2022 was an inflection point for obesity treatment. Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and Amgen’s novel obesity medications demonstrated impressive results in clinical trials. These medications not only reduced weight but improved overall cardiometabolic health. So, is the end of the obesity epidemic near? Not quite. But we’ll soon have a remarkable pipeline of obesity medications…

OpenAI’s natural language processing platform ChatGPT launched a couple of weeks ago and has since gained tremendous traction, surpassing one million users within weeks. For some perspective, it took Netflix three and a half years to reach one million users! ChatGPT is a robust platform that has tremendous implications, especially in healthcare. I believe it…

Emergency departments across the country are at a breaking point. They’ve become dangerously overcrowded due to a well-studied phenomenon called boarding. Boarding occurs when patients are admitted to an inpatient unit but are kept waiting in the ED until an inpatient bed becomes available. I discussed the boarding problem a couple of weeks ago, shedding light…

The general rule of thumb is not to talk politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table. But what about healthcare? Rule #1: There must be more than one person participating in the discussion. Healthcare is inherently political. So, any discussion about a healthcare topic can get quite heated. I remember last Thanksgiving. I had one heated…

The expectation that you’ll wait hours in a crowded emergency department (ED) is an unfortunate but widely accepted norm. Who’s to blame for such overcrowding and long waits in the ED? Surprisingly… not the ED. In this article, I’ll discuss what causes ED overcrowding and long waits, how these affect different stakeholders, and some solutions…

Whole-body imaging scans as a “cancer screening tool” are low-yield in healthy patients with insignificant medical history. If you’re a physician reading this, this isn’t news to you. But if you’re not a physician, don’t be fooled: the benefits of these whole-body scans don’t outweigh the risks, which include unnecessary physical, emotional, and financial harm.…