What Boston hospitals learned from Israel

Published on April 22, 2013

Minutes after a terrorist attack killed three at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, doctors and nurses at the city’s hospitals faced a harrowing scene — severed limbs, burned bodies, shrapnel buried in skin.

Azithromycin Might Kill You, but That’s Not Why You Shouldn’t Take It

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on March 15, 2013

German prosecutors say doctors did not hasten Demjanjuk’s death

Published on November 27, 2012

Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk's death was not hastened by medication administered at a nursing home in Bavaria, prosecutors said.

Ninth hantavirus case linked to Yosemite

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on September 14, 2012

Lying for the cause

By Dennis Prager
Published on August 22, 2012

There are many admirable values. The list includes, of course, goodness, integrity and compassion.

U.S. military doctors in Germany will continue circumcision

Published on July 24, 2012

U.S. military doctors stationed in Germany will continue to perform circumcisions despite a ruling that has roiled the country’s medical and political establishments.

HEALTH CARE DECISION — Jews React: Beverly Hills cardiologist and internist

By Ryan Torok
Published on June 28, 2012

Beverly Hills cardiologist and internist Dr. Reed Wilson — a former member of the Republican Jewish Coalition who helped found its Los Angeles chapter — called the mandate "an amazing breach of the American trust." Moreover, he said, the law's finer print contains "rules and regulations" pertaining to doctor reimbursement rates that will threaten physicians' private practices and health care quality.

Doctor fighting leukemia seeks matching donor

Published on June 13, 2012

A veteran physician diagnosed with leukemia is hoping to find a compatible bone marrow match within the Jewish community to help him beat back the life-threatening disease. Be The Match, the National Marrow Donor Registry, is holding a donor screening on Thursday at USC’s Rand Schrader Health and Research Center.

Heart of Syria

By Rob Eshman
Published on June 6, 2012

In the constant argument that is Middle East politics it is very rare to achieve anything like universal agreement, but no one can begrudge what Hazem Chehabi did. He quit. Since Chehabi resigned last week as honorary consul general of Syria in Southern California, he has received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls. All positive. For 18 years, Chehabi, an oncological radiologist in Newport Beach, has volunteered to act as Syria’s consul general here. His office handled travel documents and birth, marriage and death certificates for the thousands of expatriate Syrians living in the Western states.

Without a Randomized Study Your Results May Vary

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on May 4, 2012

Israeli military doctor saves Palestinian baby brought to base

Published on April 23, 2012

An Israeli military doctor saved a 12-day-old Palestinian baby girl who had stopped breathing.

Measles Cases in 2011 Highest in Fifteen Years

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on April 20, 2012

Hernias difficult to diagnose in women

Published on February 1, 2012

Martine Ehrenclou, 51, first noticed her lower abdomen pain in January 2010. She experienced severe discomfort if she sat at her desk for even 15 minutes, when she drove her car or any time that she pitched forward. Ehrenclou, who lives in Brentwood, describes the pain as “brutal.”

Boston doctor finds treating transgender youth a transforming experience

Published on January 19, 2012

In a family of prominent Jewish educators, Norman Spack could be called the rebel. He became a doctor. “I'm the only one who didn't go into Jewish education,” quips Spack, a senior associate in the endocrine division at Boston's Children's Hospital, where he has worked for 39 years.

Doctors ordered to pull out of gender-separated conference

Published on January 10, 2012

The Israel Medical Association has barred its member physicians from participating in an infertility conference geared for haredi Orthodox men and women that did not invite female speakers.

Don’t Put Unsterilized Tap Water Up Your Nose

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on December 23, 2011

Chivalry is Dead!

By Julia Bendis
Published on June 16, 2011

Soviet Dentists and My Anxiety…

By Julia Bendis
Published on June 13, 2011

Obvious vs. the-Not-So-Obvious!

By Julia Bendis
Published on May 31, 2011

Breast is Best - Give me a Break!

By Julia Bendis
Published on May 12, 2011

Israel’s first female Arab surgeon’s burden and joy

Published on April 20, 2011

For 29-year-old Dr. Rania El Hativ, the distinction of being Israel’s first female Arab plastic surgeon has its downsides. “I feel a lot of responsibility. Many people have expectations of you — other doctors, patients and people in my community.”

Words of Wisdom or something like it.

By Julia Bendis
Published on March 21, 2011

To Be or Not to Be, Rich…

By Julia Bendis
Published on March 3, 2011

Evidence Mounts in favor of Weight Loss Surgery

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on February 25, 2011

Joys of growing up in Communist Soviet Union, and other tales of my Family.

By Julia Bendis
Published on February 16, 2011

Super Bowl XLV

By Julia Bendis
Published on February 8, 2011

Benzonatate: A cough suppressant so dangerous, you’d rather just cough

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on February 4, 2011

Very random thoughts…

By Julia Bendis
Published on January 21, 2011

Great Doctor must not exist!

By Julia Bendis
Published on January 4, 2011

Buy your cute and cuddly diseases now, before they sell out!

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 26, 2010

Doctor Calms Radiation Fears With Nature Photos

By Rachel Heller
Published on March 11, 2009

The walls of Dr. Bernard Lewinsky’s office resemble the pages of a National Geographic calendar: sweeping lake vistas and verdant forests brush up against sculptured rock formations and sun-mottled Yosemite hills. Looking at his photographs, patients remember vacations, times when they felt relaxed and at peace. It takes their minds off their cancer.

