menu_open Columnists
Robert B Shpiner

Robert B Shpiner

The Guardian

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts

Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts

“This is based on what I feel.” That was the president last September, explaining why he wanted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine...

previous day 10

The Guardian

Robert B Shpiner

Trump is laying waste to the agency that keeps hospital patients safe

Trump is laying waste to the agency that keeps hospital patients safe

When I started my training in 1980, we accepted an arithmetic that would now be indefensible. Central lines, the catheters we threaded into the great...

07.08.2026 10

The Guardian

Robert B Shpiner

Three speeches on a single day signaled a dying American democracy

The presumption that US elections are legitimate died last week in Washington. It was 237 years old. It did not die of one wound. It died of three,...

22.07.2026 20

The Guardian

Robert B Shpiner

Cyclospora is easy for doctors to miss. The US made it even harder to spot

A patient arrives after two weeks of relentless watery diarrhea, sometimes 20 episodes a day. She has lost weight and cannot keep fluids down. Her...

16.07.2026 10

The Guardian

Robert B Shpiner

I’m a critical care doctor. I’ve never seen the US harm its children this deliberately

A newborn’s first hours in a US hospital used to carry a quiet set of guarantees. A vitamin K injection against catastrophic bleeding. A hepatitis B...

19.06.2026 20

The Guardian

Robert B Shpiner

Why America is failing its health report card

The Commonwealth Fund published its 2026 report card on US healthcare this week, measuring the United States against 19 other wealthy countries. It...

29.05.2026 30

The Guardian

Robert b shpiner

US government studies into vaccine safety are being suppressed

Last week, the New York Times and Washington Post reported yet another troubling case of data suppression at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....

12.05.2026 30

The Guardian

Robert b shpiner

We detected Aids through a federal early warning system. Trump has decimated it

In June 1981, I was a young pulmonary fellow at one of the three Los Angeles hospitals where the first five cases of an unusual pneumonia in...

29.04.2026 30

The Guardian

Robert b shpiner