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Review of The Clinic by Cate Quinn

01.22.2024 by Jen Ryland // Leave a Comment

A thriller set at an exclusive rehab? What did The Clinic add to the very crowded locked room subgenre? I will reveal all! Check out my Review of The Clinic by Cate Quinn with protected spoilers!

Written and edited by Jen Ryland . Last updated on:

The Clinic by Cate Quinn

To be published on January 23, 2024 by Sourcebooks Landmark. Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy used to write my honest review.

Plot Summary for The Clinic by Cate Quinn

Meg survived a tough childhood. She now has a job catching scammers in a Las Vegas casino, a job that has landed her in stressful situaitons and made her dangerous enemies.

When Meg learns that her older sister Haley, an up-and-coming pop star, has died in rehab, she decides to check herself in and investigate.

Meg is hooked on opioids, making her the perfect candidate for a visit to …. the Clinic. But will she come out alive?

Jen’s Quick Take on The Clinic by Cate Quinn

• Rehab setting
• A sister story
• Celebrity element , as the Clinic is for famous people
• Locked room element
• A surprising amount of psychological depth and insight

Review of the Clinic by Cate Quinn

The cover of The Clinic is giving me Sanatorium vibes , and there are parallels. The Sanatorium was a police procedural + family story + past trauma story, and The Clinic also has family elements and discusses trauma a fair amount.

The book is told from two POVs : from Cara, the manager of the clinic, and Meg, the sister of the murder victim.

One of my quirks as a reader is that I am fascinated by books set in rehab. I just sat down and made a list of some of my favorites. The Clinic felt a little like Girl, Interrupted plus a murder mystery , and I enjoyed that aspect of the story, as odd as it might sound.

In the afterward, the author says that she spent time in rehab, which would explain the fact that the setting wasn’t just an unusual backdrop. The book spent a good deal of time talking about the connections between life trauma and addiction/substance abuse/alcohol abuse in pretty insightful ways.

However, The Clinic is definitely fiction. When you think about it, rehab or a medical facility is an ideal setting for a locked room mystery. The patients are stuck there and might be going through withdrawal or treatments that lead them to question their perceptions of reality.

I did predict one aspect of the plot, and I’d also add that things got a little wacky at the end. But all in all, this book was pleasant surprise to me and I enjoyed the ride!

Spoilers for The Clinic by Cate Quinn

To see the SPOILERS below (and to protect those readers who HATE spoilers) you will need to enter your email. By doing so, you agree to be added to my email list and receive weekly updates about new books you’ve got to try! If you’ve already peeked at spoilers by setting up a Grow account you should still be logged in. If you are having any issues PLEASE leave a comment as I want to help!

So, there were a few reveals:

“Jade” is actually Meg’s sister Haley in disguise. This is something I suspected, because of the emphasis on how quickly “Haley” was cremated.

Then things got WAY weirder. The reason Meg didn’t recognize that Jade was her sister was because Dr. Lutz, the director of the clinic, was planning a new business helping criminals stage their deaths.

Using fugu (Japanese pufferfish that had been processed to put the body in a deathlike state) Haley’s death was staged, her body was swapped for another one, and then Dr. Lutz gave her plastic surgery.

Haley was the one leaving threatening notes for Meg. She also killed Tom, because he realized her real identity.

Dr. Lutz and Haley corner Meg, seemingly intending to kill her. He starts to shock Meg with a live cable.

Meg appeals to Haley about Princess Jade, the heroine that Haley named her fake self after.

Haley puts the other end of the live cable on herself, but because she was standing on plastic, she survived.

Cara is put in charge of the clinic and is told that the death of Dr. Lutz was ruled an accident.

Meg goes into therapy.

Do you have questions or observations or opinions about the book? Leave them in comments. Spoilers are fine!

About Jen Ryland

Over 12 years of book blogging and reviewing, I have read over 1500 books. A fair and honest reviewer who loves book discussions, I'm here to help you find a book you'll love to read AND give you a place to talk about it and ask questions. Find me on Instagram and Pinterest as @jenryland!

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The Clinic Reviews

Midi Z is a master of the docudrama, even to a level that makes an actual documentary also function as a drama, and “The Clinic” is a definite testament to the fact.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5 | Mar 16, 2024

It is a film that offers little in the way of explanation or commentary, but invites the viewer to observe, absorb and contemplate the anguish of a country in turmoil.

Full Review | Nov 18, 2023

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While traveling across country with her fiancé, Beth wakes alone in an isolated clinic to find her unborn baby has been removed. Just how far will she go to get her child back? While traveling across country with her fiancé, Beth wakes alone in an isolated clinic to find her unborn baby has been removed. Just how far will she go to get her child back? While traveling across country with her fiancé, Beth wakes alone in an isolated clinic to find her unborn baby has been removed. Just how far will she go to get her child back?

