Category: Opinion & Editorial

     “Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.” Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841 - 1935) Actually, they’re not the only ones.      Ok, this month, for better or worse, I’m taking off the non-latex rubber gloves and putting on the legal, boxing ones. (And, as my ... [continue reading]

     During my professional career I’ve dealt with four, two by direct contact  while the other two were via seminars or they made contributions to this publication. Three had a ‘Patient First’ bias and one was fiscally focused. Three of the four I’ve mentioned in op-eds.      My ... [continue reading]

    “I’ll be shocked and disappointed and on the offensive. Unless something new arises from where we are today, it’ll be behavior (from me) you haven’t witnessed.”- Ohio State Director of Athletics Gene Smith stating what his reaction would be if the NCAA issued harsher penalties than what the ... [continue reading]

    Communication: (n) a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)       It’s sometimes amazing how things happen in multiples.  We’ve all had two or three patients die or ... [continue reading]

     Dale Carnegie warned us that “when dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.”  With each passing year, I become more aware of the truth of that observation.      The continuing efforts of the Kellogg Foundation and other ... [continue reading]

    The Supreme Court will soon decide whether the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,  (cleverly called the “individual mandate” by critics), is constitutional. Under longstanding constitutional precedent, this requirement that everyone maintain a minimum amount of health ... [continue reading]

    On March 26-28, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the legal challenge to the 2010 federal health care reform law.  While the court will consider several issues related to the Affordable Care Act, the main challenge is to the individual mandate, which requires virtually every American to purchase health ... [continue reading]

     It may be true that it is easier to recruit a midlevel provider (MLP) to rural areas than a dentist. Some have even argued that “any treatment is better than no treatment.” According to National Public Radio on November 14, 2011,1 Julie Rovner reported “in medicine midlevel providers are filling in the ... [continue reading]

“I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.” Herb Caen      Yeah, I know, this is February, not New Year’s, but I’m writing this as I wait for the ball to fall in Times Square. Not that I’ll be awake that late, but I can dream, can’t I? Let’s talk about plans and ... [continue reading]

     A patient came in the other day with an emergency. She had fractured a molar crown. I quickly looked it up in her records and confirmed my fears.  Yes, it was one of mine.  I had placed the crown just a bit less than 2 years ago.      Why did it break? Insufficient prep?  Occlusion too ... [continue reading]