As we continue the gun debate, I want to make one clarification in terminology. It’s one of those things that can quickly derail a debate because of semantics: a lot of people confuse the term “semiautomatic” with “automatic.” A SEMIAUTOMATIC firearm is one that, when you pull the trigger, uses the recoil from the bullet …
Category: Politics
Question 1 is a good idea done badly, and that’s why I’m voting NO
Early voting has already begun in Massachusetts, and one of the questions Massachusetts voters will face on the ballot is Question 1, which creates mandatory statewide maximum nurse-to-patient ratios for hospitals and other health care facilities. There is only one other state that has a similar law, and that is California. It's a confusing proposal …
Continue reading Question 1 is a good idea done badly, and that’s why I’m voting NO
Nobody wins when a family fights itself
A house divided against itself cannot stand. - Abraham Lincoln A curious phenomenon has emerged in the immediate aftermath of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, which is that both sides of the political spectrum have finally agreed on something: They've agreed that the process was absolutely bruising and may have left lasting wounds that will take a …
Inhumane, un-American, and unacceptable
Let me summarize the arguments we've heard defending the Trump administration practice of separating children from their families at the border: We’re not taking children away from their parents and putting them in cages. But if we are then it’s Obama’s fault. And if it’s a new policy it’s because the Democrats aren’t letting Republicans …
How Medicaid made the American dream possible for me
Last year, during the height of the debate over the Affordable Care Act and the future of Medicaid, I published an op-ed in STAT News, telling my story and the story of one of my patients. You can read it here: https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/08/medicaid-health-care-public-assistance/
Strangers on the Street Corner
On my way into work one evening, I was waiting to cross the street over towards my hospital and I was standing next to a tan-skinned middle-aged stranger with a beard. He looked to me and apparently noticed I was also a tan-skinned bearded man. "As-salaam alaikum," he said to me with some hesitation in …
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