Just a brief update and farewell! After Helen was no longer able to join me in recording, I decided I wasn't happy or satisfied with going solo. But, BIG NEWS! I am working on getting re-credentialed and going back to work in the clinic. Maybe one day I will podcast again, but hopefully not as a defunct doctor. Best wishes to everyone and have a wonderful holiday season!!

Ripped from the headlines! In late August, Massachusetts was alerted to a health scare when four individuals were diagnosed with Eastern Equine Encephalitis or “Triple E.” What is this disease and how can humans prevent themselves from becoming infected? Lynne will tell you all about it this week on the pod.

Also, introducing the Doctor Recommended segment - this week:

Wonder Drug by Jennifer Vanderbes

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

defunctdoctorspodcast.com

Sources:

1. Eastern Equine Encephalitis by Cecilia Banda; Debopam Samanta

2. Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus: A Scoping Review of the Global Evidence by Tricia Corrin, Rachel Ackford, Mariola Mascarenhas, Judy Greig, and Lisa A. Waddel

3. Clinical and Neuroradiographic Manifestations of Eastern Equine Encephalitis by Robert L. Deresiewicz, M.D., Scott J. Thaler, M.D., Liangge Hsu, M.D., and Amir A. Zamani, M.D.

4. Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in Mosquitoes and Their Role as Bridge Vectors by Philip M. Armstrong and Theodore G. Andreadis

5. Notes from the Field: Multistate Outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus — United States, 2019 by Nicole P. Lindsey, MS; Stacey W. Martin, MS; J. Erin Staples, MD, PhD; Marc Fischer, MD

6. Current Year Data (2024) via the CDC

7. As eastern equine encephalitis spreads, a neurologist explains how to stay safe during this latest outbreak of the ‘triple E’ virus by Daniel Pastula

8. Massachusetts will begin spraying for mosquitos after first human case of EEE diagnosed by Laura Haefeli

9. Massachusetts arbovirus update via Mass.gov

10. Mosquito control and spraying via Mass.gov

11. Human Exposure to Mosquito-Control Pesticides --- Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia, 2002 and 2003 via the CDC

12. DEET via Wikipedia

13. Find the Repellent that is Right for You via the EPA

Please contact me with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram and TikTok (also Facebook, Threads, & YouTube)

Lynne’s specialty, developmental pediatrics, is all about how infants and children develop and is closely related to neurology in many cases. So, when she read about a case of an infant with a head circumference too big for the baby’s age, it took her right back to her clinical training. However, the cause of the enlargement was not what she expected. This week, Lynne will discuss the unusual phenomenon in which one fetus absorbs another.

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

Sources:

1. Intracranial Parasitic Fetus in a Living Infant: A Case Study with Surgical Intervention and Prognosis Analysis by Xuewei Qin, Xuanling Chen, Xin Zhao, Bo Wang, Lan Yao, Hongchuan Niu

2. Teaching NeuroImage: Intraventricular Fetus-in-Fetu With Extensive De Novo Gain in Genetic Copy Number by Zongze Li, MD, Li Ma, MD, PhD, Yuanli Zhao, MD, PhD, and Chunde Li, MD

3. Girl, 1, is found to have a FETUS growing in her skull that was once her twin sister by Maiya Focht

4. Fetus in fetu: Review of the literature over the past 15 years by Lindsey M. Prescher, William J. Butler, Tyler A. Vachon, Marion C. Henry, Thomas Latendresse, Romeo C. Ignacio Jr.

5. Fetus in fetu – a rare developmental anomaly by Della Harigovind, Harish Babu SP, Sunil V Nair, Nazim Sangram

6. Fetus in Fetu: Lessons Learned from a Large Multicenter Cohort Study by Heba M. A. Taher et. al.

7. Fetus-in-fetu by Philippe Jeanty, MD, PhD Kay Caldwell, RDMS Patricia Dix, MD

8. Monochorionic Diamniotic Twin Gestations by Karin M. Fuchs, Mary E. D'Alton

9. Monochorionic Twins via Wikipedia

10. Embryology, Week 1 by Yusuf S. Khan; Kristin M. Ackerman.

11. Embryology, Week 2-3 by Baryiah Rehman; Maria Rosaria Muzio.

12. Teratoma via Cleveland Clinic

13. Data Table of Infant Head Circumference-for-age Charts via CDC Website

Please contact us with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Threads, YouTube, and TikTok

Follow Lynne on Instagram @lynnedoodles555

Listen as Lynne tells the story of Ruby Graupera-Cassimiro, a mother and a survivor who came back from the brink of death for reasons that her physicians could not explain. This week - sometimes things happen in medicine that are baffling and mysterious.

