Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Christopher Doan
Why complex chronic illness slips through the cracks
He has been tired for eight months. Not the tiredness that follows a bad night of sleep, a hard week, or a season of stress. The kind that just does not lift. The kind that is still there after the weekend, after the vacation, after every reasonable explanation has been tried and discarded. He also has a cough that will not quit, something happening with his nails, unrelenting brain fog, and a gastrointestinal system that has become, in his words, unpredictable. He also has a list.
Dental fear is not really about pain
I used to hide my smile in photographs. Not because I was shy. Not because I was having a bad day. But because I had convinced myself that my teeth were too big, too much, too visible. I watched people with smaller, neater teeth and quietly wished mine were different. I kept my lips together in every picture for years. I am a dental surgery assistant. And for a long time, I was also one of the patients I now sit beside every day. I tell you this because I think it matters.
Conservative care for back pain is not “wait and see”
One of the most common things I hear from patients is, “I was told to give it more time.” As a neurosurgeon who has spent more than 30 years treating spine conditions, I’ve seen how often that advice is both appropriate and, at times, misleading. In many cases, it is the right approach. Most back pain improves. The body has a remarkable ability to heal, and conservative care remains the appropriate first step for the majority of patients.
15 financial advisor questions for medical professionals
Before treating a patient, you review their history, run diagnostics, and verify every detail. Have you done the same before trusting your financial advisor with your wealth? Most medical professionals do not know if their advisor is truly acting in their best interest, or what they are really paying in fees, conflicts of interest, and hidden incentives.
Lessons from 47 years: long-term marriage and palliative care
My wife is dying. The day has yet to be determined, but the causes are certain. Stage 4 metastatic pancreatic and liver cancers will allow her a few weeks more in which to say goodbye to a large circle of family and friends. She has decided not to undergo chemotherapy or radiation that at best might extend her life by a few weeks, at the cost of the quality of whatever time she has left. So far, friends would not know she is sick, except that she involuntarily lost 22 pounds in a year.
Menstrual health in medicine: Addressing the gender gap in care
In medical school, I’ve been taught to take chest pain seriously. If a patient presents with angina, there are clear guidelines, robust evidence, and standardized protocols to follow. Yet, when a patient comes into the clinic describing mood swings, fatigue, or pain tied to their menstrual cycle, the responses of clinicians are often vague, stating, “That’s normal.” Behind that simple phrase lies decades of neglect in how we study, fund, and address menstrual health.
How to handle medical gaslighting
You are the expert of your body. You know when something isn’t right. Yet many patients leave an exam room feeling worse than when they came in, not because of their illness, but because they were told, directly or indirectly, that nothing is wrong. Their symptoms are minimized, reframed, dismissed, or worse, attributed to anxiety, stress, age, or weight. They are left questioning their own experience and perception of reality.
Is owning a medical practice worth the ultimate financial risk? [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube.
The unseen labor of EMS professionals
The service entrance doors slid to the right and, as Molly Humphreys and I exited the Berkeley Medical Center, we stepped into an unseasonably warm evening. “It’s the golden hour,” Molly said as we surveyed our surroundings and removed our masks, exposing flat faces with creased noses. Behind us stood a cold, somber hospital and we were engulfed in an empty parking lot, one flooded with radiant sunlight.
How undermining physicians harms society
Physicians hold one of the most essential and sacred trusts in every society: the care of human life. Yet across many developed nations, this trust is undermined by a growing culture of suspicion, litigation, sensationalism, and retaliation.
The hypocrisy of insurance referral mandates
Every week, I see patients not because they need to, but because their insurance company says they must. A patient came in recently for one reason only: Her insurer required a referral before she could see a specialist. She didn’t want to. I didn’t need her to. But we both had no choice. After a 20-minute visit neither of us needed, I did what the insurer required: document, click, submit. Days later, the referral was approved. The irony?
Why reforming medical boards is critical to saving patient care
Imagine a dedicated physician, after years of rigorous training and countless lives saved, facing a medical board complaint over a minor issue—perhaps a clerical error in documentation or a subjective interpretation of a clinical decision. What should be a straightforward matter escalates into a career-threatening ordeal. State medical boards, endowed with significant authority, often wield it with little accountability.
WeightWatchers shifts to value-based care with GLP-1 strategy
WeightWatchers (WW) recently completed a broader financial reorganization, realigning leadership with a sharper focus on clinical innovation and women’s health, including menopause support. The reorganization includes appointing a chief medical officer to lead a more integrated, medically informed approach. WW’s reorganization bankruptcy was driven by mounting debt and pressure from newer weight-loss therapy products, namely GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters
An excerpt from Heal Your Wound: A Doctor’s Guide For Hard-To-Heal Wounds. Chronic wounds are more than just a medical issue, they can be a daily challenge that can impact every part of a person’s life. From physical discomfort to emotional stress, these wounds often linger for weeks or months, especially when tied to conditions like diabetes, poor circulation, or limited mobility.
Dedicated hypermobility clinics can transform patient care
Every week, I speak with patients who have spent years—sometimes decades—searching for answers. They’ve seen rheumatologists, neurologists, cardiologists, physical therapists, and more, trying to piece together a puzzle that no one provider seems to fully understand.
