Doctor for Free

10/16/2026

Unfortunately, this is what the DRC is facing while much of the world carries on as though nothing is happening.

The situation is a disaster. Neighbouring countries are tightening border restrictions, and media coverage is nowhere near what this crisis deserves to draw the attention, resources, and international support needed to save lives.

The latest figures from the DRC's health ministry show over 9,000 cumulative cases and a death toll that has climbed past 4,000.

It's heartbreaking because behind every single number on that list is a human being. A life. A family. Someone who might have survived if timely medical care, effective treatments, and adequate support had been available.

What breaks my heart even more is the commentary I see every day on social media from anti-vaxxers - many of whom live in developed countries - encouraging the people of the DRC to "stand up" against the fear-mongering of health authorities. They claim viruses don't exist. They claim the disease is a hoax designed to kill people. They spread these lies from the safety of their homes, in countries with functioning healthcare systems, while telling people in the middle of an active outbreak to reject the very help that could save them.

It is the height of privilege to sit in comfort and tell a grieving mother in Ituri that her child died of a "hoax." It is reckless and cruel to undermine the health workers risking their lives to contain this outbreak. And it is a bitter irony that the people most likely to survive a virus are the ones loudest in telling others it doesn't exist.

The DRC doesn't need conspiracy theories now; it needs vaccines, treatments, funding, and definitely the world's attention.

10/15/2026

The answer to this question is actually yes, but…not the way you think.

Here’s the thing, if you have no insurance and no money, hospitals very likely won’t treat you for non emergency cases.

People are all like “A hospitals is obligated to treat you regardless of your ability to pay”, and they’re not intentionally lying; they sincerely believe it’s true.

It’s based on a very loose grain of truth. The truth is that hospitals are obligated to stabilize you if you present in the ER with an immediately life-threatening condition. They are not required to give you treatment beyond stabilizing you.

If you show up with cancer, they are not required to give you chemotherapy.

If you show up with a heart attack, they are not required to give you heart surgery.

If you show up needing a new liver, they are not required to give you a liver transplant.

They can and do require payment up front for people without insurance.

So what happens isn’t that people go into medical debt and the hospital takes their house. No.

And if you declare bankruptcy, your house is normally excluded from bankruptcy proceedings.

What happens instead is you max out your credit cards, but that’s not enough, so you borrow from friends and family, and that’s still not enough, so you stop paying your mortgage and you give that money to the hospital instead.

Then the bank foreclosed on your house because you stopped paying the mortgage.

I can’t tell you how many people who are opposed to universal healthcare I’ve talked to who actually believe—who truly, sincerely believe, for real—that if you have no money or insurance but you need major surgery or chemotherapy or something, the hospital will give it to you anyway.

I’m serious. They actually believe that, for real.

The Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires only that hospitals stabilize emergency patients who cannot afford to pay. It explicitly does not require ongoing care or treatment.

……….. from my inbox ✍️✍️✍️✍️

10/15/2026

New York has declared a state disaster emergency over measles, as US cases this year climb to around 4,000, the highest since 1991.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the order on October 5. It runs until November 4.

As of October 3, New York had recorded 108 measles cases this year. Most were in rural communities with low vaccination rates, spread across 18 counties.

The order makes it easier to get vaccinated. Pharmacists can now give the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, to children as young as 2.

Paramedics and midwives can also give the vaccine, and nurses can order tests for suspected cases.

Nearby Pennsylvania has had more than 1,000 cases this year, its largest outbreak in about three decades. Nearly 200 people were hospitalized there, and five deaths have been linked to measles.

Across the US, infections have now been reported in almost every state. At least 95% of cases were in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known. It can cause pneumonia, brain swelling and death, especially in young children.

Early signs include fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes, followed by a rash that starts at the hairline.

Two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles.

Experts say about 95% of people need to be vaccinated to stop outbreaks. But only 92.4% of US kindergartners had the vaccine in the 2025 to 2026 school year, down from 95.2% five years earlier.

Vaccine exemptions for kindergartners also reached a record 4.2%.

The US declared measles eliminated in 2000, meaning it no longer spread year round. The Pan American Health Organization will decide in November whether the country keeps that status.

Anyone unsure of their vaccination status can check with a doctor or local health department.

Source: sphere

10/15/2026

Vaccines are a hugely underrated way of preventing hearing loss in children, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

In Africa alone, an estimated 136 million people are currently living with hearing loss, and this is expected to almost triple to 337 million by 2050. Unaddressed hearing loss is estimated to cost the global economy US$ 980 billion every year.

Globally, an estimated 70 million children aged 0–15 years are affected by a loss of hearing. Viral infections are thought to be responsible for around 40% of those cases of hearing loss.

Vaccine-preventable infections that cause hearing loss include measles, meningitis, rubella, malaria and Ebola.

Bacterial meningitis is a major cause of permanent hearing loss, with approximately 8% of survivors suffering from it. The most common cause of hearing loss is the infection spreading to the cochlea, damaging the hair cells.

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is another leading cause of hearing loss. Babies born with it often have lifelong deafness, heart defects and developmental delays.

Measles can lead to post-infectious hearing loss, especially in children already malnourished or immunocompromised.

Even though vaccines protect against a wide range of pathogens that damage hearing, there has been very little research on the real-world benefits of vaccination on hearing loss.

Researchers conclude: “This body of evidence signals that vaccination has much greater scope than previously appreciated as a strategy for prevention of hearing loss due to congenital and infectious causes.”

Source: 👇👇👇

10/15/2026

What do you think would happen if the smallpox virus escaped containment and began to spread across the world?
How do you think society would react?

10/15/2026

10/14/2026

I get messages like this in my inbox every single day. Imagine if these people put even half of that energy into something useful instead of hurling insults at people they disagree with.

But let me make one thing clear: nothing is going to stop me from speaking up about vaccines and the enormous good they have done for society.

Abuse won’t silence me, intimidation won’t change the facts, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Peace ✌️

10/14/2026

Quick question:

What do you think is stopping the US from having the same universal health care that Canada and Australia have?

10/14/2026

We seem to be living in a kind of twilight zone where people with absolutely no knowledge of a field feel more confident in their opinions than those who have spent their entire lives studying it. It’s like calling a plumber when you have a digestive problem.

In the past, this kind of intellectual arrogance had natural limits. The people spreading nonsense could only reach their village or perhaps their immediate neighborhood. But today the internet has removed those limits, giving them the ability to reach thousands of people in a single day, and thousands more the next.

And that’s a very troubling development.

10/14/2026

This has to be satire. No freaking way.

These are the reasons why they don't teach critical thinking anymore. 🤦‍♂️