A sentinel species is an animal used by human beings to detect early threats in the environment. The classic example is the canary in the coal mine. Well into the 20th century, canaries were carried into the mines to detect the presence of deadly carbon...

Over the past several months, I’ve been silent on the subject of ObamaCare. But as the controversy has grown, I’ve received numerous requests for an update on this law. In this piece I will go beyond outlining the problems and will explain what is at the heart of the...

Patients have often commented to me that “younger doctors seem different” than the doctors that they grew up with. Without getting into the details of my patients’ perceptions, the overall sense is that younger doctors see medicine as more of a job than a calling. I...

In Part 1 of this newsletter I addressed the demoralization of many physicians in this country. I discussed why doctors are leaving medicine and retiring early. This letter is devoted to a significant portion of my patients who have been experiencing their own kind of...

So that my comments today are not interpreted as sour grapes, understand that ObamaCare has not been bad for my practice. In fact, patient-concern over ObamaCare has caused my practice to grow. Patients are worried about the looming doctor shortage and concierge...

For those of you who have read my previous blogs, you are familiar with my stance on vitamins, supplements, and “alternative medicine.” Though this topic is an entertaining example of human folly, taking untested supplements carries some real risks. Unlike the act of...

For those of us who grew up in the Midwest, this was a question that virtually all children heard from their mothers at one time or another. Seemingly rhetorical, the question was meant to convey the message that there must be something seriously wrong with any young...

Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins – medications such as Zocor, Crestor, Lipitor, and Pravachol – have been getting their share of bad publicity. Recent press reports have shown possible links between the use of statin drugs and the development of dementia and...

The United States Constitution was printed on 6 pages of paper. You can carry a small copy in your pocket and nobody will even know. By contrast, the IRS Tax Code is now 73,954 pages long. The Tax Code is so complex and fraught with pitfalls that I do not even attempt...

According to a recent CDC report, only 1 in 5 Americans get enough exercise! Shocking! And like most of you, I can’t wait to read the next report that documents how many of us fail to eat the number of recommended servings of broccoli each week. As most of you...

The difference between a hero and a martyr is timing. A hero takes charge and leads his people to victory. A martyr loses his life in defense of his beliefs. When ObamaCare collapses under its own weight, which type of doctor will you be? Reading the Tea...

I was recently asked to give a talk to a group of doctors who were frustrated with their professional lives. They were attending a conference called Medical Fusion, where they would be exposed to a group of colleagues who had somehow found professional job...