How Mark Twain would dismantle today's flawed medical AI
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) spent his youth deciphering the Mississippi River, a system far more complex than any artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. He learned that real understanding demands nuance, context, and skepticism. Were he alive today, he’d likely see NarxCare, the controversial opioid-risk AI algorithm, as a cautionary tale about the dangers of replacing human judgment with lies, damn lies, and statistics.
one family's journey to the other side
For a while, I enjoyed telling Dave’s story. In the beginning, I found it therapeutic. It was just as unbelievable to me as it was to the person I was telling it to. Somewhere along the line, telling the story of Dave’s accident and the health care nightmare that followed became more matter of fact. Then, it became heavy. What I didn’t tell most is that Dave’s injury took more than just his health—it took his identity. He was a builder, a provider, the sharpest thinker in any room. A self-made man.
An introduction to occupational and environmental medicine [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Occupational medicine physician Robert Nathan Clapp discusses his article, “Why you should take a closer look at occupational and environmental medicine.” Addressing the pervasive issue of physician burnout, Robert introduces occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) — a specialty under preventive medicine — as a compelling but often overlooked field boasting high job satisfaction and low burnout.
Criminalizing care: How the system turned on physicians
Physicians are healers; they were not meant to be hunted. Yet in modern America, the very system that once revered physicians has turned against them, weaponizing regulations and laws into weapons and transforming healers into criminals. The Controlled Substances Act, health care fraud statutes, and a labyrinth of federal regulations have ensnared countless physicians in a trap of legal peril, branding them as fraudsters when their only crime was dedication to their patients.
The weaponization of predictive data analytics, red flags, and the chronic pain gender gap has become a radioactive crisis in U.S. health care
In recent years, the health care system has increasingly relied on predictive data analytics in the prosecution of physicians, turning what was once a tool for improving care into an instrument of punitive measures by the U.S. government. Thousands of U.S. physicians, particularly those working with vulnerable populations, have been targeted based on flawed or biased data patterns, with many facing prosecution and imprisonment.
Why Americans are failing to keep up with essential knowledge
At age 80, I am an old man. I am also an experienced writer and voracious reader. I’ve been active in internet bulletin boards and social media interest groups since the 1980s—in what we used to call “users net” (USENET)—before the emergence of the World Wide Web. In the 1980s, I briefly moderated a community on the internet called “Internet Village Elders.” The forum was intended to share information between librarians and others concerning the world’s largest information marketplace.
How to survive the modern health care system without losing yourself [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We sit down with Rebecca Arnold, an author and certified executive leadership coach, to explore the emotional challenges faced by physicians experiencing disillusionment in the health care system. Rebecca shares insights on how to reconnect with your values, manage internal stressors like perfectionism and burnout, and find support among colleagues who share your commitment to high-quality, patient-first care.
How alternative therapies could be the key to ending the pain care crisis [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We dive into the pain care crisis in the United States with Cindy Perlin, a social worker and chronic pain expert. We explore the epidemic of chronic pain, the limitations of conventional treatments, and the risks of opioid addiction. Cindy shares insights on alternative therapies, including mind-body approaches, nutritional medicine, and emerging technologies that offer hope for those suffering from chronic pain.
Medical crisis or government overreach: How misguided policies are destroying lives
A million vulnerable patients have died in the last decade, and while I have no doubt the rate of overdose and poisoning will drop nationwide—killing a million vulnerable patients has that effect eventually—I choose not to contribute to that death rate. This decision is in accordance with my deeply held beliefs.
How biased medical experts are destroying doctors' lives and careers in the opioid crisis
As a U.S. health care writer and patient advocate for almost 30 years, I read a lot. Recently, some of that reading is in court transcripts of doctors being persecuted out of medicine or into jail by various prosecutors and their hired “experts.” I use the term “persecuted” intentionally.
From toe pain to financial strain: the hidden costs of medical care
“I was terrified, and my foot was in so much pain,” said Mrs. C as I began our interview. There was a blood clot that had turned her toe blue. She went on to describe her history and briefly mentioned that she did not have medical insurance. With her pain now gone after a few days in the hospital, the anxiety of the financial burden of her stay was now at the forefront. In addition, her new diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome would require her to be discharged on a new medication—warfarin.
Breast and Lung Cancer Screening Among Medicare Enrollees During the COVID-19 Pandemic
[Skip to Navigation] Figure 1. Rates of Monthly Mammography Screening From January 2017 Through July 2022 for Women Aged 50 to 74 Years With Fee-for-Service Medicare Monthly national COVID-19 infection rates from January 2020 through July 2022 are also shown. The monthly rates were adjusted to reflect 30 days per month. The dotted prediction line was generated from the 38 months from January 2019 through February 2020.
IDC's Worldwide Quantum Computing Taxonomy, 2019
Share TECH SUPPLIER Sep 2019 - Taxonomy - Doc # US45459119 IDC's Worldwide Quantum Computing Taxonomy, 2019 By: Christopher Doan, Peter RuttenResearch Director, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group, Ashish NadkarniGroup Vice President, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group, Heather West, PhDSenior Research Analyst, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group Abstract This IDC study provides an overview of quantum computing algorithms,...
Techno Puppets (with images, tweets) ¡ chrispydoanuts ¡ Storify
Are you sure you want to change your username? Changing your username will break existing story embeds, meaning older stories embedded on other Web sites will no longer appearOf course not!Yes, change it!
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Christopher
Contact Christopher, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack