Teething gets a bad rap. It always has (apparently, for thousands of years), from parents and healthcare providers alike. In fact, I’m fairly confident that there isn’t a single pediatric symptom that hasn’t, at some point, been ascribed to teething. I’ve always been skeptical, partially because it’s my nature, and partially because it just didn’t make sense that … Read more
Recently, safety concerns related to placenta encapsulation made headlines when the CDC released a case report about a baby in Oregon that suffered from Group B Strep sepsis–not just once, but twice. For many of you, this may have been the first time you realized that people eat placentas. But yes, placentophagy (as it’s technically known) … Read more
In a recent post, I described a study that would settle any lingering doubts about vaccine safety or effectiveness. There were a few practical issues, not the least of which was that it would be despicably unethical because it would involve children dying from preventable diseases. It would also take decades, cost an insane amount … Read more
One evening this past week, after my wife finished feeding our 5-week-old daughter, I took over baby duty. I sat her up on my lap and gave her a few thumps on the back. Not hard enough to hurt, obviously, but just to make her burp. She didn’t burp. So I gave her a … Read more
I recently attended (and live-tweeted) an integrative medicine conference called “Get Your Life Back NOW!” held in Orlando, FL on November 3-4, 2017. There were actually three separate but related events that weekend: a conference for medical professionals, a conference for the general public, and a $350-per-plate gala called Doctors Who Rock in honor of the “game changers of the … Read more
I used to try to avoid vaccine arguments. It’s the single most passionately-defended topic in pediatrics; that’s one thing we can all agree on, whether you’re anti-vax or anti-anti-vax. And it should be contentious. If kids are dying and you have a way to prevent it, you should be standing on the street corner preaching your heart out. And … Read more
I’ve seen a lot of social media posts or comment threads that say we don’t have any studies to prove that the CDC’s vaccine schedule is safe or effective. As a pediatrician, the first time I read that, I was surprised. But now, I think I understand. I think they mean that we haven’t done … Read more