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A weekly column appearing in local newspapers and blogs. It deals with COIVD issues of interest to residents on the Coast as well as to a broader audience.
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The High Cost of Drugs in the US.
The cost of prescription drugs in the US is the highest in the world and by a substantial margin. We pay over 250% more for medications...
William Miller, MD
Aug 7, 20224 min read
COVID Rebound
With President Biden experiencing a return of COVID symptoms, there has been a flurry of news reports on “COVID rebound”. Let’s look at...
William Miller, MD
Jul 31, 20224 min read
Medicare: America’s Single-payer Healthcare System.
Medicare is a national health insurance program started in 1965 to provide coverage for certain health related expenses in Americans age...
William Miller, MD
Jul 24, 20226 min read
History of Health Insurance
Given current negotiations between Adventist Health and Anthem Blue Cross, I thought it might be interesting to exam how our health care...
William Miller, MD
Jul 17, 20225 min read
COVID Fatigue
Let’s talk about COVID fatigue. I am not talking about the lack of energy that some people feel after having an infection with COVID,...
William Miller, MD
Jul 10, 20224 min read
Hospice Services Expanding in Mendocino County
Hospice is a program designed to provide the special care needed for someone at the end of life. We often think of this for patients with...
William Miller, MD
Jul 3, 20223 min read
Monkeypox.
Monkeypox is a virus in the genus orthopoxvirus, which includes the variola virus that causes the disease smallpox. It was first...
William Miller, MD
Jun 26, 20223 min read
COVID Vaccines for Toddlers Approved
Last week, the FDA granted approval for use of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in children as young as 6 months old through the...
William Miller, MD
Jun 19, 20224 min read
COVID Omicron BA.4 & BA.5.
Reports are flying around about the two newest subvariants of Omicron, namely BA.4 and BA.5. To begin with, we should be reminded that...
William Miller, MD
Jun 12, 20223 min read
Living Longer and Healthier: Part 3. Blue Zones
The Blue Zones Project is based on the idea that by studying communities in the world that have a disproportionately high percentage of...
William Miller, MD
Jun 5, 20224 min read
Living Longer and Healthier: Part 2. Longevity
Last week, we discussed the term life expectancy and how it is useful in understanding how long a person may live based on various...
William Miller, MD
May 29, 20225 min read
Living Longer and Healthier: Part 1. Life Expectancy.
As COVID begins to take more of a backseat to other health concerns, I have received several questions about the future of this weekly...
William Miller, MD
May 22, 20224 min read
China Doubles Down on Zero-COVID Policy.
The lockdown of Shanghai’s 25 million residents enters its 7th week of what was initially promised to be less than 7 days. This is part...
William Miller, MD
May 15, 20223 min read
Communication Outage on Coast Was Useful Practice
On Tuesday, May 10th, at approximately 10:40 in the morning, a private construction crew inadvertently drilled into a major communication...
William Miller, MD
May 8, 20224 min read
COVID Vaccines for Toddlers
Moderna announced last week that it is applying to the FDA to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) for its COVID vaccine in children...
William Miller, MD
May 1, 20223 min read
Lessons Learned: Solutions
Last week, we discussed some of the problems that developed at Adventist Health (AH) Mendocino Coast Medical Offices as a result of the...
William Miller, MD
Apr 24, 20224 min read
Lessons Learned: Opportunities
One of the advantages of the affiliation with Adventist Health that we looked forward to was updating our antiquated electronic medical...
William Miller, MD
Apr 17, 20224 min read
When Do Lockdowns Go Too Far? The Case of Shanghai.
On March 28th, I reported on the new Omicron variant, BA.2. In that article, I mentioned that Shanghai, China’s largest city of 25...
William Miller, MD
Apr 10, 20224 min read
Second COVID Booster Approved
The FDA has approved the use of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines as a second booster last week. The scientific evidence supporting...
William Miller, MD
Apr 3, 20223 min read
Is Omicron BA.2 a Cause for Concern?
BA.2 is a new subvariant of Omicron which was first identified in the Philippines in November. The original variant of Omicron is...
William Miller, MD
Mar 27, 20224 min read
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