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Culture & Society, Featured, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Stop Stereotyping, Stop DEI Indoctrination. Bring Back Critical Thinking!

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with James Enstrom, PhD –https://www.americaoutloud.news/stop-stereotyping-stop-dei-indoctrination-bring-back-critical-thinking/

People have wondered whether many of our leaders and thinkers would pass the test for becoming a faculty member at as University of California campus.

What about Frederick Douglass who said: “… And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!”

Or Martin Luther King, Jr.: I“ have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Or Carl Sagan who said: “The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.”

Various surveys have catalogued the lack of free speech on college campuses. There is no longer debate and open discussion. Times have certainly changed. When I was on campus, we could discuss touchy issues without fear of getting a bad grade for our opinions.

Many wonder what happened to critical thinking. How is it that today’s students know nothing about the cause they are protesting against? Students have latched on to a black and white world with no grays. This is what happens when there is no room for discussion. This is what happens when we don’t open our eyes to facts or other opinions and to know the difference between a fact and an opinion. The idea of “My Truth” is bogus. There are facts and actuality and there is how you are affected by the facts or react to them. People with mental issues have their reality. People with mental issues have their reality. Allowing young folks to offer their opinion or feelings as “my truth” takes the meaning out of the word truth. Newspeak at its finest.

Faculty members are now voicing their political leanings, sometimes distorting history. One high school history teacher had a map of the southwestern United States labelling it “stolen land.” All land was stolen at some point. The students in some cases are subjected to a one-sided presentation. How would they know any different unless they had the wherewithal to read on their own. Schools are creating ideologues, not thinkers.

Let’s bring back critical thinking and civil, open debate. Let’s abolish DEI. The focus on racial identity promotes “othering” and animosity toward white people, irrespective of their personal beliefs. Let’s have true diversity – viewpoint diversity. Stop stereotyping people by their skin color. Stop placing DEI indoctrination above strong academics.

My guest today will discuss his experience at one of the biggest offenders of a school sacrificing science for wokeism.

Bio

Dr. James E. Enstrom is a retired Research Professor (Epidemiology) who held faculty positions at the UCLA School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is President of the Scientific Integrity Institute in Los Angeles. He has a BS in physics from Harvey Mudd College, an MS and PhD in physics from Stanford University, and an MPH and postdoctoral certificate in epidemiology from UCLA. He is a Life Member of the American Physical Society, a Founding Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, and a recipient of the American Freedom Alliance Hero of Conscience Award.

Articles of Interest

National Association of Scholars Report “A Crisis of Competence: The Corrupting Effect of Political Activism in the University of California” by John M. Ellis – https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/a_crisis_of_competence_the_corrupting_effect_of_political_activism_in_the_u

John M. Ellis, “The Breakdown of Higher Education: How It Happened, the Damage It Does, and What Can Be Done” – https://www.amazon.com/Breakdown-Higher-Education-Happened-Damage/dp/1641770880

https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-reveals-how-ucla-med-students-are-taught-anti-white-anti-american-hatred

https://freebeacon.com/campus/ucla-med-school-requires-students-to-attend-lecture-where-speaker-demands-prayer-for-mama-earth-leads-chants-of-free-palestine/

https://jewishjournal.com/community/370323/jewish-ucla-faculty-speak-out-against-antisemitism-during-uc-regents-health-committee-meeting/

https://freebeacon.com/campus/pedagogical-malpractice-inside-ucla-medical-schools-mandatory-health-equity-class/

If you have an incident to report, go to https://donoharmmedicine.org. Do No Harm – an organization dedicated to stopping dangerous, divisive identity politics in Medicine.

Culture & Society, Doctors, Featured, Health Policy, Medical Ethics, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: What People Want from Their Patient-Physician Relationship

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Travis Morell, MD – https://www.americaoutloud.news/what-people-want-from-their-patient-physician-relationship/

Works on the scientific and ethical practice of medicine called the Corpus Hippocraticum are attributed to Hippocrates (450 – 375 BC), considered the father of medicine. The quote “do no harm” is not in the Oath of Hippocrates, but rather in another volume, Of the Epidemics. Additionally, the writings were written in Greek and the Latin phrase primum non nocere comes from a 17th Century English physician, Thomas Syndenham. Irrespective of the authorship’s history, for centuries the medical profession adopted the Oath as a guide of professional conduct.