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Cate Quinn follows up BLACK WIDOWS with THE CLINIC, a sinister thriller set on the damp, foggy Oregon coast where an exclusive rehab clinic is perched on a cliff at the edge of the woods. It caters to the rich and famous. Discretion is their most valuable attribute. At least that’s what its pampered patients believe. But something else goes on behind the triple-locked doors. That secret something could be the reason the facility needs to draw a certain kind of addict --- the type with enough money to fund the questionable research to which Dr. Lutz, the clinic’s owner, has fanatically devoted his life, and enough influence to ensure his methods remain undiscovered.

"The twists are endless, both in the corridors of the creepy old building and in the plot.... By the end, your head will be spinning after the number of curve balls and derailments Cate Quinn throws at you."

One night, there’s a report of a suicide at the clinic. Haley Banks, a wildly popular celebrity, has died. Just before her death, Haley had contacted her sister Meg, but the call was not picked up. Meg, an undercover cop working at an LA casino --- and something of an addict herself --- has had an on-again/off-again relationship with Haley. When she hears that Haley died by suicide while in treatment, Meg doesn’t believe it for a second. Haley just wouldn’t do that; she valued her reputation far too much to kill herself. And after listening to her sister’s final voicemail, Meg suspects a far darker scenario.

Having hit something of a low point in her job anyway, Meg takes leave and pulls some strings to get admitted to the clinic in order to covertly investigate. She has no intention of going sober; that’s just her cover. Smuggling Jack Daniels inside turns out to be impossible, but Meg still manages to hide some oxy. It has been so long since she faced the world daily without alcohol and/or drugs that she doesn’t realize the haze in which she’s been operating. So only half-sober, poking around the clinic while a killer is loose, proves more treacherous than she had imagined. Once she hits withdrawal, separating reality from mind warp becomes more than a mere challenge.

While the clinic uses many unconventional treatment methods, the current patients don’t seem to find them suspicious. They go about each day as if it were the norm. Meg, of course, has serious doubts. Much of what goes on inside appears fishy at best. What has she gotten herself into? This is a woman who knows how to operate incognito. After all, she did it regularly at the casino. But can she stay in character as the doctors probe and pry, especially if they ply her with medication? Well, she’s already committed to this, so let’s see how it plays out. She’s been in situations before that nearly killed her. Will this be the one that succeeds?

Meg does have backup in the form of her friend, Harry. He’s far away, though, off in another state. Local police have been involved as well. But Dr. Lutz has thwarted their efforts at every turn. And now he’s electrified the fence surrounding the grounds. It appears that he always stays one step ahead. Locked in with a suspected killer may not have been Meg’s best move.

The twists are endless, both in the corridors of the creepy old building and in the plot. As soon as one revelation comes along, a giant bite is taken out of it, leaving it dangling. Then another one emerges. But it, too, is shot down. By the end, your head will be spinning after the number of curve balls and derailments Cate Quinn throws at you. THE CLINIC is made even more intriguing by the authenticity with which it’s written. A rehab alum, Quinn writes from experience. As she says in her Author’s Note, this is the first book she has written sober. Wow.

Reviewed by Kate Ayers on January 27, 2024

The Clinic by Cate Quinn

• Publication Date: January 23, 2024
• Genres: Fiction , Psychological Suspense , Psychological Thriller , Suspense , Thriller
• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• ISBN-10: 1728293987
• ISBN-13: 9781728293981

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Film review: the clinic (2010).

Killion 09/13/2018 Film Reviews

Set on Christmas Eve in 1979 a young engaged couple named Beth and Cameron are traveling to Beth’s house for the holidays. The couple stop at a local motel after almost being run off of the road by a speeding truck, but that is the least of their worries. In a matter of a few hours Beth is going to find out some of the sordid details of her past….the hard way.

Directed by: James Rabbiits Starring: Tabrett Bethell, Freya Stafford, Andy Whitfield

“She’s bound to turn up sooner or later.”

James Rabbiits’s film The Clinic defies any true aspect of the horror genre since it mixes so many of them together into a nice little c**ktail of an Australian import. The story behind The Clinic takes aspects from a lot of the current trend of “survival splatter” horror films, yet it also throws in a large part of the “slasher” sub genre and even some emotional terror are all mixed together for a film that belongs on any fan of modern horrors shelf.

