MD Whistleblower

It’s certain that you have heard the phrase ‘Fake News’ bandied about these past few years.   It seems there is no consensus defining this term.   Here are a few differing interpretations. Inaccurate reporting where minor, immaterial errors appear, but the essence of the story remains true.   For example, if an article wrongly names a restaurant where a meeting is held, the article should not crumble. Deliberately slanted reporting to serve a political agenda.   I do believe that this happens daily.   Reporters and editors are charged to compartmentalize their own views, similar to judges, but they are human like the rest of us.   The next time you open a newspaper, read the headlines carefully and you will find examples of wording that is less than fair and balanced News reports that are completely on the level, but are attacked by those whom are threatened by the reporting.   I don’t feel that I need to give examples here. Fake or On the Level? A close cousin of Fake

In my own life, I do my best to use one set of weights and measures.  By that I mean applying the same standard always when judging individuals, businesses, politicians and even nations.  There is not a day that passes that we do not see exasperating evidence of double and triple standards being applied.  We saw Republican senators recently excoriating a nominee under consideration for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by senators who previously voted to confirm her!  No gloating here, Democrats.  Your treatment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate Judiciary hearings was not your finest hour either.  The Cleveland Browns recently acquired a superb quarterback, Deshawn Watson whose 5 year contract will provide him with a miserly $230,000,000. Presumably, after taxes, he should still have enough to live comfortably.   As everyone in Cleveland who is breathing knows, Watson is facing 22 civil lawsuits accusing the athlete of sexual abuse.   In fairness, two grand juries dec

 The world is watching as a maniacal dictator methodically levels a country, displaces millions of citizens and attacks civilian infrastructure and lives.  The Ukrainian response has been unexpected, effective and downright inspiring.  To paraphrase JFK’s iconic remark in a 1963 speech in West Berlin, ich bin ein Berliner , we are all Ukrainians today. By all accounts, the Russian military assault or war or invasion has stalled.   Their current ‘military’ strategy now appears to be that if you can’t occupy a Ukrainian city, then destroy it.   The ghastly footage is reminiscent of newsreel footage from London in 1941, when the city was bombed for months by another maniacal dictator.   The entire world, except one country, is aware of the deliberate targeting of maternity wards, schools, residential neighborhoods and civilians.   Of course, the Russians deny all of this and maintain that they are liberating Ukraine from genocide and other crimes. The West, under the guidance of the A

 A doctor arrives just a few minutes late to his office and is warned by his staff that the patient slammed the exam room door and starting swearing.   A passenger on an airplane erupts in anger and has to be physically restrained.  Parents at school board meetings are foaming at the mouth objecting to revisions in the curriculum.  An angry mob storms the seat of our democracy attacking law enforcement professionals, an event that is later referred to as ‘legitimate political discourse’. So much anger. Where did all of this rage come from?   Is there a pathway back to civility? Anger today is more prevalent and intense than I have ever seen in my lifetime.   Moreover, it has spread over the landscape like hot flowing lava reaching regions that were heretofore anger-free zones.   Violence on an airplane?   Really?   In years past, there was a time and a place for anger.   Here are a few examples when anger was understandable. A coworker who is related to the boss gets the promot

I have been much less enthralled this year in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.   And I’m not alone.   There are many reasons for this global Olympic ennui.   International publicity on China’s horrendous human rights record resulted in several nations, including ours, issuing diplomatic boycotts.   The Peng Shuai affair was also a turn off when this Chinese tennis athlete made an accusation of sexual harassment against a Chinese government official.   Then, she disappeared and issued a statement denying her allegation.   Sounds like she was being squeezed in a Chinese Olympic vice.   The shameless spinelessness of the International Olympic Committee is itself a reason to boycott watching the games.   And Americans and folks abroad have been absorbed with the ongoing pandemic and worsening economic realities.   Many are preoccupied with inflation or rising crime or an imminent war in Europe.   For them, watching the Olympics isn’t even on the list. And to those who have tuned in

Should the Serbian government send in elite commandos for a stealth rescue? If you are a political leader or a celebrity, and you’re looking for some media attention, here’s a method that works every time.  Simply flaunt the pesky  rules that the rest of us obey. And then get caught. Remember when Governor Gavin Newsom was photographed dining out at a posh restaurant in violation of the COVID-19 safety protocol that he imposed on Californians?  Such behaviors only reinforce the recognition that many entitled folks believe that rules apply to the hoi polloi, but not to them. Presently, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic is being detained in Melbourne, Australia after his visa was cancelled upon his arrival.   There will be a court hearing tomorrow that will rule if the government can proceed with deportation. Djokovic, whose ranking is number one on the planet, arrived to compete in the Australian Open, one of tennis’s four major tournaments.   Djokovic is keen to compete since a win the

  This has been a tough year for America and the world.  For many folks and families, it may be challenging to find reasons to feel thankful.  But we must try.  When you’re in a dark room, you might not see a way to let the light in.  Try to find a window that you can crack open.  Or, one of us will do our best to open it from the outside. Wishing blessings, contentment and peace to all. Hoping for a lot more light in the year to come.

