Health by Serrano, M.D.

09/03/2026

🚨 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘.

Yesterday, I prescribed a patient a 𝟮𝟱𝗺𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 — the amount and dose I determined they needed.

Insurance denied it and wanted a prior authorization.

But then the pharmacy told us something unbelievable:

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝟎 𝐦𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝟗𝟎-𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬. 🤯

So let me understand this…

💊 The lower dose? 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱.
💊 The higher dose? 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱.
💊 Ten days? 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.
💊 Ninety days? 𝗡𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

At a time when our country continues to struggle with medication misuse and substance abuse, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭?

Insurance companies should not be pushing prescribing decisions in the opposite direction of good clinical judgment.

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲.

Sometimes the best prescription is exactly what your doctor prescribed in the first place. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼, 𝗠𝗗.🩺

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀. 𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
That’s how medicine should work.

08/24/2026

POV: The Doctor is Injured but the Day Must Go On!

08/14/2026

Truth!

🥊 DR. SERRANO vs. AI HEALTH

𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝟮: “𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?” 📸

Snap a photo. Send it online. Get 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒. Sounds convenient… but is it a diagnosis?

A picture can show what something looks like—but it 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 check your vital signs, 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 you, feel a lump, 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 to your lungs, 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, or recognize what might be happening beyond the image. 🌀

👩‍⚕️ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 is more than a 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑚.

𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 has its place. But when 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, a picture should 𝗻͟𝗲͟𝘃͟𝗲͟𝗿͟ replace a 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

AI Health (like the one that sounds like schmamazon): 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡.

𝗗𝗿. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼: 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗬𝗢𝗨. 🩵

🥊 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁.

08/14/2026

🥊 DR. SERRANO vs. AI HEALTH

𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝟮: “𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?” 📸

Snap a photo. Send it online. Get 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒. Sounds convenient… but is it a diagnosis?

A picture can show what something looks like—but it 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 check your vital signs, 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 you, feel a lump, 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 to your lungs, 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, or recognize what might be happening beyond the image. 🌀

👩‍⚕️ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 is more than a 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑚.

𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 has its place. But when 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, a picture should 𝗻͟𝗲͟𝘃͟𝗲͟𝗿͟ replace a 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

AI Health (like the one that sounds like schmamazon): 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡.

𝗗𝗿. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼: 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗬𝗢𝗨. 🩵

🥊 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁.

08/13/2026

08/12/2026

🚛 Have you heard of the 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗽 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝘄?

It's a 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 thing!

08/11/2026

I'm genuinely happy to see Medicare expanding coverage for GLP-1 medications. It's a 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 win for many patients, but it also makes me ask...

𝐖𝐡𝐲 do we wait until people are 65 for a GLP-1 to be covered?

As a physician, I 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 diabetes. I want to 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 it.

Every day I see patients with obesity, prediabetes, insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and PCOS who could benefit from early treatment, yet the insurance denies treatment because there is no Diabetes Diagnosis. Our healthcare system often pays for treating chronic disease more readily than preventing it.

Imagine how many heart attacks, strokes, cases of diabetes, and years of suffering we could prevent if we invested in people before they became seriously ill.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻; 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱.

08/06/2026

🩵Many of us have a few extra cans or pantry items at home. If you are able, please consider donating to help one of our patients and her family during this difficult time. Every donation, no matter how small, can make a meaningful difference. Let’s come together and support one another with kindness, compassion, and love. God bless you all. 🙏🥫💛

08/05/2026

⛔ Not sure you are 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 for this....

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹- the 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱, the 𝗕𝗮𝗱 and the 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆... (Part 3)