Jacob M. Appel, M.D., J.D., M.P.H. Hedda Martin, a sixty-year-old Michigan woman, has attracted national attention after posting online that her healthcare provider urged her to raise $10,000 on GoFundMe, a popular online fundraising platform, in order to be eligible for a life-saving heart transplant. Martin, a former dog walker and pet sitter, suffered doxorubicin-induced […]
Teresa Kay Jones, A.P.R.N., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Introduction There is a shortage of providers for psychiatric services in America (1). Nurse practitioners (NPs) can deliver mental health services to help overcome the inadequate number of psychiatrists (1); yet, there are too few educators to train nurses at filling this gap (2). Most psychiatrists trust that […]
Tejaswini Doifode, M.D., Raja Mogallapu, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Introduction Do you have patients addicted to shopping? Is it an addiction? Compulsive buying exists in nearly 6% of our population, predominantly among women (~80%) (1). Oniomania is the term that clinically describes compulsive shopping; it originates from Greek and comes from ṓnios- for “sale”, and […]
Tallat Sultana, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Lofexidine Lofexidine is a newly released drug indicated for attenuating opioid withdrawal in the United States (1). A clonidine analogue and alpha 2-agonist, it has been prescribed in United Kingdom for this indication for decades (2). It reduces the signs and symptoms of withdrawal in animals and humans. With […]
Jacob M. Appel, M.D., J.D. Since Thomas Starzl performed the first successful hepatic transplant in 1967, these transplants have become the intervention of last resort for a wide range of patients whose liver failure would previously have led to certain deaths. Since 1988, when the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) began reporting data, more […]
Mitesh Patel, M.D., Henry Duong, M.D., Kavitha Srinivasan, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Introduction Suicide is a frequent cause of death, especially among males and military veterans. Kentucky has a higher suicide rate, at 14 per 100,000 persons, than the USA average of 12/100,000 people. Currently, military veterans have a much higher rate of killing themselves […]
Amy Bischoff, B.S., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Introduction Suicide by young people is a serious, widespread problem. It is the second ranked cause of death among people ages 15-24 and the third one between ages 10-24 years (1). Suicide is of greater concern in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB), or sexual minority youth (2). A 2015 […]
Diksha Mohanty, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Smoking tobacco is bad for health and causes millions of people to die prematurely. Conventional cigarettes reportedly cause more deaths than car accidents, murder, and drugs. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are one alternative product that can heat a nicotine-containing solution and might be less dangerous than smoking; however, that contention […]
Diksha Mohanty, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Physician burnout is an emerging problem. Burnout is described as work-related discontent of doctors, with emotional fatigue, skepticism, and hopelessness; it may be a product of prolonged professional stress. Recent research documented significant symptoms in half of all physicians surveyed. Lack of action in response to this problem may […]
Jacob M. Appel, M.D., J.D. Nearly a year has elapsed since the University of Toronto established the world’s first anti-psychiatry scholarship in November 2016, and now that the dust has settled, the moment seems opportune to consider the merit of the fellowship and the state of antipsychiatry more generally. The fellowship itself, a grant of […]
