MD Whistleblower

How often do we read or hear, “I have a right to …”   Everyone wants to have his rights respected.  Gun owners, prisoners, civil libertarians, union members, non-smokers, protesters and ordinary citizens all want our rights to be validated and respected.  What happens when the exercise of my rights encroaches on yours?  It is these questions that occupy much of our judges’ time and attention.  These are not easy calls to make.  The fact that so many of our Supreme Court decisions are decided by a 5-4 vote indicates that these issues are controversial, complex and vexing. While we all pride ourselves here in America on our individual rights, these may be at the expense of our community’s rights.   I don’t envy societies such as China or Russia where the state’s rights are paramount.  But, there is no consensus, even here, as to where to draw the line between protecting an individual and society at large.  Consider how vigorous t...

Northeast Ohio, where I reside, won the lottery and was selected for two Amazon fulfillment centers which will employ thousands.  Let’s leave aside whether those jobs will be sustained, or replaced by robots, drones or some yet to be discovered job-killing advancement.  Of course, our win here was not quite like cashing in on a lottery ticket.  Lottery winners purchase a very cheap ticket and then cash in with a huge return on investment.  That’s why folks buy them; they pursue the dream of winning a huge windfall.  Would lotteries be as popular as they are if ticket prices were ten times as expensive?  I’ll answer that.  No.   It's Time for this Foreigner to Step Down The grand prize of the Amazon Sweepstakes is the site for their 2 nd HQ. Applying to become an Amazon HQ center is no cheap lottery ticket.  Cities across the country have been tripping over each other as they raced to genuflect in front of Emperor Amazon p...

Many of my readers do not know who Barry Goldwater was, let alone of the Goldwater rule established by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973.  The rule advises against psychiatrists commenting on the mental health of public figures they have not examined.   Obviously, a psychiatrist or any physician who has treated a public figure is prohibited to offer any public comment unless he has been authorized by the patient to do so.  On Tuesday, Dr. Ronny Jackson, the president’s personal physician, will discuss the results of the president’s recent medical examination with the press.  The boundaries of what Dr. Jackson can report will have been set in advance by the president.   Senator Barry Goldwater In the past month, the Goldwater Rule has appeared in our newspapers and all over cable news and commentary programs.  Goldwater has probably been a 'trending topic'.  This is in response to suggestions that the president may be m...

Al Franken is out.  He volunteered to be thrown off a cliff.  Now, this gives me one less liberal, or ‘progressive’, that will give this gastroenterologist heartburn.  However, as a man who does his best to use honest weights and measures, I find his ouster to be deeply troubling.  This was not the senate’s finest hour. What caused the stampede of his fellow Democrats last month to demand his ouster?  Yes, there were new allegations, but they didn’t seem to be qualitatively different from the prior ones. What pushed a largely silent Democratic caucus into a chorus of indignation?  Was this fair? 'Mmmm, that was tasty!' If the charges against him – which he largely denies – are true, then he was clearly a sophomoric boor, who behaved improperly during his prior career as an irreverent comedian.  While his prior actions were offensive and wrong, I don’t think he merits being swept into the expanding cesspool of sexual harassers – men w...