Conditions

Throughout 2020, the United States has been playing catchup against the coronavirus. As several well-researched articles have noted, lack of appropriate and timely response has been at the forefront and can be attributed to numerous factors including the highly contagious nature of the virus and, simultaneously, a delay in formulating an adequate medical management and containment strategy. Unfortunately, this catchup game has led to one of the greatest losses of ...

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It was April 5, 2020. In the months prior, I imagined, she had been grappling with the isolation of her newfound unemployment.  The pandemic's solidarity was possibly a relief: the rare solace of the permission to take a pause.  Her new days were partly spent with long walks near Baker Beach, saluted by the loyal, majestic Golden Gate, the cool San Francisco sun embracing her and her high-spirited two-year-old son. ...

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I have noticed several articles describing how antibiotic development has bankrupted some pharmaceutical companies because there isn’t enough potential profit in a ten-day course to treat multi-resistant superbug infections. Chronic disease treatments, on the other hand, appear to be extremely profitable. A single month’s treatment with the newer diabetes drugs, COPD inhalers, or blood thinners costs over $500, which means well over $50,000 over an effective ten year patent for each ...

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As a physician epidemiologist and former public health official, I find myself confused by people's perceptions of risk related to coronavirus, particularly as we struggle to reopen our economy amidst a surge of cases. I'll meet an older adult with diabetes who could care less about distancing or masks, but then a healthy person in their 30's too afraid to walk outside. I'll encounter a mother who is too ...

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When my son was in third grade, his class took a field trip to the Spanish Military Hospital Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. This was a military facility that operated in the late 18th century. It operated at a time when St. Augustine changed hands from Spain to England and then back to Spain. The museum provides tours that recreate the bygone hospital practices. Actors put on a full surgical ...

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No matter what kind of day you are having, when you open up your email and see that subject line, it takes your breath away. While it could be a notice that Jeni’s is out of salted caramel ice cream, you know that’s not likely the topic. So, you take a deep breath, and you open it. Ten days ago, I woke up with a fever, sore throat, and couldn’t smell ...

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"The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." - Neil deGrasse Tyson. Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes that New York has vanquished the virus by good policy. Never mind that New York's mortality numbers total to the worst in the United States. Being smashed very early by the wide and wild spread of COVID-19 since early February, by the time the lockdown occurred well over ...

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I am a 40-year-old Black, female pediatric psychologist, and I contracted COVID-19.  So did my 95-year-old grandmother.  This virus flourishes within the inequities, bred by historical and current racism, of social determinants of health, having a more negative impact on Black and brown individuals.  Nevertheless, we both survived.  Black Girl Magic persists, and with the privilege of education combined with the grit of advocacy, my grandmother and I became statistics ...

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Have you noticed yourself straining to hear people wearing masks? Me too. Every interaction I have these days feels exhausting. I worry about how hard this will be in the busy ER, and especially for my colleagues and friends with trouble hearing. Even without such hearing difficulties, lip reading is a critical part of speech processing ...

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