Patients likely don’t know the instructions in the Oath, nonetheless, patients trust doctors with their health. The Oath advises physicians, among other things, to do everything for the benefit of the sick, to keep private whatever physicians see or hear in the lives of their patients, or as some translations say, treated as “holy secrets.” These duties attached whether the patients were “free or slaves.”

Multiple surveys (here, here, here, here) have asked patients what they really want from their patient-physician relationship. Just as with any close relationship, undistracted listening tops the list. Another constant is that patient prefer the total experience with the doctor and his or her office over price. If one wish could be granted for patients it would be for more time with their doctor.

What makes are some of the other factors that make a good experience? In todays’ era of electronic medical records and computer screens, eye contact is more important than ever. If a doctor is open and honest about his knowledge base, gives truly informed consent to proposed treatments with risks and benefits, patients will develop trust. We need to have patients feel comfortable telling us everything that is going on in our lives. And doctors mustn’t be reluctant to form an emotional bond when making a connection with their patients. Patients want to know their doctor is not doing procedures for financial gain. Patients also want access to their physician. This is one of many reasons that direct primary care practices are growing increasingly popular.

Patients, like all of us want to be treated with respect. That means having their time and needs respected. Simple apology from the front desk if the doctor is running late goes a long way to letting patients know you care. Another thing patients need is clear communication, not ‘medicalese.’ Finally, patients want a partnership and giving then the opportunity to express their opinion about the proposed treatment.

My guest today is one of those physicians who is working to keep skill, compassion, and honesty in medicine – despite the roadblocks put up by current political winds and corporate takeovers.

Bio

Travis Morrell, MD, MPH, is a husband, father and physician leader. A lifelong learner to a fault, his medical training in five specialty departments gives him a broad perspective. He is a Board Certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist in private practice in Western Colorado. Dr. Morrell is also Chair of Colorado Principled Physicians, a truly grassroots organization defending non-partisan physician values such as free speech and evidence-based medicine.

Website:

Colorado Principled Physicians – https://www.coloradodocs.org

Culture & Society, Current Events, Featured, Law, Medical Ethics, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: DEI Meets Antisemitism Meets a Lawsuit

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Tammy Weitzman – https://www.americaoutloud.news/dei-and-antisemitism-meet-a-lawsuit-with-tammy-weitzman/

What strange times we live in now. We have gone from the era of Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, brilliantly exploring what it means to be socially or racially invisible to almost every ad on television including a person of color. Segregated army barracks, motels, restaurants, clubs, entertainment venues were socially and politically acceptable even after integration became the law of the land. And as time passed, people realized that they were missing out on a whole side of life by closing the door on meeting new and interesting people. We were organically moving to a blended society where people were looking at one another just as people, judging them by their job or hobbies but not by their race. Now we have segregated college dorms, dining halls, and so-called affinity groups. What happened?

After years and years of progress we have a sick regression into separatism. Instead of “if you are white, you’re all right, if you’re black, stay back,” all white people are inherently evil deep down inside and should flagellate themselves for the sin of being born white; all black people should be forgiven for any anti-social behavior because they can’t help themselves. How racist is that supposedly progressive mindset?

This new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) crusade is yet another elitist movement that does nothing to help the people they movement portends to help. The DEI movement is stripping mainly blacks, but ultimately all people of their dignity. When we lose our individuality, we lose our true selves, our souls. Human nature being what it is, people do not want to be labelled as victims. But propaganda and indoctrination being what it is, anyone can be demoralized into—as the Soviets would say—ideological subversion.

Yes, racism exists. Racists exist. But the DEI cure is worse than the disease. (One of my dream conversations is asking a professed racist in kidney failure on dialysis if he would accept a kidney transplant from a black person.)