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

Sources:

1. What Ruby Graupera-Cassimiro Saw When Her Heart Stopped for 45 Minutes via ABC News

2. 'Miracle' Woman Ruby Graupera-Cassimiro Survives After 45 Minutes Without Pulse via ABC News

3. AFE Survivor, Ruby Graupera, shares her story on Dr. Oz via AFE Foundation News

4. She Was “Dead” for 45 Minutes by Amanda Friedman

5. Mother Dies and Comes Back to Life by Brittany Shammas

6. Amniotic fluid embolism by Kaur, Kiranpreet; Bhardwaj, Mamta; Kumar, Prashant; Singhal, Suresh; Singh, Tarandeep; Hooda, Sarla

7. Amniotic Fluid Embolism by Gist, Richard S. MD*; Stafford, Irene P. MD; Leibowitz, Andrew B. MD; Beilin, Yaakov MD

8. About the Hospital via Boca Raton Regional Hospital website

9. Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation via NIH

Please contact us with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Threads, YouTube, and TikTok

Follow Lynne on Instagram @lynnedoodles555

Listen this week as we conclude our series on anthrax and its use as a weapon during the 2001 US postal service attacks. Lynne will discuss the science behind tracking the deadly spores back to their parent flask - which was under the control of the researcher who became their prime suspect. Learn who this man was and the FBI’s evidence for why he likely committed the crime, even though not everyone who used to work with him is convinced.

Trigger Warning: Brief mention of suicide and discussion of stalking.

Dial 988 within the US for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

Sources:

1. Anthrax Investigative Summary via the FBI

2. Paul Keim: “We Were Surprised It Was the Ames Strain” by Sarah Moughty
3. New Evidence Adds Doubt to FBI’s Case Against Anthrax Suspect by Stephen Engelberg

4. The Anthrax Case from Spores to a Suspect

5. NAS Study May Fail to Settle Anthrax Case by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

6. Did Bruce Ivins Hide Attack Anthrax From the FBI by Stephen Engelberg

Please contact us with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Threads, YouTube, and TikTok

Follow Lynne on Instagram @lynnedoodles555

Part 3 of our series on anthrax will finish up describing the last days of the 2001 US postal service anthrax attacks up until the final victim and will review the investigation up until the key 2007 scientific discovery that was able to trace the microbe used in the crime to a single flask in the possession of a researcher at the United States Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Next week - how did science advance the investigation to its conclusion and who was the man who allegedly committed the crime?

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

Sources:

1. The United States Department of Justice Amerithrax Investigative Summary

2. Anthrax In America: A Chronology and Analysis of the Fall 2001 Attacks via the Center for Counterproliferation Research (CCR)

3. Fifth person dies from anthrax by Deborah Josefson

4. Widow who died of anthrax laid to rest via CNN

5. Total decontamination cost of the anthrax letter attacks by Ketra Schmitt and Nicholas A Zacchia

6. The Ottilie W Lundgren Memorial Field Hospital via CT.gov

7. The Last Mysterious Days of Anthrax Victim Kathy Nguyen by Bridget Harrison

Please contact us with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram and TikTok. Also - Facebook and Threads

Follow Lynne on Instagram @lynnedoodles555

Turns out, a tragic national crisis is a big story. This week, in Anthrax, Part 2, Lynne will detail the reasons why anthrax is a major bioterrorism concern and then will get through the events of the first month of the attacks in fall 2001. Next week - the story continues.

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

Sources:

1. Anthrax: a continuing concern in the era of bioterrorism by Stefan Riedel

2. How To Weaponize Anthrax? By Ufuk Dizer, Levent Kenar, Mesut Ortatatli, and Turan Karayilanoglu

3. Bioterrorism Agents/Diseases via the CDC

4. Biological Weapons Convention via the United Nations

5. Administering the Anthrax Vaccine via the CDC

6. Amerithrax or Anthrax Investigation via the FBI

7. Anthrax In America: A Chronology and Analysis of the Fall 2001 Attacks via the Center for Counterproliferation Research (CCR)

8. Anthrax: In a Time of Terror via the Smithsonian National Postal Museum

9. How it Really Happened Season 8 Episode 3 via Max

10. Anthrax Weaponization via Wikipedia

11. 2001 Anthrax Attacks via Wikipedia

12. Death of Robert Stevens via Wikipedia

13. Mary Morris talking about her late husband Thomas Morris Jr. via Story Corps

14. The Anthrax Mail Attack: Postal Workers on the Front Line by Nancy Pope

15. Postal worker suspected he had anthrax via CNN

16. A Nation Challenged: The Victim; Postal Worker Felled by Anthrax Is Remembered by Elizabeth Becker

17. Neighbors mourn postal worker via CNN

18. Short Audio Clip: Mr. Monk and the Leper: Season 5, Episode 10; Mr. Monk speaking (Tony Shalhoub)

Please contact us with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok...and YouTube.

Follow Lynne on Instagram @lynnedoodles555

In part one of this series on anthrax, Lynne will answer last week’s question about why scientists in the second half of the 1800s were so interested in studying the bacteria responsible for anthrax. But also, she will explain how the bacteria works, how it can infect humans, how it causes life-threatening and fatal illness, and how it is treated. As a bonus, Helen explains the terms “gram positive” and “gram negative” bacteria.

Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.

Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.

Sources:

1. Anthrax: A disease of biowarfare and public health importance by Ajay Kumar Goel

2. Review of anthrax: A disease of farm animals by Emtaj Alam MD et. al.

3. Current Status and Trends in Prophylaxis and Management of Anthrax Disease by Vladimir Savransky, Boris Ionin, and Joshua Reece

Please contact us with questions/concerns/comments at defunctdoctorspodcast@gmail.com. @defunctdoctorspodcast on Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Threads, YouTube, and TikTok

Follow Lynne on Instagram @lynnedoodles555