedly to read a particular book that I suspect buttresses his views, but this worthy pursuit is simply not near the top of my priority pyramid. Since he’s retired, he enjoys the luxury of burrowing deeply into the base of his priority pyramid. With 4 tuitions to go, retirement is a distant mirage for me. I’m can be a ‘leisure guy’, but only in my dreams. I have written throughout this blog and elsewhere that there are too many frivolous lawsuits against physicians. I have admitted that caps on non-economic damages are not ideal, because they deny some worthy plaintiffs of complete compensation, but I support them because I believe they serve the greater good. I have ranted that there is no effective filter to screen out physicians who should never be invited to the litigation party in the first place. I believe that the...

Will Artificial Intelligence Become My Doctor?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is riding over the countryside and the globe on a tidal wave. It will gather strength and will become a tsunami sooner than we think. Like any tool, its use depends upon the intent of the user. A hammer can be used to build but can also be used to break. It can serve as a weapon. The tool bears no culpability. We have no reliable way to prevent tools from being used for nefarious activities. I don’t think the solution is to eliminate hammers from society to reduce hammer violence. The overall idealized strategy is to stifle dark intent lurking within people so that they might not consider taking evil actions. Sadly, we have all seen that this worthy task is far out of reach. We simply don’t have a tool to accomplish this. A tool with many uses. AI will be a tool like no other. It will deliver preternatural benefits in every sphere of society. I predict that it will make the internet seem quaint by ...

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