The Clinic starts by introducing its viewer to the two main characters Beth and Cameron. The young couple are engaged and traveling across country to Beth’s mothers house for the Christmas holiday. The couple are obviously in love, and Beth is obviously very pregnant. While the couple are driving a large truck suddenly comes into view. It doesn’t take very long before the truck is right behind the young couples car and they are soon ran off of the road.

The couple calm their nerves and decide that they should probably stop for the night and get some rest before they head further into their trip. Beth and Cameron soon stop at a local motel and get a room. The clerk of the motel is the stuff that horror films are made of. He makes snide comments and undresses Beth with his eyes in front of an enraged Cameron, but soon the couple are given the room and finally get a moment to truly relax.

Beth however finds it hard to relax when they are in the motel, mainly due to a horrific reoccurring nightmare she keeps having that involves their unborn baby and large roman numerals which fill with blood as the baby screams. The nightmare sequences though ballsy do tend to look rather videogameish however due to the use of cgi blood, this is understandable however since the scene does involve an infant. Cameron also has a hard time sleeping after Beth wakes up and decides to go into the small town in an effort to find some food.

While Cameron is in town he finds that everywhere is closed and that his search for food was in vain. When he decides to give up and head back to the motel room however he finds that their car will not start. Frustrated Cameron makes his way back to the motel on foot, when he finally makes it back to the room he finds that Beth has vanished.

Beth’s situation isn’t any better however when she suddenly wakes up in a bathtub full of ice and the wound from a back alley c-section on her stomach in what could be one of the truly most horrific scenes I have seen in quite some time.

Like I said earlier in this review James Rabbiits film takes a lot of aspects from the genre and mixes them all together into a smart little package. Beth finds herself in “The Clinic” and finds that she is not alone, there are other women trapped inside of the same compound and just like Beth all of them were pregnant when they first were incarcerated. The scenes involving these women can be tough for some to watch as the women do eventually find their infants but realize in horror that none of them even know which baby is really theirs. This leads up to another aspect of the genre when a new woman is introduced at the compound, a woman who brutally kills anyone who gets in her way in her attempt to learn which infant is in fact hers.

Mr. Rabbiits doesn’t spend all of his time on Beth however, Cameron suffers with problems of his own and fans of the genre will love every minute of it. The creepy motel clerk was just the tip of the iceberg the viewer is even introduced to the crooked local sheriff who obviously has no idea what police brutality is. Andy Whitfield shines in these scenes and becomes a hero that a viewer actually wants to see rescue his girl.

It isn’t just characters that remind a viewer of such cult masterpieces such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. James Rabbiits has obviously seen a lot of genre films and puts references throughout including a great “escape from the room only to find that it is now daylight outside” moment.

All in All James Rabbiits The Clinic is definitely worth checking out, its got touchy subject matter, a great cast, some great gore gags (including a very wince inducing surgery scene) and a finale that will cause your jaw to drop….give this little import a try, you wont be disappointed.

The Clinic (2010)

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Book Review: The Clinic by Cate Quinn

By doreen sheridan.

Meg is used to living life undercover, working as she does catching crooks for a Los Angeles casino. Almost no one there even knows that she’s basically Hollywood royalty, the younger daughter of a famous actress as well as the younger sister of platinum-selling singing star Haley Banks. It helps that Meg is a social chameleon, a skill learned while surviving her nightmare childhood. While Meg wants little to do with her narcissist mother most days, her relationship with her sister is more tempestuous, as the two seem unable to break out of a cycle of fighting and staying estranged for weeks or months before finally reconciling.

They’re in one of these periods of estrangement when Meg hears, via Haley’s insistent texts, that Haley is back in rehab. The last thing Meg wants to do is talk about therapy, so she puts off responding. This is a choice she’ll regret when she inadvertently catches a news story informing her that her big sister is dead, the apparent victim of a suicidal drug overdose while staying at a fancy clinic in the Pacific Northwest.

Meg might be in denial about a lot of things, but she knows one fact with absolute certainty: Haley would never kill herself. With the help of her co-worker Harry, she goes undercover at the clinic, posing as a casino employee who wants to get clean. Of course, Meg has no intention of giving up the alcohol or painkillers that help her get through her days, and soon finds herself stymied by both the treatment program and the lack of solid leads.

Gently, Harry suggests that maybe trying to get clean and face her demons will actually help in her investigation. Being vulnerable towards her fellow patients, most of whom were present when Haley died, would encourage them to confide in her in return. Meg has to admit:

“That’s what my therapist keeps saying. Bond with the group. He wants me to read out this big honest statement saying all the messed-up stuff I’ve done.”   “So do it.” “I don’t know if I can. If I do the honesty statement, the next step is digging up childhood trauma. I’m not ready for that, Harry.”   “Haley was remembering childhood stuff in rehab, right?”   “Right.”   “So maybe you and Haley’s past […] is the key to what the fuck is going on.”   “What are you talking about, Harry?”   “You’re not going to like this, Meg. But to solve your sister’s murder, you might need to solve yourself.”

