Yale faculty psychiatrist Bandy X Lee wants medical health professionals to have the final say on who’s fit to serve as president, preferably before candidates can run for office. Had the Constitution’s framers allowed for such a panel, Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy would have been deemed mentally unfit, as would Pete Buttgieg prior to December 1973. Nazi Germany provided a lesson as to what can happen when psychiatrists are allowed inordinate influence on the political process.
Medical
The Angst of New York Times Readers
New York Times readers say the Trump presidency has impaired their health, including a New Jersey woman who blames Trump for her 20-pound weight gain and her inability to focus on anything but voter turnout. A Columbia University sociologist has quantified why Times readers are so distraught, and the Justice Department’s inspector general last week confirmed the Times and other major media published “fake news.” Some tips to avoid the Times’ carefully honed digital ensnarement.
One Medical’s Healthcare Disruption
When it came to my primary healthcare, I had a charmed life during my time in New York and San Francisco. In New York, where I lived for more than 20 years, my primary care doctor was Harry Lodge, a distinguished Columbia medical school professor, a best-selling author, and the…
When Rabbis Know More Than Doctors
It was the call I long feared and dreaded. “Dad has taken a bad turn and the doctors say it’s only a matter of hours,” my eldest sister Janie advised on that early February 2014 morning. “You need to get to Toronto as soon as possible.” Driving home the severity…
The Power (and Boredom) of Iyengar Yoga
My elusive search for a meaningful yoga practice began nearly three decades ago when I was living on New York’s Upper East Side. I was looking to meet spiritually minded people and, in those days, yoga was associated with the crunchy granola set. The practice was still sufficiently foreign that…
In Praise of Great Dentists and Dentistry
Dentistry and medieval torture chambers were once one and the same. When I was a kid, my dentist didn’t freeze before drilling – he’d just say “open wide for me” and started doing his thing. Patience wasn’t his strong suit – he’d get quite annoyed if you raised your…