Dr. Maller’s Blog

You probably missed it but our president gave a pep talk last week to the recalcitrant public on why his health care takeover must happen ASAP. Viewership was notably poor despite the usual tailwind provided by his friends in the government-controlled media.

An example he chose to underscore what he sees as the problem with our current system was a slap in the face to every practicing physician. To paraphrase it, if your child is brought to his pediatrician with a succession or sore throats, the doctor might decide to take out the child’s tonsils because he’d make more [...] Continue Reading…

“What is the use of discussing a man’s abstract right to food or to medicine? The question is on the method of procuring and administering them. In that deliberation I shall always advise to call in the mind of the farmer and the physician, rather than the professor of metaphysics.”

So said Edmund Burke in 1790. It is not a new debate. As the most influential philosopher of our American Revolution, his counsel should be heeded.

Our Declaration of Independence assures each of us the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It may seem indisputable that [...] Continue Reading…

When I started blogging a year and a half ago I promised myself I’d steer clear of politics. But politics is coming after me, and you, and everyone who dispenses or consumes that 15% of our economy known as health care. I have enough faith in the common sense of Americans to trust that we can fix what’s dislocated without breaking every bone in our structure as a society.
But the heat is on again from Washington, and the lies and distortions are drowning out more temperate and rational debate. In no particular order, here are ten of the most [...] Continue Reading…

I had a surprise visitor today at my office, one who took me back 35 years. Surprise, because her sister’s children were the patients, because she lives 1500 miles away, and because she lives at all.

It was the first of February 1974. I was at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles making my teaching rounds when I got an emergency call from the hospital next to my office, 15 miles away. A newborn was delivered who was blue and desperately ill. Nowadays a team of neonatal specialists would have been on the spot. In fact the diagnosis likely would have [...] Continue Reading…

The topic du jour this week has been the emergence of a new influenza strain in Mexico. Initially it was reported to be “part pig, part bird, part human” and as it seemed to coincide with the visit of our Boy President and his 500-person entourage to Mexico City, my paranoia meter went bonkers. Such a chimera virus sounded like the product of an evil lab somewhere, perhaps a trial terrorist run.

Now the hysteria has abated and we have a more rational basis for assessing the threat. This is a new H1N1 strain, an Influenza A virus primarily associated [...] Continue Reading…

An old favorite smidgen of poetry went lost during one of my office moves, but most parents know it:
Children’s faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup…”
Last week I had a cute little patient show up in an Alice Blue gown. I asked what the occasion was and her Mom said she always dresses like that (she’s 3 and a half). I grabbed my Polaroid (yes they still make them) and took two quick shots, one for her and one for me. The wonder in her eyes was priceless as she saw her [...] Continue Reading…

Chatting with a young pediatrician recently I remarked on seeing about 350 cases of spinal meningitis in my one year as an infectious disease fellow at LA County/USC. She was amazed; she had never seen ONE!

Such is the march of progress over one’s career in medicine. Most cases of bacterial meningitis are caused by Hemophilus influenzae Type b, commonly called “H flu” or “Hib.” One of my attending physicians at Columbia-Presbyterian in New York during my residency was Dr. Hattie Alexander, who pretty much owned “H flu”, having done much of the early work on it. Since its name [...] Continue Reading…

Tomorrow is the 200th birthday of two of the most famous men who ever lived – Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. And no one can be that famous for so long without being controversial.

President Lincoln is revered for saving the Union, at least outside Dixie. But he suspended habeas corpus, swept away states’ rights, and went through a bunch of mediocre generals before finding a winner. Slavery, that abomination which still goes on today in many parts of the world, would eventually have disappeared as it had in England, but eradicating it was a noble cause.

I believe Darwin is [...] Continue Reading…

A favorite motto of mine is “Illegitimi Non Carborundum”. It appears on my cell phone when I activate it. It also adorns an archway at New York University, probably put there in the 19th century. I was an ace in Latin in high school, and that translates to “Don’t Let the Bastards Wear You Down” despite some folks denying it really means that.

The climate in the country is decidedly worrisome in general, and downright apocalyptic in the world of medicine. Congress is passing a near-trillion-dollar “stimulus” bill that will put our nation further in debt as far as the [...] Continue Reading…

So your baby’s a year old or so and doesn’t need formula any more. What are your options?

First of all, let’s talk delivery systems. Since my patients often breast-feed for a long time, they may be unfamiliar with the bottle or even with formula. Taking Baby off the bottle may be a challenge, but the sooner you do it the better, for several reasons. Using a bottle after a 12-15 months is unnecessary, and may cause major problems such as tooth decay and ear infections. “Nursing bottle mouth” is more than a cosmetic issue; it can ruin the [...] Continue Reading…