When improper actions are followed by proportionate and predictable consequences, it serves as an incentive for us to behave better.  Let’s face it.  We are not hardwired to do the right thing. If we were, then there would be no need for thousands of laws, rules and regulations to guide our behavior.  We need laws against theft, insider trading and assault because we have accepted that our natural human inclinations often lead us astray. And, if we were moral creatures by design, parents, teachers and religious leaders would not have to devote so much effort to teaching us to do the right thing. When a consequence is hollow it threatens our confidence in the integrity of the system.   When a professional athlete has committed assault, the investigations and punishments have seemed to be a very different process than we would expect if an ordinary person, like me, were the accused.   We have all witnessed examples of this over the years. Some time ago, Mike Richards, who was anoin

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 shuts down, for example, imagine how man

 We have all witnessed the debacle from our clumsy and precipitous withdrawal of our military from Afghanistan.  The humanitarian and moral disaster was as astonishing as it was avoidable.  Not only do our allies and our adversaries correctly point out our incompetence, but so do members of the the president’s own political party and administration.  Perhaps, this is an issue that might unite the Democrats and the GOP.  Indeed, the record contradicts President Biden’s claim that no military experts warned him that his plan risked chaos and catastrophe.   All of us certainly heard the president reassure us only weeks ago that the Taliban were unlikely to prevail in the short term and there would certainly not be a ‘Saigon moment’, recalling an iconic and humiliating scene from 1975. The president also claimed that he was handcuffed to withdraw troops as he needed to honor the prior agreement between the Taliban and the former administration.   This is malarkey!   First of all, Presi

  We have nearly emerged from the pandemic's abyss, but we have not yet reached the other side. The wily virus tries daily to morph into other variants to slide past our defenses. The politics of division and personal destruction have not yet been set aside. The surreal scenes of January 6th are seared onto our memories.   The recent horrors in Surfside, Florida leave us all gasping. We are still a divided nation. I want to believe that there is an ache and a hunger to come closer together. July 4th is upon us.  Might this be an occasion when we might begin the process? ”I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary  Fes tival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with   Shews , Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” John Ad

Here follows a true vignette from a few years ago.  After giving a patient the pleasure of a colonoscopy, I left the hospital and headed for my office.  As there was 45 minutes until my first office patient was due to arrive, I stopped at a coffee shop for my default hot beverage - café mocha.  I strongly prefer independent coffee shops and routinely will take a long drive to reach one.  I approached the counter and discovered that my phone, always holstered in the inside pocket of my sport jacket, was AWOL.  For many folks, especially physicians, their smart phones are beyond essential.  It serves as my pager, my appointment calendar and my communication nexus.  It is a portal to the medical site that we doctors consult for difficult cases – Wikipedia!  It is my lifeline to my offices and the hospitals I serve.  Sure, my brain may still be functioning even when I am phoneless, but the phone  supplies the fuel and power to make it all happen.  Your auto mechanic may be a knowledgea

 I’ve never served in the armed forces.  Therefore, I can’t possibly grasp the depth of meaning that Memorial Day holds for families who know what service and sacrifice really mean. My father served for 39 months during World War II, but was fortunate to have been kept from harm’s way.   He was part of a generation, perhaps the greatest generation, that was not preoccupied with self.   The trite phrase, ‘we are all in this together’, was a touchstone of that time.   No more.   Back then we crossed oceans to serve not only our nation’s interests, but also to preserve world peace.   Now, we have become much more self-oriented, both as a nation and as individuals.   America First has captured the sensibilities of tens of millions of Americans, a phrase that harkens back to Charles Lindbergh who was a speaker and supporter for the America First Committee.   Lindbergh was an American hero who was also an anti-Semite who received the Service Cross of the German Eagle by Hitler’s government

  If we are lucky, then we have someone in our lives who loves us no matter what, who makes us feel a little smarter than we are, who sees a resemblance between us and some swashbuckling actor who looks nothing like us, who laughs at our jokes, who delights when we call or visit, who takes great pride in our accomplishments, who overlooks our flaws and who reassures us that the obstacle that has unexpectedly confronted us can be overcome.   Thanks, Mom! (And to moms everywhere.) Happy Mother's Day!

