Once your doctor makes a diagnosis, a treatment plan is made. Will it be surgery, medication, or another evidence-based guideline promoting longevity or diminishing suffering? For example, over the past 50 years, control of hypertension has increased life expectancy while diminishing heart attacks, strokes...

She was a concert pianist. He, an aerospace engineer who helped put a man on the moon. They were married 60 years. He always joked, “We make out-of-this-world sweet music together!” Relegated to a wheelchair, he pushed her into the office for monthly checkups. Sometimes they had to wait, but when...

When the pandemic was announced, it was common sense to wear a mask, wash hands, create social distancing and isolate vulnerable citizens, especially older adults. There has been “hoax” backlash from politically skewed factions, yet with “re-opening” taking place, attempts to flatten the curve...

Medical professionals are on a learning curve as the coronavirus is highly contagious and has no treatment. Six months into this battle, money is being poured into treatment, offering hope for those who are seriously ill. Unfortunately, as in the past, physicians are seeing their decision-making usurped...

As a teenager, my father took me to Metropolitan State Mental Hospital several times, not for admission, but to learn how mental health affected his clients. He was a Los Angeles County social worker for decades, and knowing my interest in medicine, he felt it was an opportunity to put my feet in someone...

We were under curfew. No one was on the streets. The air was filled with smoke, and a looter was killed at the corner store. Darting between houses, we were careful not to be seen, nor arrested. Being young teenagers during the 1965 Watts Riots, we wanted to listen to Dodger games together. We violated...

The 1996 movie “Independence Day” was a futuristic lesson in unity when the world fought for survival. Neither race, nationality, religion, social status, gender, educational level nor political party played a role in this battle. We were one. Similarly, when admitting patients to the hospital, I...

Growing up in the 1960s before “60 Minutes,” there was a Sunday evening television show called “Candid Camera.” It conjured up embarrassing yet funny hidden filming culminating in “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera.” In 1974, when doing research using controlled medication, I found drugs missing...

I see patients in nursing homes once a month. Most elderly residents are relegated to these facilities because debilitating health problems prevent them from living at home. Around the country, they have become “hotspots” of infection. County Public Health maintains real-time statistics that are...

I wake up without an alarm clock. I’ve done that for years. If I have to catch a plane or train, which is rare nowadays, I set one as back up. First thing I do is heat water for my hot chocolate. Dependent on the time of year, this is usually around 5 in the morning, before sunrise. I take my blood...