MD Whistleblower

Editor’s Note: For 16 years, I've published weekly essays here on Blogspot, which will continue. I’ve now begun publishing my work on a new blogging platform, Substack, and I hope you’ll join me there. Please enter your email address  at this link  to receive my posts directly to your inbox. Some time ago, a young man came to see me in the office accompanied by his mother.  I cannot recall a single detail of what led him to see me.  But I remember very clearly a medical intervention that he had as an infant that bore no relevance to the forgotten reason for his visit.  One of the tasks that physicians perform on patients we see is to review the past medical history (PMH).   We do this to assemble a medical portrait of the individual who is before us.   Oftentimes, the historical medical events are not directly relevant to the issues at hand.   But often they are.   For example, if a patient has been experiencing chest discomfort, and the PM...

Editor’s Note: For 16 years, I've published weekly essays here on Blogspot, which will continue. I’ve now begun publishing my work on a new blogging platform, Substack, and I hope you’ll join me there. Please enter your email address  at this link  to receive my posts directly to your inbox. I have written about labor unions on the blog from time to time.  I have lambasted the teachers unions , for example, for their self-serving positions during the Covid-19 pandemics.   On the other hand, I have supported hospital nurses organizing as the power imbalance between them and their employers has stifled needed reform.  And I have mused about employed physicians who are threatened with burnout and endless burdens seeking union protections. Earlier on the day that I penned this post, I read of a labor agreement between a dockworkers union and its employer.   Fortunately, a strike was avoided.   The agreement has yet to be formally ratified.   ...

Editor’s Note: For 16 years, I've published weekly essays here on Blogspot, which will continue. I’ve now begun publishing my work on a new blogging platform, Substack, and I hope you’ll join me there. Please enter your email address  at this link  to receive my posts directly to your inbox. When an individual is hired to do a job, one would think that his or her skills would be carefully assessed prior to tendering a job offer.  Let me offer some examples. If one is applying to a newspaper (yes, they still exist but print editions will soon be visible only in journalism museums) seeking to become a reporter, the hiring professionals will carefully scour through the applicant’s prior writings.   If writing well and under pressure are job requirements, then the newspaper will want to verify that the applicant has these skills.   It’s possible that the applicant would be asked to submit a writing sample on the spot. If a man is applying to become a salesman in...