MD Whistleblower

Here is the 2 nd of a 3-part series on the COVID-19 vaccine and related issues.  Last week, I opined that COVID-19 is now greeted with a collective yawn by Americans.  We have moved on but the virus is still here.  COVID-19 vaccine interest has also certainly waned.  Another yawn. Commenters who read last week’s Whistleblower post on my Substack platform vehemently disagreed with me. Indeed, I have received more reaction to that post than to any other in recent memory, and the comments are still coming in.  I will offer them, as well as all readers, some directed comments at the conclusion of this post  How do I regard the COVID-19 vaccine?   Over my long medical career, I have witnessed true miraculous medical milestones.   Operation Warp Speed in Trump’s first administration was one of them, which he himself readily acknowledges.  Trump announced proudly during the pandemic that Warp Speed was “one of the greatest miracles of the ages” a...

Two days ago, I received the 2025-2026 COVID-19 jab.  While many of us regard this updated injection to be a booster shot, this one is an actually full vaccine.  I received the Pfizer version which uses mRNA technology which – like so many other public health issues – has generated controversy, confusion and even anger.  There have been unfounded claims that mRNA vaccine technology is responsible for serious and enduring complications including death and new or worsening serious disease states.  There is also a belief that mRNA vaccines could induce the COVID-19 virus to mutate to a more virulent strain and could also alter the recipient’s DNA, which has no factual basis.  Keep in mind that this virus, like all germs, mutates regularly. This does not  mean that the vaccine is responsible for this.  If I do a crossword puzzle and catch a cold shortly thereafter, it’s more likely a coincidence than the puzzle causing my illness.  The list of alleged...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is riding over the countryside and the globe on a tidal wave.  It will gather strength and will become a tsunami sooner than we think.  Like any tool, its use depends upon the intent of the user.   A hammer can be used to build but can also be used to break.  It can serve as a weapon.  The tool bears no culpability. We have no reliable way to prevent tools from being used for nefarious activities. I don’t think the solution is to eliminate hammers from society to reduce hammer violence.   The overall idealized strategy is to stifle dark intent lurking within people so that they might not consider taking evil actions. Sadly, we have all seen that this worthy task is far out of reach.   We simply don’t have a tool to accomplish this. A tool with many uses. AI will be a tool like no other.   It will deliver preternatural benefits in every sphere of society. I predict that it will make the internet seem quaint by ...

Labor Day will greet us on the morrow.  As a reminder, this became a federal holiday in 1894 after President Grover Cleveland signed a congressional act into law.  Although at first the holiday applied to federal workers, over time all US states, territories and the District of Columbia observed the holiday. I have written over the years that our observance of many of our federal holidays has drifted far from their original purposes. I find this disappointing although I am as culpable as anyone. Consider, for example, how each of us marks Independence Day, Memorial Day or Christmas, and compare this to the holidays' original meaning. Labor Day should recall the struggles to achieve fairness and safety in the workplace that began well over a century ago.  And while enormous progress has occurred, the task has not been, and may never be, completed.  Celebrate Labor Day! Labor Day, like many other holidays, is a day that one is encouraged to purchase cheaper mattresses,...

A recent article in Cleveland’s primary daily newspaper – which is still printed - discussed an intriguing issue.  An Ohio state representative has offered a bill that would require amusement parks to publicize online if any of their attractions are not running.  The bill is offered as a consumer protection measure to inform patrons of the status of park attractions before they travel distances and face pricey admission costs.  Folks will not be amused to arrive at an amusement park to discover that the ride that brought them there is out of order.  Do you think that a family who is notified at the ticket booth that the roller coaster of their dreams isn’t rolling will simply head back to the car head for home?  Imagine those happy kids in the back seat! “Hey kids, now we have time to go to the library and borrow some educational books!” We’ll see if this proposed bill becomes law.   Amusement park owners may push back on what they feel is government encr...

I review several dozen medication lists each week.  I do so in my office visits as well as prior to performing procedures.  This routine task is not always as easy it seems.  One would think that this would be a breeze in the era of the electronic medical record (EMR). But it’s not.  On a regular basis there are inaccuracies riddled throughout the list.  There may be medicines listed that the patient is no longer taking.  More challenging, there may be medicines being taken that do not appear on the list.  Many patients are on more than a dozen medicines.  Medication dosages often change and I often have to hope that the recorded dosages are accurate.  And, as every physician knows, patients are often unaware of the purpose or doses of some of their medicines. I regularly query patients if they are taking a particular medicine on the list and often they simply do not know. The medical profession has made progress is closing these gaps. ...

It can be daunting to keep track of new drugs, particularly if the doctor is not prescribing them regularly. During my medical training, I generally was familiar with all of the medicines that patients were taking.  Not so anymore.  Now, it is more likely than not that when I review medication lists, that some of the drugs are unknown to me.  I do my best to remain current in my own specialty – itself a challenge.  I am no longer well versed in the medicines used to treat diabetes, heart conditions and various autoimmune diseases, among others conditions. Medical illnesses that formerly were managed with just a medicine or two now have many more options.   And the medication lists keep growing.   I wonder at times if some of these new pharmaceutical additions truly add a material advantage over existing options.   For instance, there is an array of effective heartburn medicines that I believe are largely equivalent to each other with respect to safet...