As the Chief of Anesthesiology at Texas Children's Hospital, I am well aware of the raised public awareness about the possible effects of anesthesia on childhood neurological development. I believe it is important for all parents to understand the facts around this issue so that you can feel confident about entrusting your children to our care.
We read the headlines every day. The obesity epidemic is a major public health crisis facing Americans. However, how many of us realize that the true face of the epidemic is children?
While Dr. Andrew Wakefield's name may not be classified as "household" in the average American home, in the fields of pediatrics and parenting, his name has been synonymous with controversy for the past decade in pediatric medicine regarding a possible link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and long-term gastrointestinal disorders and autism, particularly a regressive type.
Like many of you, I was deeply saddened to hear about the fire a few weeks ago that took the lives of 4 young boys and injured 3 more, as well as a fire just days later that resulted in the death of an 11-year-old boy.