MD Whistleblower

 Recently, I faced 3 patients who had chosen not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.  Interestingly, each had a different reason underlying their hesitancy.  The first patient gave an adamant refusal that there is no way he would ever submit to the vaccine.   He didn’t trust the government.   The second patient offered the canard that the approval process was rushed.   The third patient had simply procrastinated.   Her family members had all been vaccinated and she has received many other vaccinations.   She was simply perched on the fence and hadn’t moved. I offered counsel to Patients #2 and #3 as I felt there was a chance I might have impact with them.   I hope that I did. Stop Vaccine Tyranny! The walls are closing in on the unvaccinated.   With the recent formal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Pfizer vaccine, and the increasing number of businesses, organizations and venues that will only admit the vaccinated, th...

We are taught from a young age to finish the entire job.  I confess that I still need reminding on this virtue. I suspect that all of us must plead guilty to partial task completion from time to time.   Have you ever washed some of the dishes remaining in the sink?   How about cleaning out part of the garage and rationalizing that this is enough work for one day.   How many of us have projects around the house that are waiting patiently for our attention as they sit frozen in time? There are more stark examples   when stopping short if the finish line is downright absurd. Consider some examples extracted from my imagination. An artist paints only on one side of the canvas, and I don’t mean for artistic reasons. A car wash cleans only the rear section of automobiles. A publisher distributes books that are 100 pages short of their true length. Silly, right? It’s easy to conjure up similar examples regarding the medical universe. A surgeon washes only...

We have all been counseled to avoid discussing religion and politics in order to reduce the risk of a hostile encounter.  I recall being reminded of this maxim when dining with a new acquaintance many years ago.  My response?  ‘That’s all I like to talk about!’ I am writing this at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday and I’ve already had multiple conversations – both directly and electronically – with people in my life on both of these radioactive subjects.  As far as I know, all of the friendships remain whole.  Indeed, these debates and exchanges serve to fortify our friendships rather than to threaten them. I recognized that discussing religion can be fraught for many individuals and might be best avoided for them.  Same with politics.  Many a thanksgiving dinner has been sullied by someone who decides to serve as the family turkey  Look at the national response when a Colorado baker refused to bake a wedding cake for gay couple in 2012.  The cake...

Labor Day, which honors American workers, was established well over a century ago in 1894. The holiday emerged from a cauldron of worker unrest protesting against harsh, unfair and unsafe working conditions.  Indeed, there were strikes and even violence in the early years of the fight for workers’ rights.  Over the ensuing decades, organized labor gained membership and power as increasing numbers of workers sought out union protections.   Those numbers have declined over time for several reasons.  Currently, about 11% of workers belong to unions. While I have not always supported organized labor’s positions and actions, I certainly agree that every employee -union or non-union - is entitled to a fair wage and safe working conditions. It’s been a very tough year for labor and for the rest of us.   When a company or a business is forced to close by an enemy that we can’t see or touch, toxic ripples spread out far and wide.    When a restaurant s...