On Dec. 30, 2019, an ophthalmologist named Li Wenliang notified his colleagues about an illness that was reminiscent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in a city in the Hubei province of China called Wuhan. As an ophthalmologist, this was not directly relevant to his practice; he merely wanted to warn colleagues that they might…
She wanted me to call in an antibiotic. My sister, a lawyer, often tells me how the ethics of her profession govern even her extra-professional acts. She feels that when she was sworn into the New York State bar, she lost the freedom to bend the truth. She would never, for example, attempt to smuggle…
“Greetings of the day!” My email account used to be flooded by these cheerful salutations, referring to me as an esteemed colleague or a thought leader. I have to admit: at first, I enjoyed receiving these messages. Normally, when I log into my email account, I’m greeted by messages—punctuated by red, capital letters—that announce dire…
I nodded, gravely. I was recently privileged to attend a symposium on eosinophils. I realize that this sounds odd. And it was odd, mainly because I’m not an eosinophil expert. Still, they were in need of someone who knew something about eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, so I managed to sneak in through the back door….
The year is drawing to a close, and I have not been forced to release a statement that I am leaving The Rheumatologist “to spend more time with my family.” Once again, improbably, I have made it to the finish line. Given that, now seems to be a good time to reflect, and to give…
The cards sat, untouched, in a corner of my desk. In the 1800s, it was common for American saloons to provide patrons with a free meal. Of course, the meal came with a catch: The meals were predictably salt laden and designed to encourage patrons to drink more beer. Hence was born the expression, “There…
I knew I shouldn’t look. I was driving 60 miles per hour, heading north on I-95, trying to get to the George Washington Bridge before dusk. It takes a certain fatalism to drive through New York City if you are not a native. Ninety percent of the drivers sharing the road with you know exactly…
“And of course, I am not telling you to do it. That would be illegal.” As a general rule, I try not to instruct my patients to break the law. My business model depends on repeat customers, so placing a patient at risk of getting arrested—even if that risk is remote—doesn’t seem like a good…
I knew I was about to be schooled. That’s what I thought when I first started to read the Twitter feed of Erin D. Michos, MD, MHS, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. I have a Twitter account, but as a general rule, I use it…
Table stakes. It took me a moment to register what they were talking about. I was listening to Pod Save America, a wildly popular podcast put together by some of Barack Obama’s former speechwriters. It is, I imagine, what an MSNBC podcast might sound like if Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes were allowed to swear….