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A croaky voice and mucus might signify a type of acid reflux

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: Can you give me information about laryngopharyngeal reflux? I develop a croaky voice at times and have lots of mucus in the morning (which doesn’t get coughed up), among other things. Is diet alone enough to remedy the problem? I’m going in for a vocal cord vibration test. — M.M. ANSWER: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is when the acid in the stomach doesn’t stay where it belongs and goes backward into the esophagus. There’s a structure called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) that’s supposed to keep the acid in the stomach, but sometimes it ...

The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Columns

I’m allowing myself to believe that sane people may be in charge of Congress starting next Jan. 20. I know, I know: Polls have gotten our hopes up before only to have them dashed on the rocky shores of political reality. But this time it does seem as if congressional Republicans will finally get their comeuppance for their blind loyalty to Trump. The sense of relief in the land is palpable. We may soon witness the beginning of the end of this daymare — unless Trump goes full-throttled dictator and prevents votes for Democrats in the Senate and House from being ...

A botched execution shakes our attitudes toward the death penalty

Columns

Almost a week after receiving a double shot of a lethal execution drug, Christa Pike woke up in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital, handcuffed to a bed and, according to one of her lawyers, “angry and confused.” Indeed, anger and confusion is pretty much where this horrifying episode leaves most of the rest of us, regardless of where we stand on the volatile issue of capital punishment. The details of the execution attempt and its aftermath are appalling, compounded by the fact that Pike’s lawyers had warned that she suffered from a blood-clotting condition that makes any ...

Stop the hysteria over Flock cameras

Columns

In the bad old crime days of New York City, I spent a Christmas Eve waiting outside an emergency room. Our foursome had been violently robbed in a subway station, and I was eager for the doctor’s report on one member who’d suffered a concussion fighting off a mugger. Because someone got hurt, city detectives took the case seriously. They interviewed us and urged a trip to transit authority headquarters to look at mugshots. We did. Desperate to nail the two attackers, I gazed over page after page of faces. If this happened today, subway and street cameras would have identified ...

Dear Annie: Still haunted by high school

Columns

Dear Annie: This might seem a little weird for a 78-year-old man, but this really bothers me. When I was in elementary and high school, I wasn’t liked by many of my fellow students. I was shy, a bit awkward and the target of bullying. I never fit in, and I thought high school would never end. Things were better in college. I graduated and went on to stand out in my profession, receiving honors and positive attention from my peers. It was the opposite of my high school experience. I’ve only attended one high school class reunion, and that evening was the longest three hours of ...

Sexual assault survivors’ stories may shift over time – a psychologist explains why it doesn’t mean they’re lying

Columns

If a person’s story changes in the weeks following an alleged sexual assault, are they not telling the truth? It’s a criticism I’ve seen on social media and heard in the public conversation surrounding the lawsuit filed in September 2026 by a plaintiff known as Jane Doe, a former student at Cornell University, accusing seven male students of rape. Initially, Doe discussed events with a friend but reportedly didn’t identify them as assault. It wasn’t until weeks later, when her experience was labeled as a gang rape by others, that she came forward to ...