The more Meg investigates, the more she has to admit that Harry might actually be right. But as she begins to voluntarily allow the clinic to use its methods on her, orthodox or otherwise, the more alarmed she grows by what she discovers. Given the timing and accessibility required to have harmed her sister, Meg knows that one of her fellow patients must have been Haley’s killer. The more secrets she uncovers about the clinic itself, however, the more she begins to worry that someone else might have malevolent intentions towards them all.

Meg isn’t the only one at the clinic with secrets or concerns. The live-in manager, Cara, is rigid and loyal to her employer, the mysterious Dr. Lutz. While Cara wants to follow his instructions to the letter, the interest of the local police causes her allegiance to waver, especially in the face of the cheerful inquisitiveness of the disarming Officer Meyers, who’s clearly done her research when she brings up Cara’s last job:

[“]They couldn’t fire you. You refused to leave. So they shuffled you into a deadbeat hotel and hoped you’d quit of your own accord.”   “Thanks for the summary.” I give her my best icy smile. “Where I come from, people keep their internet stalking to themselves.”   “Oh, I come from a big family of oversharers,” Meyers says happily. “I also saw that you turned the hotel around,” she beams, oblivious to my displeasure. “Made friends with the hobos. Started turning a profit. Good for you.[”]

Cara’s efficiency and determination are only two of the reasons she was brought in to run the clinic. But will these exemplary qualities aid or hamper Meg’s quest to uncover the truth about what happened to her sister?

This thriller holds some wild surprises, as Meg finally processes her suppressed memories of the past and gets to the bottom of not only what the clinic is doing, but what really happened to Haley. The depictions of addiction withdrawal and the way the famous patients deal with their traumas are all presented viscerally: it’s hard not to root for all of them, even knowing the terrible things they’ve done and that one of them is definitely a murderer. Cate Quinn draws from her own experiences, and it shows in the empathy and care she uses in writing this fascinating page-turner, that dives deep into family trauma and emotional repression and the ways people learn to cope with their pasts in order to survive.

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When Violence Was What the Doctor Ordered

Adam Shatz’s “The Rebel’s Clinic,” a new biography of the psychiatrist and revolutionary Frantz Fanon, aims to restore complexity to a man both revered and reviled for his militancy.

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THE REBEL’S CLINIC: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon , by Adam Shatz

Rhetoric that is polemical, that is caustic, that is ruthlessly extreme is potent in one sense yet vulnerable in another. It seizes attention and attracts acolytes; it is memorable and therefore memeable. But such strength can also be brittle. Writers who deploy it are susceptible to being cherry-picked and caricatured. They get enlisted in disparate causes and excerpted in college syllabuses. They become icons — whether to be smashed or revered.

I kept thinking about this paradox while reading “The Rebel’s Clinic,” Adam Shatz’s absorbing new biography of the Black psychiatrist, writer and revolutionary Frantz Fanon. In the decades since his death in 1961, Fanon has become that figure of double-edged distinction: an “intellectual celebrity,” as Shatz puts it, whose writing has been recruited for “a range of often wildly contradictory agendas” — secular and Islamist, Black nationalist and cosmopolitan — each trying to claim his uncompromising energy for its own.

For all his unwavering radicalism, he led a roving existence. He was born on the French Caribbean island of Martinique in 1925 and died, at 36, in a hospital in Bethesda, Md., in what he had called “the country of lynchers.” In between, he fought the Nazis in France, directed a psychiatric hospital in Algeria and eventually became a spokesman for that country’s National Liberation Front, known as the F.L.N., in its war against French colonial rule.

He was both a militant and a doctor, someone who promoted a “belief in violence” while also practicing a “commitment to healing.” An acquaintance recalls being struck by Fanon’s compassion: “He treated the torturers by day and the tortured at night.”

Fanon’s French secretary told Shatz that she hated seeing Fanon “chopped into little pieces,” arguing that those who tried to isolate one part of the man and his work “missed the indissoluble whole.” Shatz’s book is an attempt to restore a sense of fullness to Fanon, whom he largely, though not unconditionally, admires.

Fanon could be “vain, arrogant, even hotheaded.” In his first book, “Black Skin, White Masks” (1952), he derided homosexuality and wondered about “women who just ask to be raped.” During the last months of his life, while dying of leukemia, he wrote “The Wretched of the Earth” (1961). It depicted violence committed by colonial subjects against their oppressors as not only a matter of strategy, but also a psychological boon.

