Dr. Maller’s Blog

Choosing pediatrics raised many an eyebrow among colleagues and friends, and still does on occasion. Most have trouble imagining how I stand the screaming kids all day (”What screaming?” I reply). Others can’t imagine putting up with all those (fill in your own adjective) mothers.

Truthfully, I’ve never regretted my choice. Kids do grow up; by 3 most are great patients, and many have stayed with me and are bringing me their children. Mothers continually inspire me, and this entry is about one of those mothers who taught me that a wounded baby can turn a mother into a [...] Continue Reading…

What can I say about obesity that hasn’t already been said? I’ll try to pull together what makes sense. Can anyone doubt that obesity is rampant? At a time when we call every 3-and-2 pitch with the bases loaded or 4th-and-1 “critical” it is important to recognize that this is a real crisis with the potential to reverse generations of progress in public health and bankrupt our already-overstressed health care system.

Simple rules of physics explain much of the problem. If energy expended is less than that taken in, we gain weight. Growing children of course need to gain [...] Continue Reading…

Let’s assume I’ve had my conference with young Johnny’s parents and we’ve agreed on a trial of treatment with medication. Now come the adverbs: why, when, how.

Why treat? Because children must go to school, and their success is important to them, their families, teachers, and society as a whole. A child who is distracted, inattentive and disruptive makes learning difficult for himself and classmates. Such a child may get by in the early years of school but decompensate in later grades as expectations heighten. Treatment may be instituted in kindergarten or any time thereafter. Questionnaires are helpful and [...] Continue Reading…

The legendary Art Linkletter pointed out in mid-20th century what pearls come out of kids’ mouths, and after over 40 years in pediatrics I can add my modest experience to his. And the legend lives, by the way; I recently attended his 70th anniversary party and he’s still the funniest person in the room.

I’ll start close to home. When my older boys were 4 1/2 and 3, the older asked one of those questions: “what’s in here?” pointing to his scrotum. As an educated parent I had been preparing for this moment and gave a Solomonic answer, truthful yet [...] Continue Reading…

‘Tis the season for visiting and celebrating, but not all the visits will be welcome. Influenza is in season so it’s a good time to share what we know about this ancient scourge.
 
“Flu” is one of the most overused words in our language, invoked to describe every ailment we suffer, many not even respiratory. Personally I prefer the French name (la grippe) or Spanish (la grippa) because they are so descriptive, whereas “influenza” harks back to medieval notions of miasmas and evil spirits.
Comparing classic influenza to everyday colds and upsets is like comparing a crocodile to a gecko.
In my [...] Continue Reading…

I usually have several books going, some new, some old; some funny, some illuminating, some infuriating; once in a while a book can be all three, e.g. “What’s the Matter With California?”
My current old book is “Black Death” about the plague of the mid-14th century that killed at least a third of all Europeans and millions of Asians. Life then was, as Thomas Hobbes described it hundreds of years later, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Superstition abounded; witches, Jews, clergy, the rich were all blamed even though the plague ravaged them all. There were surprisingly many “doctors” with precious little to offer. [...] Continue Reading…

When I entered practice in the 60’s the flood of new antibiotics and vaccines seemed destined to change pediatrics and we looked for new worlds to conquer. Behavioral issues took on a greater significance, none more than what became known as ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder (plus or minus an H for Hyperactivity). I’ve been immersed in this field for 45 years, dealing with it not only as a pediatrician but as a school doctor and father. If that qualifies me as an expert, I’ll let you decide.
[...] Continue Reading…

By now you may have heard that there will be a shortage of an important vaccine for many months.

Nothing bad has happened. Merck, one of the few remaining manufacturers of vaccines, has for the second time in a year found potential contamination in one of its facilities. There has been no tainted vaccine produced. However, it takes months to assure proper sterile conditions. [...] Continue Reading…

If you’ve read of Cathy and Princess, you might suppose all my memorable professional experiences ended sadly. Hardly!
Today is the birthday of one of my all-time favorite patients who has remained in my life for all but the first of her 42 years.
When I began practice in Van Nuys, I caught a big break. My kids’ pediatrician was a cardiologist who wanted to concentrate solely on his specialty at Childrens Hospital, while I had spent 9 months in Beverly Hills waiting for someone to retire. (In the sick humor of the medical world this is known as “waiting for [...] Continue Reading…

Actually the “E.R.” (Emergency Room) has been supplanted by the “E.D.” (Emergency Department), signifying more than one room, but never enough to hold the swarms of patients therein. I’m told that one fellow, on seeing the crowded waiting room at his local E.D., went home, put on his old Army fatigues, downloaded a badge from the internet, and returned, whereupon 80% of the people left. The badge said “U.S. Border Patrol”. (Warning: this site is not politically correct. If that’s a problem I refer you to the Times {NY or LA - same thing} or CNN).
But seriously, [...] Continue Reading…