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Physicians are taught to treat their patients with compassion. The patient who needs dialysis due to lifestyle choices should be treated just as kindly as the one whose diabetes is hereditary. It’s not the physician’s place to judge. Until it is. Physicians must ration organs based on the ability of patients to fly to transplant centers on short notice. They ration detox beds based on insurance coverage. And in times of crisis, such as during a pandemic, they ration care to patients. (Teneille R. Brown, 9/23)

With 678,000 deaths and rising, Covid-19 is now the deadliest epidemic ever to hit the United States, surpassing the death toll of the 1918 flu, and indeed the combined US military deaths in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf Wars and the Afghanistan War. There is one overwhelming and grim reality: most of the Covid deaths could have been prevented, but America's fractured culture -- political, economic and personal -- mainly delivered death rather than life. (Jeffrey Sachs, 9/22)

Imagine my surprise when I opened the door to the dental clinic and saw that no one was wearing a mask. Not the two patients in the waiting room and not the three staffers behind the counter. “We don’t have to wear masks?” I asked the receptionist. (David McGrath, 9/23)

For many fully vaccinated Americans, the Delta surge spoiled what should’ve been a glorious summer. Those who had cast their masks aside months ago were asked to dust them off. Many are still taking no chances. Some have even returned to all the same precautions they took before getting their shots, including avoiding the company of other fully vaccinated people. (Craig Spencer, 9/23)

According to their website, the Massachusetts State Police “protect all residents and visitors to the Commonwealth. We regularly partner with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on investigations, operations, and training to make Massachusetts a safer place for all. ”With those words, they are proudly in the safety and protection business. So, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 should be a given. It’s a way to keep them safe from a deadly virus and protect themselves and the public. Instead, the union representing some 1,809 of them is taking Governor Charlie Baker to court over the vaccine mandate. (9/23)

Good for California health officials, who are considering a vaccine mandate for the state’s school-age children. Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly revealed the state’s thinking on the matter during a briefing Thursday. In mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all eligible students — which currently means ages 12 and older — the state would be taking a page from the Los Angeles and Oakland unified school districts, and a couple of others as well. (9/23)