Students in as young as kindergarten are being taught to judge others by their race. In reality, most children do not focus on their differences but wonder whether their classmate likes the newest video game. How could someone think that it is acceptable to poison young minds? The same young minds were told in Brown v the Board of Education in 1954 that separate is inherently unequal. Instead of learning the necessary skills to race to the top of the ladder of success, children have the tools to win the victim triathlon. The prize: dependency on government resources. What a waste of government money. This money would be better spent on junior science fair projects or field trips to the museum of science and technology.

Schools at all levels now have institutionally supported affinity groups that are the Newspeak word for segregated groups. The DEI adherents are echoing the rhetoric of the opponents to integrated schools: people of different races learn better in separate environments where they can be their true selves. Some schools have separate times for black and LGBT students to use the swimming pool. How is this diversity and inclusion? It seems like grouping together children with the same interests, like math, science, sewing, music, or sports would be a more enriching program.

It doesn’t stop with the unsuspecting children. Corporations have devoted time and money into DEI trainings. Let’s have a re-education session and tell people they are a racist and tell them how to be an anti-racist. How? Don’t be a racist.

And of course, I wonder about the effect of DEI on medicine. There is no question that there are racial disparities in many aspects of life in the United States, including medical care. It seems that instead of doing the hard work of getting down to the root of the problems, academia has taken the easy way out by declaring that racism is the cause of health care disparities. The solutions start with racism and end with indoctrination into reverse racism.

The DEI focus on the oppressed and oppressors has fostered antisemitism as well. After all, despite the history of Jewish slavery, oppression, and genocide, they are deemed part of the oppressor class. This is a logical outgrowth of the DEI mindset that focuses on differences rather than our shared humanity.

The deafening drumbeat of race, racism, and more race is leaving its mark. The workplace has turned into a minefield. Some wokenistas cannot see that denigrating others does nothing to advance the group they purport to uplift. When reason fails, we have to turn to the law. Sometimes lawsuits are the only way we can get people to wake up.

My guest is a social worker who despite the presumed empathy and compassion of her colleagues was caught in a workplace web of wokeness gone amok and antisemitism.

Bios

Tammy Weitzman is a child of an Israeli mother and Canadian father. After her father’s death from cancer, the family lived in Israel for 3 years before returning to Toronto, Canada. She completed graduate work in social work at Yeshiva University in New York City. She spent 23 years in oncology mental health at large academic hospitals and has presented her work with oncology patients nationally and internationally.

Peter Barwick is the general counsel for the Coalition for Liberty, https://www.coalitionforliberty.com. Coalition For Liberty is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose central mission is to promote the right of all Americans to exercise their freedom of speech, expression and thought; and support the establishment of new classical model apolitical schools, while also supporting efforts to have existing schools move back to this tried-and-true model, which has been proven to obtain superior results for children.

Culture & Society, Featured, Health Policy, Medical Ethics, Medicine, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: One Surgeon’s Fight Against Race-Baiting Radicalism

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast – https://www.americaoutloud.news/one-surgeons-fight-against-race-baiting-radicalism-2/

Medicine as profession has advanced to include all races and males and females. My father went to an all-black college and medical school. I went to a “white” college and medical school. When I was in medical school, the OB-Gyn department accepted its first female resident. Now over half of OB-Gyns are female. Times change – thank goodness.

Medicine as a science has advanced over the years to treat and cure more and more complex conditions. Unfortunately, there are certain groups of patients who don’t have access to good medical care. Sometimes this is because of lack of insurance or they have Medicaid that many doctors do not accept. Some have no transportation or babysitting or a myriad of other socio-economic issues standing in their way. We must do our best to sit down as a health care team and work on getting proper medical care to all Americans.

It seems that instead of doing the hard work of getting down to the root of the problems, academia has taken the easy way out by deciding that the cause of health care disparities is racism. Now all solutions start with racism and end with indoctrination into reverse racism. The academicians and mainstream medical associations write articles that erroneously conclude that minority patients are better off by having a doctor with the same skin color. Of course, this only works for patients of color. A white patient would be a racist if he asked for a white doctor. This obsession with race is clouding deeper societal issues. It is also violating Hippocrates’ oath to treat all patients with the same respect and skill.