“Violence is a cleansing force,” Fanon wrote. (Shatz says that the line is better translated as “violence is dis-intoxicating.”) “It rids the colonized of his inferiority complex, of his passive and despairing attitude.” This was the kind of incendiary declaration that made some readers, including those who were politically sympathetic, recoil. The left-wing journalist Jean Daniel wrote a positive review in L’Express while confiding his revulsion to his diary: “a terrible book, terribly revealing, a terrible harbinger of barbaric justice.”

Shatz, the United States editor for The London Review of Books, is a mostly steady hand in turbulent waters. His chosen title highlights a side of Fanon that often gets eclipsed by the larger-than-life image of the zealous partisan — that of the caring doctor, one who was a “painstaking, diligent reformer in his day-to-day practice as the director of a mental hospital,” and, eventually, of a secret clinic for Algerian rebels. (David Macey’s 2001 biography offers more detail on Fanon’s upbringing in Martinique.)

At his hospital in Algeria, Fanon recognized the therapeutic importance of communal belonging and everyday activities. He paid attention to details, even down to the quality of the food, telling his staff that the patient who complains about the fare is “developing the sense of a taste for nuance.”

But at the same time, Fanon was becoming radicalized. When the F.L.N. launched a war for independence in 1954, French colonial forces reacted with unbridled brutality. At his clinic for rebels, Fanon treated victims of interrogation who had been waterboarded, violated with bottles or shocked with electrodes affixed to their genitals.

France liked to talk a big game of liberal ideals, but Fanon viewed the notion of cooperation between colonizer and colonized as just a fig leaf for domination. The occupation was maintained by violence; Fanon the doctor was seeing the horrific consequences up close. He berated a French friend for leaving Algeria. “I don’t want it to be beautiful,” Fanon wrote in a letter, presumably about what would come next. “I want it to be torn through and through.”

And it would be torn through and through, even if Fanon didn’t live long enough to see everything that happened. Expelled from Algeria in 1957, after his hospital’s involvement with the rebels had been exposed, he moved with his wife and son to Tunis, where he served as a loyal propagandist for the F.L.N., as it became ever more authoritarian and paranoid. He stayed silent when the group assassinated a friend and fellow revolutionary. After a unit of the F.L.N. murdered more than 300 villagers in Melouza for the crime of supporting a rival rebel group, Fanon held the party line, publicly denying any responsibility.

Part of what gives “The Rebel’s Clinic” its intellectual heft is Shatz’s willingness to write into such tensions. But sometimes he tips into generosity when something tougher is needed. He acknowledges feminist critiques of Fanon, who was persistently drawn to “hard men” and talked about needing to be a “god” to his wife, a journalist known for her radical views. “Yet Fanon formed strong attachments with many of his female colleagues,” Shatz writes, a defense that gets perilously close to “some of his best friends were. …”

According to interviews conducted by the scholar Félix Germain for his 2016 book “Decolonizing the Republic,” Fanon would publicly hit his wife , saying, on at least one occasion, “I avenge myself.” Shatz steers clear of these disturbing allegations. Maybe his research debunked them, or called them into question. If so, it would have been good to know.

Because, of course, violence is a core part of “The Wretched of the Earth,” something that Shatz addresses head on, offering a smart, careful reading. He blames Jean-Paul Sartre’s notorious preface (“Violence, like Achilles’ spear, can heal the wounds it has inflicted”) for fixating on the book’s first chapter, “On Violence” — glorifying carnage without heeding Fanon’s call to channel such impulses “into a disciplined armed struggle.” Shatz directs our attention to Fanon’s last chapter, which includes wrenching case studies from his practice, involving both victims and perpetrators of violence. These show that even as Fanon wrote messianically about anticolonial violence, “he did not expect the psychological damage to be easily repaired.”

Shatz points to this “striking ambivalence” in a work of otherwise “militant self-certainty.” He is right, even if he emphasizes it more than Fanon’s book does. When a text begins with a lyrical exaltation of decolonization’s “red-hot cannonballs and bloody knives,” ending it with some case studies does little to tamp down the blast radius. Violence, whether in word or in deed, overwhelms. It crushes ambivalence — after all, that’s exactly what violence is supposed to do.

While writing the book in his final months, Fanon traveled to the United States for treatment with the help of the C.I.A., which was apparently eager to demonstrate American good will so that Algeria wouldn’t fall under Soviet influence. Shatz portrays a man whose penchant for “rhetorical extremity” could obscure how horrified he was by the brutality he had seen. Fanon left little by way of his private thoughts, so “his inner life will always elude us,” Shatz says. But in a rare journal entry, Fanon did allow this: “Not everything is so simple.”

