MD Whistleblower

The nation was transfixed this past Thursday with the sequential testimonies of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh.   It is rare that a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding generates this stratospheric level of intensity and interest.   In my recollection, the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the Anita Hill hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee both reached this level. I watched a good deal of the hearings and read about what I was unable to watch. Personally, I don’t think that minds were changed.     Nearly every U.S. senator’s mind was firmly decided at the moment that the judge was nominated months ago.   Many offered up their strident support or opposition within 24 hours of the announcement of the nomination, if not sooner.    I will let readers decide if such a response is the diligent and fair reaction that a nominee and the country deserve.   To me, it seems that this massive pre-judgement was offered up without nec...

For many people throughout the world, this past week provided an opportunity to reflect on one’s life and to invest in one’s soul.    While self-examination should be an ongoing task,   the Day of Atonement is a singular opportunity to meditate deeply on this process.   While this day culminates a 10 day period of intense reflection – or so it should – once again, this does not relieve us of our obligation to pursue this task on all other days. Atonement is a tough business and I admit that I am no expert.   Consider how challenging this process is. Personal reflection. Acknowledging personal flaws and transgressions. Approaching those whom we have wronged to make it right. Forgiving those who seek our pardon with grace. Committing not to repeat our offenses if placed in the same circumstance again. Sounds easy?    Hardly.   Changing our traits and actions are very difficult.   Why do you think so many of us have the same li...

I read about artificial intelligence software that can rival high school juniors armed with #2 pencils.  The program attacked SAT math questions and performed at the level of a typical 11 th grader.  The study was too complex for me to grasp. I guess I should ask an 11th grader for assistance.  Artificial intelligence is well beyond conventional computational exercises. It can ‘think’. Man vs Machine Increasingly, we see functions executed by machines that were formerly performed by living breathing human beings.  Examples range from the mundane to the preternatural.  Order food and drink from an iPad.  No server needed. Driverless auto travel.   This may lead to a resurgence in prayer. Pilotless air travel.  Hard times ahead for the Airline Pilots Association.  Making precision tools – from 3D printers. Gourmet meals created with a voice activated command. Theater and film productions starring faux actors created ...

I have satellite radio in my car.  I listen to 2 or 3 stations.  I have a deluxe version of cable TV, giving me access to hundreds of channels.  I watch a handful of them.   There is no way, of course, that I could simply pay for the 7 stations I watch.   For example, if I want HBO so I can watch John Oliver’s uproarious Last Week Tonight on Sunday, I have to purchase some package of useless channels to secure my HBO spot. I listen to CNN often in the car.  This network blares out ‘Breaking News’ every 5 minutes or so.  I wrote to them demanding an explanation for these idiotic announcements, but they couldn’t break away from the avalanche of breaking news to respond to me.  In times past, ‘Breaking News’ meant that the Germans surrendered, Truman beat Dewey or that Neil Armstrong planted his feet firmly on the lunar landscape.  I also wrote twice to CNN asking how many minutes of commercials occupy Wolf Blitzer’s hour long...

All work is honorable.     Sometimes, when I ask a patient what his occupation is, the response begins with, ‘I’m just a…”.   I’ll have none of it.   There is no ‘just’.    Most of the people who keep this country afloat are anonymous folks who put in an honest and decent day’s work.   Some use a keyboard and others use a hammer.   Some use a shovel and others use a colonoscope.   Some arise when we are still asleep and others start work after we have retired.   Some use their hands with skill and precision and others offer professional advice.    Some design a building and others build it.    Some create and others consume. But, why should these words matter here?   After all, I am just a blogger.

A man I had not met came to my office prepared for one of life’s most joyful pursuits – a screening colonoscopy.    Perhaps, this experience gives truth to the adage, ‘it’s better to give than receive’. This man was 70-years-old and was about to undergo his first screening study of the colon, an exam that experts and others advise take place at age 50.   Let me do the math for you; he was 20 years too late.   I performed my task with diligence and removed a large polyp.    While I believe that the lesion was still benign, we gastroenterologists prefer to discover your polyps when they are small.    Smaller lesions are nearly always benign and are safer to remove. Afterwards, I chatted with the patient and his wife and I expressed some surprise that there had been a two decade delay of his colonoscopy.    (Readers would be amazed and amused at the creative excuses I’ve been offered over the years explaining delayed colonoscopi...

A contract is an agreement stipulating the rights and obligations of the signatories.   In most cases, a contract is consulted when a dispute arises.   When all is proceeding swimmingly, the contract remains dormant in a file drawer or in a digital file.   In general, decent people resolve differences in the old fashioned way utilizing the twin arcane legal techniques of reasonableness and compromise.   Remember them?   Yes, it is possible to settle disputes without consulting an attorney. Settling a Dispute without a Lawyer I learned recently about the existence of Opioid Contracts, an 'agreement' between a patient and a physician regarding the use of opioids.    I have read through various OC templates and, although I have no law degree, they seem extremely lopsided in that one party seems coerced to accept numerous stipulations while the other – the doctor – serves as the enforcer.   Although many of these agreements require both th...