My guest today has taken his fight against indoctrination to the streets, so to speak. First direct to the top of the American College of Surgeons and then in the National Review.  https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/10/the-american-college-of-surgeons-doubles-down-on-anti-racism/

Link to Dr. Bosshardt’s petition for reinstatement: https://www.change.org/ACS-petition-reinstate-Bosshardt

Do No Harm website – https://donoharmmedicine.org

Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism in Medicine website – https://fairforall.org/fair-in-medicine/

Bio

Dr. Rick Bosshardt is a board-certified plastic surgeon in private practice in Lake County, Florida for over 33 years. He graduated from University of Miami Medical School and completed his general surgery training in the U.S. Naval Hospital, Oakland, California. After serving as a surgeon at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Dr. Bosshardt returned to Miami in 1987 to train in plastic surgery. He wrote a weekly medical column, entitled House Calls, for the Orlando Sentinel for over 25 years and was a contributing writer to Lake Healthy Living Magazine for over 10 years. He is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons.

Culture & Society, Doctors, Featured, Medical Ethics, Politics, What's New

Reflections on Medical Education

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I was a surgery intern almost 50 years ago, before black women were surgery interns. I was proud of that achievement—particularly when recalling what one surgeon told me when I applied: “we don’t like women in surgery but we like you.” Why? Because I worked hard, excelled on my surgery rotations, and didn’t whine about the long hours. 

I was in medical school before diversity was an identity-based political buzzword. It was a time when diversity meant different kinds of people mingling together at school, work, or otherwise. We had the common goal of learning as much as we could absorb and achieving good grades.

Fast forward to the 1980s and beyond, where achieving diversity in school or the workplace took precedence over excellence. Now diversity means condemning different kinds of people to a life in their own racial silo. People are no longer individuals. Sadly, little kids are no longer just kids. Now they are a black kid, or a “Latinex” kid, or a white supremacist kid who, unbeknownst to him/her hates brown-skinned kids.

We cannot let this kind of thinking seep into the medical profession. We are human beings who are physicians, who want to contribute to society, and who want the best for our patients.

We have to be at the forefront of an alternate way to see that minorities are represented in our profession—not by parroting empty rhetoric, but through action. We need to go to schools and tell some fascinating stories that illustrate that there is more to black history than slavery and white oppression. And yes, white people are allowed to tell these stories. 

Let’s start with an inspiring piece of medical history. As a child I learned about Dr. James Derham (c. 1757-1802?), born a slave in Philadelphia. He was the first known black American physician, although he did not attend medical school. As was common at the time, physicians were trained in apprenticeships. Young Derham’s masters were physicians who taught him to read and write and ultimately, he became a paid medical assistant. He earned his freedom and in 1783 opened a private practice in New Orleans. He spoke three languages and had patients of all colors.

We should teach young racial minorities that they are strong survivors who can overcome anything. Do not buy into the dreadful notion that brown-skinned folks are inferior victims whose lives are controlled by their white overlords. Tell them not to engage in the race to be the biggest victim, but rather the biggest winner. We recognize and lament past injustices. However, we must tell students to live in the moment and pave their own future. 

Brown-skinned students should not be told that getting “Cs” is just fine. This “soft bigotry of low expectations” has far-reaching consequences. Young college and graduate students have told me how lucky I was that I was in school before affirmative action took root. They felt like no one would know if they were actually competent or an “affirmative action baby.” Imagine having that burden to live with. In medicine, many minorities wonder whether their colleagues and patients might think they are not as smart as the white doctor next door.

I grew up knowing I was as good as anyone else. And that’s what drove me to excellence. That is what I want for our future physicians.

And P.S. When I was in medical school, I attended the birth of a set of twins. Their father was a black American, their mother was a recent immigrant from Korea. The daughter was the spitting image of her mother; the son was the spitting image of his father. The nurse asked the pediatrician what race she should write for the birth certificate. The pediatrician answered, “human.” 