THE REBEL’S CLINIC : The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon | By Adam Shatz | Farrar, Straus & Giroux | 451 pp. | $32

Jennifer Szalai is the nonfiction book critic for The Times. More about Jennifer Szalai

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Ticket clinic,never sold me on what…

Ticket clinic,never sold me on what they could do,explain what they were going to do,no promises,except ,doing all the paperwork,filing all court data,pleading a not guilty,form,by the end,my case was dismissed,very pleased,with their work,Miami 33184 fla

Date of experience : March 04, 2024

DEAR TICKET CLINIC LAWYERS

DEAR TICKET CLINIC LAWYERS I CAN VERY HONESTLY CONFESS YOU HAVE MADE MY LIFE SO VERY MUCH HAPPIER AND RELAZED EVERYTIME I GETA TICKET HOWEVER SMALL OR IMPORTANT I DO NOT HESITATE TO RUN TO YOUR OFFICE , WHY ? BECAUSE I TRUST YOU , I KNOW YOU WILL ALWAYS DO THE BEST TO HELP ME I FEEL PROTECTED THANK YOU VERY MUCH VIVIANE VENTURA

Date of experience : October 03, 2023

Upon being cited for an accident that…

Upon being cited for an accident that was not my fault, I contacted the Ticket Clinic for legal assistance. Hiring the clinic gave me instant relief as they requested information and a fee to be represented in court. What happened next was amazing. I was not found liable for the incident described on the traffic ticket issued; and the Court dismissed my case. I didn't even have to go to court. If anyone is cited with a ticket, call the Ticket Clinic. They work hard to help all citizens. Thank you Ticket Clinic!

Date of experience : October 08, 2022

I would highly recommend the ticket…

I would highly recommend the ticket clinic! They got all of my issues handled in court and everything against me was dropped! I did fix my expired registration ticket so that probably helped but the cop who pulled me over was quite intimidating basically making me feel like I would lose in court if I fought it. I’m glad I did and I’m glad I hired these guys!

Date of experience : July 28, 2023

#1 in Service

Ticket Clinic has always and will always be my #1 for battling tickets in the state of Florida. In the unspoken world of quotas we are often at the unfair or unjust side of the law when it comes to violations. Ticket clinic has always been able to represent me with my best interest at hand. Thank you for your services.

Date of experience : July 30, 2023

dont waste your money

after paying $1500 the lawyer didn't show up the first 2 times and the 3rd they got me the exact same deal the court offered everyone that was there that day. when i told them that's not what we discussed they left the case to sit until i was called to court for contempt months later for not following the agreement the lawyer never tried to change or let me know i needed to do!! why pay for someone to waste your time. i missed 4 days of work and paid $1500 plus court fines etc of about $1040 for a simple speeding ticket! not worth the time or money at all.

Date of experience : December 15, 2023

"The Ticket Clinic is the no worry…

"The Ticket Clinic is the no worry clinic." The Ticket Clinic to me is the best in the business. You pay a nominal fee, and from that point you have no worries of having to go to court. No worries with parking fees around an always overcrowded courthouse and a hard to find parking space. No worries over cancelled court dates. Above all else, you walk away with the ticket dismissed. Oh what a relief it is.

Date of experience : May 17, 2023

I was pulled over by the CHP and given…

I was pulled over by the CHP and given a speeding ticket. My friend referred me to The Ticket Clinic and we called 3way. I paid the fee they requested after giving them the ticket information and they told me no guarantees but they would do their best. Three months approximately went by and they extended the first court date. Then at the next court date I got an email stating that my case was dismissed and no points were going on my record. Thank you The Ticket Clinic beyond words.

Date of experience : April 25, 2023

Professionalism and results

The Ticket Clinic has helped me to fight more than one traffic ticket, with satisfactory results. Every time that I go, they explained me in detail the steps to follow and what to expect. I have to dismissed tickets in two years. Thanks, The Ticket Clinic

Date of experience : September 07, 2023

Plead no contest - which basically means they put up no defense. Have to do driving school in addition to more fees, court costs and points. Driving school is not even a possible outcome on the ticket! This Judge basically hit us with everything possible because TOTAL LACK OF DEFENSE OR REPRESENTATION! We basically paid this company 400.00 to do nothing and say nothing and no contest gives Judge authority to do whatever he wants so we got more packed on just because our lawyer say go for it! We should have just gone back to FL, it would have been cheaper!