 There are many concepts and activities that we understand, but yet we have difficulty defining.  In 1964, Supreme Court Associate Justice Potter Stewart in an attempt to define pornography and obscenity stated that ‘…I know it when I see it.’    Indeed, this phrase has been embedded in pop culture and is used in circumstances far removed from it’s initial prurient reference. How would one define bipartisanship?   If a bill passes with the votes of 100% of one political party and captures only 1 or 2 votes of the opposition, can the outcome fairly be regarded as bipartisan?   How much support from the other side must exist before the ‘B-word’ can be invoked?   While I don’t have a precise threshold in my mind on this issue,   I don’t think that just a couple of votes is sufficient. Joe Biden was elected in part because of his promise to pursue unity and bipartisanship.   How many times have we all heard about his decades of reaching across the aisle?   He pledged to us during his

We are all familiar with the ‘butterfly effect’, describing a phenomenon when a seemingly trivial action – a whisper, a smile, a compliment or the fluttering of a butterfly’s wing – causes a soft ripple that can reach a distant continent.   You simply cannot calculate the power and reach of a simple act of kindness. Here’s how it works.   You are in line waiting to buy your first coffee of the day and you discover that the stranger ahead of you has paid for your order.   You are moved by this this simple act of generosity.   Your mood elevates.   You wonder why such an idea never occurred to you.   You ruminate over this on your drive to work.   You greet your secretary who has been under stress and very distracted over her spouse who is recovering at home after surgery.   You think about what that must be like for her and her family.   It’s Thursday morning and you send her home for the rest of the work week so she can help her spouse get well.   The secretary is overcome with grati

I have at times detoured from my typical medical commentaries to rail about the airline industry.   If I may borrow some phrasing from a legendary British Prime Minister, the flying experience is a hassle wrapped in a frustration inside a delay.   We arrive at the airport 2 hours early, drag ourselves through the TSA process, ambulate to the gate, pray the flight is on time, hope that they will not deem my luggage as unfit to carry on, march like snails onto the aircraft, test my lumbar disc strength as I hoist my bag into the overhead bin and then finally relax as I sink into a commodious and plush chair that could comfortably seat a gerbil.   Do I have to sit in the middle seat? And, if the flight is delayed, the inconvenienced passengers can expect no compensation. If my medical practice had adopted airline culture, we would have had no patients. Think of all the reading I could have accomplished!   If we made every office visit with us an unpleasant hassle, we w

How often have we heard or read after a courtroom verdict, ‘we are going to appeal’, issued by confident lawyers who claim that their crusade for justice will yet be realized.  Indeed, I think many of us misunderstand the appeals process.  You cannot successfully aim to appeal a verdict simply because you reject the outcome.  There is no automatic judicial do over.   The losing party must offer convincing arguments to an appeals court that there were errors in the trial that rendered the proceedings unfair.  In other words, the error(s) must be material and not simply a harmless error.  Obviously, any trial or human endeavor will include mistakes that have no bearing on the ultimate outcome. For example, if a physician like me mistakenly records a patient’s height to be a half inch shorter than the true height, then the error is not consequential and won't affect the patient's care. 'I lost? I demand an appeal!' One of the many regrettable developments in the curren

What is your threshold for speaking up?  Most of us claim to hover at an upper orbit of personal integrity.  But for many if not most of us, the boundary can be wavy.  We see and hear every day how political leaders use different sets of weights and measures depending upon political considerations.  Let me make this plain for readers with the following brief example. “When your guy does it, it’s corrupt and dishonest!” “When my guy does it, it’s completely ethical!” Test your own integrity as you peruse the following list. "Hmmm, what do I tell mom?" Is it a lie to tell your mom that her meat loaf was great when it conjured up visions of Ken-L Ration? If you catch your kid plagiarizing a term paper, do you contact the teacher? If a friend divulges that he is working under the table to avoid paying taxes, do you notify the IRS? If a coworker asks you to punch the time clock for him to hide a late start, do you simply refuse or also notify the manager? Have you vi

Four years ago, the country was shocked at the outcome of the 2016 World Series of Politics when the darkest of dark horses triumphed over the establishment.   In that contest, the New York Elites came up short against the New York Six Packs.   The final score of the decisive game was Six Packs 7 and the Elites 6 – a clear victory. The Elites and their supporters were incensed and bitter. “This is not fair!” they proclaimed.   “We got more hits than they did,” explained their team captain. “Who cares?” replied Captain Six Pack.    “The rules only count the runs, not the number of hits.” Over the next 4 years, every time Elitists referred to the prior lost contest, they always added, “We got more hits than they did.”   In fact, many of them began murmuring that the unfair rules should be changed such that the number of hits should now determine the winner.  Fairness, they grumbled, demanded a rules change. Let the Games Begin Anew! It's four years later and we are all spel