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Section: Blogs/Opinion

Test Trump’s Brain

When President Trump slurred his words during a news conference this week, some Trump watchers speculated that he was having a stroke. I watched the clip and, as a physician who specializes in brain function and disability, I don’t think a stroke was behind the slurred words. But having evaluated the chief executive’s remarkable behavior […]

December 18, 2017

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Ignore Race

Sickle cell anemia was first described in 1910 and was quickly labeled a “black” disease. At a time when many people were preoccupied with an imagined racial hierarchy, with whites on top, the disease was cited as evidence that people of African descent were inferior. But what of white people who presented with sickle cell […]

December 13, 2017

What Deadline?

I’ll never forget the relief in his voice as we drove home from a session of radiation treatment back in December of 2013. Andrew, a 26-year-old transgender man who would soon become my husband, had been diagnosed with cancer three months earlier. While he was one of the fortunate Americans able to access health insurance […]

December 11, 2017

No Mandate, No Coverage

The Republican tax bill is a betrayal of the president’s promise to provide affordable “insurance for everybody” that is “every bit as good on pre-existing conditions as Obamacare.” Republicans last week passed a tax plan that repeals the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate under the guise of restoring consumer choice that the law supposedly stripped […]

December 6, 2017

Battle over Veterans

Kevin Miller is a U.S. Marine Corps Iraq combat veteran who came home with a wide range of chronic health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and injuries to his neck, spine and shoulders. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ model of integrated care, Miller can coordinate and receive all his […]

December 4, 2017

Living with Cystic Fibrosis

Twice a day in our house, we turn on a projector that casts cartoon music videos on a blank stretch of wall. The songs are catchy and bright and usually keep our toddler captivated for the amount of time we need him to hold still. “There are no monsters who live in our home,” goes […]

November 29, 2017

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Flu Shot Myths

I have a vivid childhood memory after my mom received a flu shot. I can remember looking through an open door into my mom’s dimly lit bedroom. She was wearing a night gown, so worn it was almost opaque. My mom was too sick to work, and her coughs seemed to rattle her entire body. […]

November 27, 2017

Medical-Legal Partners

Next month’s volume of Pediatrics features the winning essay from the Section on Pediatric Trainees’ first annual advocacy essay competition, written by Dr. Laura Livaditis (10.1542/peds.2017-2916). In her article, entitled “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Toxic Stress: Learning the Learning,” Dr. Livaditis suggests that the effects of toxic stress may be mitigated by the development of […]

November 20, 2017

Equity in Health

When I ran to represent Missouri’s 74th House District, I promised to continue to fight for access to quality healthcare. As a lawyer who specializes in health law and holds a Masters in Pubic Health, I know how important quality, affordable healthcare is to supporting local communities and developing economies. And now, as a member […]

November 15, 2017

Lonely Killers

Economically, he was one of the growing millions without a secure, meaningful, socially approved, well-paid job. He had previously amassed money by buying and selling real estate, but had no ongoing job. He lacked the relationships that flow from working with others to accomplish a shared goal where each person has a part to play. […]

November 13, 2017

Pot and Equity Issues

As California prepares to kick off the nation’s largest legal commerce in marijuana, it’s easy to salivate over the multibillion-dollar bonanza this could bring to the state and local economy, and to believe the hype that this wealth can reverse some of the damage wrought over decades by the war on drugs. But when Los […]

November 8, 2017

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Contraceptives and Politics

Politics is the reflection of our principles—which might explain our hyperpolarized contemporary landscape. With renewed controversy on contraceptive use and religious freedom, we see the divide between Americans’ politics and our principles on women’s health care. Earlier this month, the Trump Administration officially rolled back the ACA’s contraception mandate, which required employer-provided health care plans […]

November 6, 2017

Shaky Ground

On Wednesday, open enrollment begins for the fifth time under Obamacare. There is much uncertainty in the insurance market and premiums are expected to continue to rise. According to Gallup, the uninsured rate rose to 13 percent, up from 10 percent last year — most experts attribute the rise to ballooning individual insurance costs, diminished […]

November 1, 2017

Jane Doe’s Ordeal

Last night was the first night in a month that I was able to fall asleep without worrying about whether Jane Doe would get the medical care she needs. Jane, a 17-year-old unaccompanied immigrant minor, received her abortion yesterday after being held hostage by our federal government for over a month. But while the legal […]

October 30, 2017

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Address Lifestyles

President Trump’s latest actions on health care – his executive order creating “association health plans” and terminating cost-sharing payments under Obamacare – will further destabilize health insurance markets and create chaos for tens of millions of Americans who need health insurance. The Trump administration’s lack of a viable strategy for American health care just magnifies […]

October 25, 2017

Cynical Sabotage

“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” For years, Republicans used that exaggerated pledge to thrash the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and President Obama for not keeping his promise. Politifact labeled it as “lie of the year” in 2013. Read More

October 23, 2017

Gender Disparities in Medicine

In the era of booming feminism whereby women demand rightful recognition in a wide array of aspects, the field of medicine has to face the facts. Until roughly two decades ago, aside from differences in reproductive systems, the male body has been the universal model for anatomy – as there was little knowledge that gender […]

October 18, 2017

Warped Idea of Freedoms

The week began with the biggest gun massacre by a single person in American history. Fifty-eight more families know the shock and trauma that goes with a loved one dying in a hail of bullets. Over five hundred people were injured, and join the thousands whose lives will never really be the same. Tuesday was […]

October 16, 2017

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