Dr. Arnold Relman

Last June, a week after his 90th birthday, Dr. Arnold Relman fell down a flight of stairs at home and broke his neck. And nearly died.

During his arduous recovery, which he documents in a compelling article in the New York Review of Books, “I learned how it feels to be a helpless patient close to death. I also learned some things about the U.S. medical care system that I had never fully appreciated, even though this is a subject that I have studied and written about for many years.”

One thing he learned, forcefully, was how the shortage of primary care physicians affects care of patients, especially those with complex problems. Continue reading →