Facebook just sent me a “memory”  from 13 years ago.  This is a picture of me “spending time” with my 3-year-old son around 2010 when I was working insane hours on the inside. On the rare occasions, I was home, I was exhausted.  I was a bad father, a bad husband, and arguably a bad physician.  My son’s face in this picture breaks my heart, and I fight back tears every time I see it.  That boy needed a dad who was engaged and awake, and I’d give anything to go back and get a 2nd chance.

The photo demonstrates collateral damage–just another of many forms of suffering that happen as a result of doctors serving the corrupt system instead of their patients.  I don’t know if DPC even had a name yet, but even then, I knew I was wrong for serving the corrupt government and corporate entities, and I was looking to find a way out. I wish so hard that I could go back and slap some sense into the guy in this picture.  He needs to appreciate those priceless and fleeting moments. He needs to man up. He needs to tell the hospital system, the insurance industry, and the government that he’s mad as hell at what they’re doing to his patients, his country, and his little boy.  And he needs to get out.

Sometimes I look back at this picture, and today I post it here, as a reminder: “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

(This originally appeared on 2/23/23. We are on vacation and were going to put up our five best posts but this was a tie for #5).