COVID-19, Culture & Society, Current Events, Featured, Op-eds, Politics, What's New

COVID-19: Speaking Up in Black and White

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These days more and more apparently intelligent people seem to upspeak. That’s the irritating “Valley Girl” inflection where every sentence sounds like a question. Don’t these people trust their own thoughts and words? 

Perhaps upspeakers’ brains are fried after being fed a steady diet of DEI, ESG, and BIPOC. For the uninitiated, these initials stand for “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”, a corporate stock/investment rating based on Environmental awareness, Social justice and (right-minded) Governance to enhance the lives of “Black, Indigenous, People of Color.” “Privilege” gets the full word. White people must “check their privilege at the door” and shut up under the current era of Stalinesque cancel culture.

Black American slaves used to have some version of Simon Legree as their master. Now the woke white liberals have assumed that role. Even President Biden views BIPOCs as helpless morons whom only the government can rescue.

Of course, little BIPOCs are the perfect unsuspecting targets. Despite parental objections, new school curricula include Marxist inspired critical race theory that teaches children to hate others based on skin color. Instead of learning the 3 Rs, kindergarteners are encouraged to explore their gender identity and question the family structure. The latest data show that only 35 percent of 4th graders are proficient in reading and 41 percent are proficient in math. Instead of learning the necessary skills to race to the top of the ladder of success, they have the tools to win the victim triathlon. The prize: dependency on government resources.

COVID-19 added a new ingredient to the melting pot. Brown-skinned Americans fare more poorly with COVID than whites. Some reasons are sociological, such as crowded living conditions, working in service jobs that cannot be done from home, and inconsistent access to health care. Some reasons may be physiological. Studies have shown racial differences in the body’s ACE-2 receptors. These receptors help control inflammation, especially in cells lining the blood vessels. These are the sites where the “spike” protein of the SARS-Co-V-2 virus (that causes COVID-19) enter and infect healthy cells throughout the body. Notably, there may be more ACE-2 receptors in patients with hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease—conditions plaguing black Americans. Moreover, people with brown skin have lower levels of Vitamin D, a factor in the risk of contracting a SARS-Co-V-2 infection and the severity of COVID-19. 

Knowing the higher risk, the DEI folks should have launched an education campaign informing BIPOCs about non-prescription supplements like quercetin, zinc, and vitamin D, as well as prophylaxis or early treatment with inexpensive medications (hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and fluvoxamine, among others) that can significantly reduce symptoms and prevent hospitalizations and deaths.

Instead, the public health gurus waited for vaccines. The guise of “vaccine equity” drew attention away from legitimate concerns about the shots. Despite the increased susceptibility to COVID-19, black Americans remain skeptical of the shot. Folks still remembered the instances where the underserved were “helped” by the government. The 1932 Tuskegee syphilis study denied a group of black men treatment for 40 years. Without informed consent, an experimental measles vaccine was administered to babies starting in 1987. After too many African and Haitian children deaths to ignore, the program was halted.

Able to read, BIPOCs learned about the serious side effects that include sometimes fatal blood clots, facial paralysis, possible menstrual problems, heart inflammation, among others. They wondered why the less effective Johnson & Johnson vaccine was sent to underserved neighborhoods. They wondered why the government had to offer $116 million in prizes, trucks, and customized firearms to encourage people to get the shot. They wondered why the government was going door to door to find BIPOCs to whom to give shots. 

In order to swoop in to the rescue, the government-pharmaceutical complex could not allow the 34 million Americans who have had documented COVID-19 or a SARS-CoV-2 infection to depend on their natural immunity. Like a virus escaping from a lab or jumping from a pangolin to infect humans, the government control expanded from BIPOCs to privileged white folks.

What are we to do about the tension between addressing real health disparities and recognizing that racial disparities are used as a cover for manipulating society? Together we rip off the mask of benevolence. As ethical physicians, we pledge to treat all individuals with dignity and respect. We will explain the risks and benefits of their options and let patients decide. As active citizens, we demand prophylaxis, treatments of our choice, and the freedom to choose to receive or decline the shot. We take advantage of the law. A number of courts have been on the patient’s side.

Save yourself. Be bold. Speak up. 

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