Fake medicine

By Norman Lavin, M.D, PhD., UCLA Medical School
Published on May 8, 2013

Caveat emptor means “buyer beware.” Fake medicines are now a multibillion-dollar industry affecting people in virtually every country in the world, and the problem is getting worse. It has been estimated that up to 15 percent of drugs sold worldwide are counterfeit, and in parts of Africa and Asia it can surpass 50 percent. We are also vulnerable in the United States even though we have a better-regulated pharmaceutical system.

Israeli medical residents say they’ll ignore back-to-work order

Published on October 12, 2011

Hundreds of Israeli medical residents who resigned said they will not obey an order by the National Labor Court sending them back to work.

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

Words of Wisdom or something like it.

By Julia Bendis
Published on March 21, 2011

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

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 26, 2010

Czech Republic: Doctors’ Group Apologizes to Jews

Published on March 19, 2010

A Czech doctors’ organization apologized to Jewish doctors Thursday for the persecution they endured in pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, an official of the organization said. In October 1938, before the Nazis invaded, organizations of Czechoslovak doctors, lawyers and others issued a memorandum urging the government “to take energetic measures” to prevent Jews from practicing. “We apologize for what our predecessors did to you,” stated a document by the Czech Medical Chamber in Prague. Many Jewish doctors lost their jobs when the government banned them from working in state institutions. The Czech bar association issued a similar apology a year ago.

Ashkenazi women and ovarian cancer

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on January 24, 2008

Dr. Beth Y. Karlan is the director of the Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. Her specialty is ovarian cancer, the deadliest of gynecologic cancers and one that is diagnosed in more than 22,000 women annually.

Get the doctor’s attention—for a fee

By Sara Shereen Bakhshian
Published on January 24, 2008

Rising costs, crowded waiting rooms and decreasing access to doctors are among the reasons medical patients in Southern California and across the nation use words like "headache" and "frustration" to describe America's health care system. And with declining insurance reimbursements, rising malpractice premiums, claims frustrations and growing paperwork, individual practitioners are often forced to increase the volume of patients they see as they decrease time spent in the examination room.

Veggie lovers could fare better in cancer fight

By Melissa Knopper
Published on January 17, 2008

New and better information is coming to light every day about ways to prevent this common disease. Since doctors are getting better at catching it early, fewer men are dying of prostate cancer. But one in six men will still develop the disease in their lifetime.

Doctor with ‘healing hands’ helps kids from Iran to L.A.

By Amy Klein
Published on January 17, 2008

When Ralph Salimpour was six years old in Esfahan, Iran, he had malaria -- a blood disease spread by infected mosquitoes that kills millions of people in the developing world every year.

Botox Treatments Aid Stroke Survivors

By Steve Ditlea
Published on February 16, 2006

Better known for cosmetic enhancement, Botox injections immobilize key muscles in stricken arms or legs, allowing physical therapy and exercise to extend range of motion and flexibility. Effects wear off, so the Botox is reinjected every three months for a year or more.

Parent Wins School Pesticide Battle

By Idan Ivri
Published on February 9, 2006

A new law that bans that use of experimental pesticides in schools is the latest achievement of Robina Suwol, a Jewish anti-pesticide activist.

Transplant Recipient Will Parade Success

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on December 29, 2005

Like many native Angelenos, Ilene Feder has never been to the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena. However, the Studio City resident not only will be attending the New Year's day festivities on Monday, Jan. 2, for the 118th Rose Parade, but will have a vantage point few get to experience: She'll be riding on a float.

Where Have All the ‘Safe’ Drugs Gone?

By Dr. Marc Siegel
Published on January 20, 2005

In the fall, my Vioxx patients fled to Celebrex. The other day they fled to Aleve. Now they don't know what to do.

Now that it was discovered that patients taking naproxen (Aleve) for three years had a 50 percent increased risk of heart disease, my patients want to know if any arthritis drug is safe.

I tell them that all these drugs are probably safe -- if taken for the right reasons and if judiciously prescribed.

Twins Bring Hope to Paralyzed Couple

By Gaby Wenig
Published on September 30, 2004

As a couple, they bonded over their shared disabilities, their commitment to religion (they are both Orthodox) and their desire to have children.

"When Shmuel and I were dating that was one topic we discussed," Rivkah Klein said. "We both wanted children, and it wasn't a question of whether we would be able to, but rather finding the right way to have them."

Is There a ‘Docta’ in the House?

By Beverly Gray
Published on September 4, 2003

"There's a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life begins. In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until after it graduates from medical school." -- Old Jewish joke.

Cedars-Sinai Ministers to Spiritual Needs

By Gaby Wenig
Published on October 3, 2002

"A woman came into my office yesterday needing to make a decision about the amputation of her husband's leg," said Rabbi Levi Meier, the chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "It was a very difficult case, because her husband cannot give proper, informed consent, because his mind is not functioning anymore

JNF Honors Eight

By Journal Staff
Published on September 5, 2002

In a tribute to eight of its members, among them Holocaust survivors, a rabbi and two doctors, the Jewish National Fund will hold a 100th anniversary dinner Sept. 19 at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach. The honorees include:

Joined by a Kidney

By Michael Aushenker
Published on September 5, 2002

On the anniversary of Sept. 11, we offer a pancultural exchange with a happy ending.

Back in November, UP FRONT reported about Patricia Abdullah, a Caucasian woman of Muslim faith who, after leading an unsuccessful search for a type O-positive kidney donor for acquaintance Mike Jones, an African American Christian, ultimately donated her own kidney. The Sept. 25 procedure was performed by Jewish and German surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a hospital founded by Jews.

A Miracle Worker

By Michael Aushenker
Published on August 29, 2002

Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej Alvarez are twins who were born conjoined at the cranium. Headline-makers since arriving at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital in Westwood, the twins were separated in a nearly 23-hour surgery on Aug. 6.

Hearts in the Right Place

By Michael Aushenker
Published on August 22, 2002

Call it a mission with a mission."It was the most amazing trip," Dr. Charles Pollick told The Journal. "I've been to Israel many times, but they really rolled out the red carpet for us."

Israel Security Experts Advise L.A.

By Mike Levy
Published on June 27, 2002

The topic was terrorism. "How underprepared are we in the U.S.?" "Very." That exchange, between an emergency care physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Dr. Jonathan Halevy, director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, was part of an ongoing effort in Los Angeles to change the answer.

Physician, Heal The Soul

By Mike Levy
Published on April 18, 2002

Physicians played a significant role in the Holocaust, and today's doctors can learn from the ethical failures of that period, according to an article recently published by Dr. Joel Geiderman, co-chair of the emergency department (ED) of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In "Physician Complicity in the Holocaust: Historical Review and Reflections on Emergency Medicine in the 21st Century," Geiderman sets out a series of moral failures he attributes to German physicians before, during and after WWII. Published in the March issue of Academic Emergency Medicine journal, the two-part article enumerates ethical challenges requiring greater vigilance from today's physicians.

Celebrating A Miracle

By Curt Schleier
Published on October 28, 1999

If you need proof that miracles still happen in this world, look no further than Benjamin Kadish.