Immunology is one of many medical frontiers we have yet to understand fully. One poorly understood question: How does the human body produce an antibody that goes to war and defeats a virus or bacteria? We know our bodies have an innate ability to make defensive antibodies, and apparently in those patients...

In haste to get across the goal line, or where the field is not marked clearly, spiking the ball on the 5-yard line happens. Never to me nor my teammates. It was instilled in us by coaches and family never to give up. I played baseball until I was 26 years old, then went to medical school. Each step...

Living near a freeway can be hazardous to your health. A cloud of exhaust and particulate matter infiltrating skin and lungs can emanate from it. Similarly, a cloud of germs surrounds every hospital. With COVID-19, one has to be fearful that the density of this cloud may be more concentrated. We know...

A showcase for prescription medication can be seen on television daily promoting benefits, yet side effects are reserved at the end with barely audible voiceover warnings and unreadable fine print. New drugs known as interleukin inhibitors are used for rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis,...

I have a few items of family memorabilia I’ve carried around from place to place as I transferred and moved for the Navy and in retirement. This one item, above all, is a memory I can’t seem to let go. It was such a happy time when it came into my life, and when it became mine, it was a very...

Stardate: 2120 Location: U.S. Pluto outpost   “Charon, take this pill to your brother. He’ll feel better.” “What’s it for, Dad?” “He has a tiaravirus detected through the 100-vital-sign sensors surveilling all of us living at this outpost. A virus was detected in the blood, analyzed,...

I have vivid memories of patients dying. Some I did not know as they came through emergency room trauma. Others were within the hospital, or at home. It has never been easy. Talking and connecting with colleagues over the past month, many are greatly impacted by decisions forcing heartbreaking choices. Medicine...

I visit nursing homes once a month. With the COVID-19 crisis, they can easily be a nidus for community infection. My visiting attire now has been a mask, gloves and wife’s shower cap (which she forces me to wear). I do not don a protective gown (don’t have one), nor have I yet been advised on any...

Hospitals do not have enough PPEs (personal protective equipment – gloves, masks, gowns, shoe coverings), nor sufficient access to COVID-19 testing. When a policy is made to disallow family members from being with loved ones, it is considered inhumane. Yet, hospitals must protect patients from spreading...

I was pushing my shopping cart in an aisle near other 6-foot-socially-distant customers. Nearby was an employee stocking shelves who started coughing into her elbow for about five seconds. Like cockroaches in a kitchen when you turn on the light, everyone scattered, with carts banging into each other...