MD Whistleblower

Labor Day is here.  Like many of our National Holidays, we have forgotten the meaning of the day.  Is Memorial Day a time to reflect upon those who sacrificed so we would be free, or a time to grill burgers on the barbecue?   Same with the Fourth of July.  Martin Luther King Day is just a day off for many of us.  If greater participation and reflection on MLK is the objective, then why would this day be on a Monday when most of the country is at work?  Even Christmas, a holiday season that I enjoy but do not celebrate, has shed its deep religious significance having become a commercial enterprise.  This reality, I suspect, must sadden and disturb many believing Christians. Labor Day, when many of us will be laboring over charcoal-broiled ribs and chicken, was created to remember and honor this country’s labor unions.  Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 1911 While I am hostile the politics of unions today, I readily acknowledge th...

So much in medicine and in life is done out of habit.   We do stuff simply because that’s the way we always did it.  Repetition leads to the belief that we are doing the right thing. In this country, we traditionally eat three meals each day.  Why not four or two?  We prefer soft drinks to be served iced cold.  I’ve never tried a steaming hot Coke.  Maybe this would be a gamechanger in the food industry? Life gets more interesting when folks question long standing beliefs and practices forcing us to ask ourselves if what we are doing makes any sense. In the medical profession, a yearly physical examination was dogma.  Now, even traditionalists have backed away from this ritual that had no underlying scientific data to support it.  Yet, patients would present themselves to this annual event believing that this ‘check-up’ was an important health preserver.  Here were some medical routines that were never questioned. Year...

I’m all for free speech and I’m very hostile to censorship.  The response to ugly speech is not censorship, but is rebuttal speech.   Of course, there’s a lot of speech out there that should never be uttered.  Indecent and rude speech is constitutionally protected, but is usually a poor choice.    We have the right to make speech that is wrong. Does First Amendment Apply to Physicians? I relish my free speech in the office with patients.   I am interested in their interests and occupations and sometimes even find time to discuss their medical concerns.  I am cautious about having a political discussion with them, but patients often want my thoughts and advice on various aspects of medical politics, and I am willing to share my views with them.   I don’t think they fear that politics or any other issue under discussion will affect their care.  It won’t. A Federal Appeal Court recently decided in a Florida case t...

I read recently that the left coast state of California is contemplating requiring physicians to submit to alcohol and drug testing.   Citizens there will be voting on this proposal this November.I do think that the public is entitled to be treated by physicians who are unimpaired.  Physicians, as members of the human species, have the same vices and frailties as the rest of us. Traveling leftward I have no objection to this new requirement, if it passes. This will not be a stand-alone proposal on the ballot, but is a part of the ballot initiative.   Why would trial lawyers in the Golden State want to include it?  The meat of their ballot effort is to reverse effective tort reform that had been in place there for several years.   Click on the Legal Quality category on this blog for a fuller explanation of why the medical malpractice system has been screaming for reform, and is slowing getting it.  Sure, there are always two or more si...

Our nation is highly polarized today, and often bitterly so.  Democrats rail against the GOP.  Pro-lifers face down pro-choicers.  FOX News disses MSNBC.  Isolationists push back against expansionists.  Traditionalists disdain the politically correct.  Free marketers duel against government advocates.  Carnivores deride the gluten-free crowd.  Martin Bashir trashes Sarah Palin, two proxies in a culture war.   There's a philosophical divide among physicians also.  Would you prefer a liberal physician or a conservative practitioner?  I'm not referring here to fiscal policy or legalizing recreational marijuana use.  Consider the following hypothetical scenario and the 2 physicians ’ approach from opposite sides of the medical philosophical spectrum. Which physician would you choose? Dueling Doctors The Patient:   She is a 50-year-old female with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).  She is only able to work ...