Oedipus Redux: The Vexing Problem of Human Disease
One of the most memorable Greek tragedies is Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. In this tragic tale, the Oracle of Delphi tells Oedipus that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus, who is apparently well adjusted and loves his parents, is horrified and understandably freaks out. Desperate to avoid his fate, he leaves Corinth and his presumed parents, and flees…
Rob Schneider: We Must Protect Our Vaccination Informed Consent Rights
The most basic of all human rights is the ability to have control over your own body and be able to exercise informed consent when making medical decisions that can harm you or your child. There is a concerted effort by the pharmaceutical industry, medical trade groups and their lobbyists and our paid elected representatives in state and federal government to persuade…
Whose Truth?
I started off this morning dreading an MRI on my back. A few years ago in a period of excruciating pain I finally went to the back doctor to see what in the world was going on. The x-rays showed a possible stress fracture among other issues with a disc. He sent me to have an MRI to confirm. It was indeed he felt, a stress fracture. In our “Life with Autism & Seizures” I can’t imagine how…
A Rose Is a Rose. But What About a Vaccine?
“A rose is a rose is a rose,” said Gertrude Stein, but is a vaccine always a vaccine? Traditionally, the medical definition of the word vaccine has been, “Injection of a killed microbe in order to stimulate the immune system against the microbe, thereby preventing disease.”
Anecdotes Define the Possible, Statistics Define the Norm
What is is. What happens happens. There is no way to deny truth. An anecdote is a story. A true story. For example, “My child was healthy. We took them to the doctor for shots. On the way from the clinic to the car in the parking lot my child had a seizure. That night they had a high…
So What About the Other Pregnant Honduran Woman Who Didn’t Have Zika?
A 31-year old pregnant woman from Honduras arrives in the United States for a vacation and a month later gives birth by cesarian section to a premature baby diagnosed with severe microcephaly. The birth occurs at the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. The woman tests positive for the Zika virus. Naturally, this quickly becomes a headline news story covered by nearly every major newspaper, magazine, news wire service, and…