Checklist: What to do when someone dies

Published on August 7, 2008

Job one: Contact the hospital or mortuary so that you can fill out any paperwork, i.e., death certificate, as soon after the death as possible

A physician examines his profession’s blind spots

By Zackary Sholem Berger
Published on May 17, 2007

Interview with Jerome Groopman, a physician and clinical scientist at Harvard University, a specialist in AIDS and cancer. He's also a writer for The New Yorker, with a successful and thought-provoking series of books on such topics as the intersection of spirituality and medicine and the importance of a physician's intuition.

The righteous doctor of Ethiopia—healing suffering in the world heads this Orthodox physician’s

By Roberto Loiederman
Published on March 22, 2007

When Dr. Rick Hodes prepares a to-do list, it doesn't look like anybody else's.

Don’t hold your breath on plans for baby

By Julie M. Brown
Published on January 18, 2007

As the doctor predicted, the breath-holding eventually subsided. By the time my second son came along, my child-rearing methods had evolved considerably.

AJ Congress wowed; Shaare Zedek gets record donation; Koufax in the house

By Norma Zager
Published on January 11, 2007

Circuit News.

First Person - Snips and Snapshots

By Lori Gottlieb
Published on May 11, 2006

Life More Ordinary

By Rabbi Lisa Edwards
Published on April 27, 2006

In this week's double Torah portion, Tazria-Metzorah (Leviticus 13, in particular), God instructs Moses and Aaron on the role of priests when people take ill.

After the Miscarriage

By Andrea Lesch Weiss
Published on November 3, 2005

The pain and anguish of infertility has been passed down from matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel to women today. But while our traditions have given us words to say and ways to act during other lifecycle events -- death, birth, marriage -- there is little guidance for how to help a friend or loved one deal with the loss of a pregnancy or the pain and despair of infertility.

Prop. 73: The Devil’s in the Details

By Angela J. Davis
Published on October 27, 2005

Much of the literature against Proposition 73 correctly emphasizes that many teenage girls will seek underground abortions, rather than have their parents (or guardians, foster parents or other legal designees) learn that they are pregnant.

Breast Cancer Tips Doctors Don’t Share

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on October 14, 2004

Set, Spike, Kiss

By Carin Davis
Published on October 14, 2004

I'll never play the violin in high heels again. OK, I'll be back in sticks in six weeks, and I never played the fiddle. But I did play an important game of volleyball.

The Doctor Is In

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on January 1, 2004

Listening to Howard Dean reminds me of going to a doctor who starts out the visit by saying, "Bill, you really look sick."

Maybe I do, but I don't want to hear it expressed quite so bluntly. Just like I didn't want to hear Dr. Dean saying in Los Angeles Dec. 15, "The capture of Saddam has not made America safer."

Dean's pessimism was hard to take, especially right after the bearded villain was hauled out of the ground by American troops.

The Circuit

By Michael Aushenker
Published on June 26, 2003

The Circuit

Jewish Prescription For Health Care Ills

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on January 16, 2003

Is our national health care system beyond cure? Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Dr. Alexandra M. Levine, medical director of the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital, believe that the Jewish community can take a role in advancing remedies for our nation's health care ills.

Community Briefs

Published on November 14, 2002

Community Briefs

Pet Project

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 14, 2002

Dr. Yonatan "Yoni" Peres acknowledges that being the son of former Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres can be a mixed blessing.

"The name helps open some doors," he said, "but sometimes it closes them."

Meeting Dr. Soulmate

By Teresa Strasser
Published on August 1, 2002

It's hard to imagine that I could have been less delectable.

Red Like Me

By Teresa Strasser
Published on December 27, 2001

As I write this, I look like James Coburn eating a lemon in a windstorm. Drunk. Not only does my face look red and crackly, it must be covered at all times with a Vaseline-like lotion, thick and greasy, giving me the appearance of someone who has just eaten a pork chop with no hands. And I lack Mr. Coburn's panache.

Battlefield Child Abuse

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 10, 2001

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has condemned governments, clergy and parents who encourage children to participate in violent protests and pitched battles in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Beyond the Wall

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on April 26, 2001

It is a bright, sunny day at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services. In her office, medical director Dr. Susan Schmidt-Lackner is sitting on the floor with one of her young patients -- not an easy feat for a tall woman in a long skirt, but the doctor is more interested in the little boy than in her own comfort. The child's mother, seated nearby, recounts her concerns, such as how her son can't tolerate the texture of most foods and is subsisting on a diet of McDonald's Happy Meals.

Bum Knees

By J. D. Smith
Published on April 19, 2001

The reason I am limping is because of a small man named Shen Hsu. That's not entirely accurate. I went to see Hsu because I was limping. He performed a variety of ancient Chinese medical practices on me, including acupuncture and a form of massage that could easily be mistaken for torture. I'm still limping. Now I'm limping a little differently, on what used to be my good side.

A Committed Life

By Judy R. Gruen
Published on October 22, 1998

For as long as she can remember, Dr. Beth Karlan has been driven to answer one elusive question: what is the difference between a normal cell and a cancerous cell? While the question is common among medical researchers, Karlan's progress in discovering at least a partial answer has been both heartening and a continuing stimulus to continue the search.

Taking Over the Waiting Room

By Linda Feldman
Published on August 14, 1997

My mother called to give me an update on my aunt Ruthie's condition. She had a cancer-spotted kidney removed a few days ago,and the family Jew-Ex was hot with medical reports. My mother, whose curse it was to be the firstborn, was cursed a second time by havinga daughter who she used to liken to her sister Ruth whenever I stepped out of line -- which was often, according to my mother.Ruthie's curse was to be born two years after my mother and to neverhave had a daughter.

In this, the Jewish Journal’s seventh annual honor roll of high-school graduates, we find that our f

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 12, 1997

Cover Story.