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1 week ago | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
Doctors make mistakes. No one physician is correct every time. That is why getting a second opinion is the cornerstone of medicine. It ensures a second set of eyes evaluates the patient when the diagnosis is uncertain, and has been shown to improve diagnostic accuracy. In Washington State, when child abuse allegations are made, parents are entitled to a second opinion from a physician of their choice to challenge those accusations.
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3 weeks ago | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
Show Caption Hide Caption Tattoos used by officials to identify and deport Venezuelan migrantsAdvocates for Venezuelan migrants say immigration authorities are using tattoos to wrongfully tie them to the Tren de Aragua prison gang. Recently, my mom and I were talking about the deportation of more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants. She was not as upset about it as I was, which surprised me. After all, my father — her husband for 50 years — was an Iraqi immigrant.
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1 month ago | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
There was an era in American history when children did not gather at swimming pools, churches or movie theaters. It wasn't the recent COVID pandemic, but when parents a few generations ago feared their kids catching a highly contagious virus spread by contact with the feces of other infected people. It was polio. For every 100 children who contracted polio, 25 developed mild paralysis of their arm or leg, 15 developed severe paralysis, and five died.
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2 months ago | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
As a physician, I believe medical decision-making is between a doctor and a patient. In some states, women no longer have a choice regarding their uterus. Medical freedom was eroded during the pandemic when some Americans did not have choice about getting vaccinated against COVID-19. And now, Washington state Reps.
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2 months ago | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
One night, a few townspeople in Geneva, New York, chased off medical students by gunfire when they attempted to rob the grave of a local Irishman in search of a cadaver. They wanted cadavers because the medical school they were attending, Geneva Medical College, got their cadavers from a local prison. The cadavers from the prison were not always in the best condition for the students to learn human anatomy.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
On December 18, 2023, Philip Tong, a 45-year-old father of two, suffering from a viral infection, began coughing up blood. He scheduled a telehealth appointment, where he reported that in addition to coughing up blood, he was experiencing shortness of breath, and his feet looked blue. He was prescribed an inhaler by the “provider” working for Amazon One Medical, a subscription-based primary care service charging $9 per month for telehealth visits.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
I confess that I hate Washington State initiatives. Or at least, they way they are written. They feel like booby traps. I struggle to understand them. The language is confusing. A vote of "no" somehow means "yes," and vice versa. In this column, I want to talk about an initiative up for election on Tuesday I find most confusing of all — requiring 15 pages in the state voter’s pamphlet to explain — Initiative 2117.
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Oct 4, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran Al-Agba
Niran Al-Agba's trip with a group of physicians to ride in a hot-air balloon turned into a chance to do more, and think about how "making lists" has affected her life. We met at dawn, 25 women gathered for our annual Physician Moms Group retreat, held in Temecula, California, this year. We climbed into two large wicker baskets and watched the flames roar to life over our heads. As the balloon took shape, the anticipation grew for those of us who had never done this before.
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Oct 4, 2024 | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
Niran Al-AgbaColumnistWe met at dawn, 25 women gathered for our annual Physician Moms Group retreat, held in Temecula, California, this year. We climbed into two large wicker baskets and watched the flames roar to life over our heads. As the balloon took shape, the anticipation grew for those of us who had never done this before. Suddenly, we lifted off the ground and into the air, climbing 2,000 feet to watch the sun rise over the mountains around us.
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Sep 20, 2024 | 
kitsapsun.com | NIRAN Al-AGBA |Niran S. Al-Agba
In 1997, I worked as a medical student at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for six weeks. I was in my fourth year at the University of Washington School of Medicine., and Dr. Michael Copass was the director of the emergency room. Copass was meticulous — the way he dressed, the way he trained us to think, and in the way he scheduled our shifts: in 10-day cycles. Every morning at 6, Dr. Copass reviewed our notes for errors and oversights.