Date of experience : September 22, 2023

Still Had To Pay Hefty Fine

Was told by a representative of the Ticket Clinic that if I had no violations within 1 year in Seminole county the ticket would be dismissed. I hadn't had any violations of any kind in over a decade! Even though I didn't have to go to school or get any points I still had to wind up paying a hefty court fee which was about what the ticket was. It was a 'withheld adjudication' instead of a dismissal. I was hoping for a total 'dismissal!'

Date of experience : August 23, 2023

Ticket clinic the best lawyer in traffic tickets

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Date of experience : February 06, 2024

Positive experience with The Ticket Clinic…

I had a positive experience with The Ticket Clinic. I received updates via email anytime there was an update in my ticket dismissal process. They got my ticket dismissed, only thing is it took quite a long time to get it dismissed. Overall, still satisfied.

Date of experience : May 10, 2023

The Ticket Clinic is my go-to for any…

The Ticket Clinic is my go-to for any driving violation I receive. I recommend them. They are the best in the west. I recently got tagged for a speeding violation. Guess what happened to me?? ALL charges got dropped. Thank you Ticket Clinic.

Date of experience : August 16, 2023

Waste of time and money

Waste of time and money. Using their service will ultimately result in you paying not only their fees but also court costs. I paid $99 for their service to handle a $158 traffic violation that didn't have any points attached to the fine. Today, I received an email stating that the case has been settled, but now I'm ordered to pay $146.50 of court fees. It actually cost me more when you add their service cost and court fees. Better off showing up in court in person or paying the fine.

Date of experience : November 10, 2023

SCAM...LIARS

My minor son paid to have representation in court for a ticket related to car accident. I (mom) went to just see the process and NO ATTORNEY ever showed up. I actually stood before the judge representing my son since he was a minor and not present. Called to have his money refunded since HE HAD NO REPRESENTATION. Was told that the attorney Sergio Cruz Bar #21543 was at the hearing and that I spoke over him. Total lie! The only time I actually spoke was to tell the judge my association. Don't use this company! I will be reporting this attorney to the Florida Bar Association.

Date of experience : October 20, 2022

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON TICKET CLINIC!

I had the same horrible experience with the Ticket Clinic as a person who filed a complaint on here. I had received a citation for a speeding ticket in St Petersburg, Fl and contacted The Ticket Clinic online to get the fee waived or at least lowered. I had used Ticket Clinic in the past and was happy with their services. This time, not so much. There was a traffic hearing in court which they said i did not have to attend, their attorney would handle everything. So I didn't attend. I think their attorney didn't do too much of anything! They got the 'points removed' & withheld ajudication - big deal! I could have done that myself without paying them $100 for their help (this was actually offered as an option on the citation stating I could take a course online and have no points assessed etc!) I still had to pay the FULL AMOUNT of the citation - $256! They did not get it waived and they did not even get the amount lowered! I feel it was a waste of my money. I tried to contact their customer support to complain and ask for a refund of my $100 - NO ONE even replied to my email from that company! Horrible customer service! And now Horrible results too! SAVE YOUR MONEY! I don't recommend them and won't ever use them again!

Look for Attorney Jonathan Alford at traffic clinic!

Here's what I went through! I got rear-ended by a Toyota Tacoma, and PSL cop cited me for careless driving - it was wrongly evaluated. The truck driver has prior speeding tickets, has bald tires - no tread left, and distracted while driving. He himself told his GF about it! I contacted Traffic Ticket Clinic at 1502 SE Port St Lucie Blvd, Port St. Lucie, FL 34952..Since, I'm not getting any response from the office staff, I actually got hold of Attorney Jonathan Alford via google search engine. He was very helpful and reviewed my case and was able to get the case dismissed. I was also glad that the judge reviewed and looked at my driving record, and decided to dismiss it. She was very fair and balanced! One advice though! Be diligent coz some of the staff in the office could care less what you submit, and when you submit all your paper work, it doesn't mean the attorneys will get it. So the negative feedback should go mostly to the staff processing the paper work. I actually went to the office to give the entire copy of documents, pictures, etc. and still Atty Alford didn't get any of the pictures! So if you want one of the very good attorneys at The Ticket Clinic contact Attorney Jonathan Alford instead! He was definitely a big help to me!

Date of experience : April 04, 2023

I have used them a couple of times in…

I have used them a couple of times in the past, and they have worked every time. I am sorry to hear that some people did not have the same type of experience that I had, but for me, this service has been nothing but incredible. I already live in an area that has high car insurance premiums, due to traffic, and I cannot afford to have a point on my record. Not only did I not have to pay the fine, but I also did not get a point on my record that will save me a ton of money on my monthly payments. It really is the gift that keeps on giving. I will absolutely use them again and again.

