Shortage of Primary Care Doctors Threatens Lives
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Alarm bells have been sounding for years about the shortage of physicians in the United States. Based on recent studies, those bells have become sirens. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has long been warning about this quandary, but the most current data suggests a serious tipping point is about to be reached. Within […]
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Air Rage, Road Rage, America is Seething
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Southwest Airlines flies from Sacramento to San Diego 90 times a week. The one-hour and twenty-minute trip is usually a placid affair; turbulent California weather provides an occasional unpleasant exception. Flight 700 on Sunday May 23 of this year was unexpectedly whipsawed by forces much stronger than rough air. While on board, a Southwest flight […]
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Depression and Heart Attacks: A Deadly Combination
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In August of 1991, author Larry McMurtry struck a Holstein cow while driving on a rural road near his Texas panhandle ranch. The cow walked away from the accident and the Lincoln town car was slightly damaged, but the event marked the inception of a lengthy healthcare crisis for McMurtry. The next morning McMurtry was […]
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Baby Boomers challenge the myths about growing old
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The term ageism, coined in 1968 by psychiatrist and pioneering gerontologist, Dr. Robert N. Butler, refers to prejudice against the elderly. “Ageism reflects a deep seated uneasiness…a personal revulsion to and distaste for growing old, disease, disability, and fear of powerlessness, uselessness, and death,” Dr. Butler said. What particularly exasperated Dr. Butler was the reality that chronological […]
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Home or Hospital? Choosing a place to die.
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Most Americans would prefer to die at home. Surveys show that 90% of our population wants to pass away in their own beds. There was a time when the majority of deaths were homebased. In 1912, two-thirds of those passing succumbed there. “Throughout human history, and until very recently, most people died at home,” Dr. […]
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