Category Archives: Abraham Joseph Layon

Working in the Virus’ Shadow: SARS-CoV-2 26 March, 2020, 0204 Hrs

We all know something is happening. Something that we’ve not seen before. Of course we see it in the news reports, the closings, the empty streets. We are not used to this. We see it in the gallows humor: If … Continue reading

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Working in the Virus’ Shadow: SARS-CoV-2 22 March, 2020, 0138 Hrs

I am an ICU physician. I have cared for HIV Patients at the beginning of what became known as the AIDS Epidemic. I have worked in conflict zones in Central America, as a physician with the (then) Revolutionary Nicaraguan Government … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Have You Ever Witnessed Hospital Administration Turn Away a Patient that Should have Been Seen Right Away?

In the United States, complements of a law passed in 1986 – The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) – a hospital cannot turn away someone who has an emergency. Rather, the institution must treat it – at least … Continue reading

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CDC Abruptly Cancels Long-Planned Conference on Climate Change and Health

Gentle Reader – Just as Trump was to be inaugurated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lost their spine. It is appropriate to re-post this as we have seen in the past several months – in Australia which appears … Continue reading

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Trump’s budget is a Stealth Health-Care Bill. And it Would Make Americans Sick.

Gentle Reader – Doctor Homer wrote this almost three years ago, yet it remains important today. While the Republicans attempt to whitewash Trump’s  crimes, and while we watch this in mixed horror and disbelief, behind the scenes the same people … Continue reading

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Trumpcare vs. Obamacare: Apocalypse Foretold

Gentle Reader – As Trump and the craven Republicans attempt to whitewash the impeachment allegations, clearing a clearly impeached President with no witnesses and no data, I want to remind you of other things going on in the background. This … Continue reading

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Cornel West: America is Spiritually Bankrupt. We Must Fight Back Together

14 January, 2018 Gentle Reader – In the middle of the corrupt Senate Impeachment Hearings – no data, no witnesses – this masterful piece from a year ago is worth reading. AJL =======================  From Cornel West in The Guardian (Opinion): … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Will Trump Turn Out To be the Best Thing That Happened to the Affordable Care Act (ACA)?

[From 2016, slightly modified]: No. We are in for a rather wild ride, and I don’t mean that in the most pleasant or interesting way. The Trump administration – or should I say anti-administration since Trump has appointed government haters … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Does it Really Happen That Doctors Let Their Patients Die Because the Patient’s Family Can Not Provide Money for the Treatment?

[From 2014, Slightly Updated]: While there is much wrong with the American Health System, one of the things that is right is that patients are generally not allowed to die because of inadequate finances; at least not precisely in that … Continue reading

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Quora Query: What do People Think About the Law in Texas and 31 Other US States that Forces a Pregnant, Brain-Dead Woman, with No Hope of Recovery, to Have Her Functions Supported Against the Written Wishes of the Person Whose Body it is?

[From 2014, slightly modified] NOTE: This answer is long [TL:DR warning] This is an important issue, reminding me of the Terry Schiavo case of some years ago in Florida, on which I also opined along with my colleague Roger Blackburn. … Continue reading

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