Date of experience : April 02, 2023

Attention consumers

Attention consumers: DO NOT use ticket clinic when getting a ticket. I got a ticket for $100. I sent it to this so called “ticket clinic” very poor service! They attorney didn’t fight for me. So I ended up paying double for a very minor infraction. If you want poor service with no results, then you can go ahead and use these incompetent attorneys. They charged me $99.95 plus the ticket amount of $100. Boycott ticket clinic!!!!!!

Date of experience : November 28, 2022

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This story featured in The White Review 18 , published in 2016.

On the way to the dental clinic they talk about going home for Christmas. It’s November and Marianne is having a wisdom tooth removed. Connell is driving her to the clinic because he’s her only friend with a car, and also the only person in whom she confides about distasteful medical conditions like impacted teeth. He sometimes drives her to the doctor’s office when she needs antibiotics for urinary tract infections, which is often. They are twenty-three.

Connell parks up around the corner from the clinic and the radio switches itself off. He has taken the morning off work to drive Marianne to the appointment, which he hasn’t told her. He’s doing it partly out of guilt. A week previously Marianne gave him head in his apartment and complained afterwards that her jaw hurt, and he was like, do you have to complain about everything all the time? Then they argued. They were both a little drunk.

Marianne remembers the incident differently. She remembers giving Connell head for a while on his sofa and then she stopped because her mouth hurt. He was pretty nice about it and they had sex on his couch instead. Only afterwards, when she started talking about her mouth again, did Connell say: you complain a lot more than other people. They were lying side by side on the sofa then. Marianne said, you mean your other girlfriends. And Connell said no, he meant people, as in everyone. He said no one he knew in any capacity complained as much as Marianne.

You don’t like hearing people complain because you’re incapable of expressing sympathy, Marianne said.

I already told you I was sorry the first time you complained.

You like women who don’t complain because you don’t want to see women as fully human.

Every time I criticise you, it turns into a thing about me hating women, he said.

Marianne started to sit up then. She gathered her hair into a roll and felt for a clip to put through it.

I find it suspicious, she said. That you always get into relationships with people you don’t actually talk to.

You’re upset and you’re taking it out on me now, he said. I’m not completely stupid.

She touched her hair with her hands to feel that it was in place and then lay back down beside him. It was a bad sofa, with a pattern of brown flowers.

Me, she said. You see me as a full human being. That’s why you’re not attracted to me.

Sexually, but not romantically.

She watched him looking up at the ceiling then. Their faces were very close together.

I guess if it was romantic I wouldn’t like you having other boyfriends, he said.

Although actually, you don’t.

I don’t like your taste in boyfriends, that’s different.

Do you want to know what happened with Daniel? she said. I told him I had a dream about getting married and he said, to me? And I said no, to my friend Connell. The rest of the argument wasn’t about you, it was about how I say things purposely to bother him because I enjoy making him feel bad about himself.

Marianne went home after that, wondering if she complained too much. By the time she got back to her apartment her whole head was aching. She took a bottle of gin from the inside of the fridge door and poured a little into her mouth experimentally. Rinsing the cold alcohol around her gums, a gigantic pain shot up the inside of her jaw and made her eyes water. She drooled the gin back out into her kitchen sink and started crying.

She went to the dental clinic on her own the next morning. On the way there she planned sensationalist things she could tell the dentist about the pain in her jaw. It’s not that bad most of the time, she imagined herself saying, but giving blowjobs is out of the question. Instead the dentist took a quick look at her mouth and prescribed a round of antibiotics for what he called a ‘truly nasty’ infection. I’m not surprised you’re in pain, the dentist said. That tooth is slicing through your cheek like butter. He scribbled something on a notepad and then looked up at her. Once the infection’s come down we’ll take it out for you no problem, he said. You won’t know yourself. Marianne takes significant personal pleasure in having her pain validated by professionals.

They are now the only two people in the upstairs waiting room of the dental clinic. The seats are a pale mint-green colour. Marianne leafs through an issue of National Geographic and explores her mouth with the tip of her tongue. Connell looks at the magazine cover, a photograph of a monkey with huge eyes. That night last week, Marianne had called him first to tell him that she and Daniel had broken up. Connell was in the bathroom when the phone rang and his flatmate Barry answered. When Connell came back, Barry said innocently: Hey, what’s the name of that rich girl you went to school with? You know, the one you like to fuck. Believing the query was sincere, Connell replied: Marianne, why? Then Barry tossed him the phone. She wants to talk to you, he said. When Connell lifted the phone he could already hear her laughing.

In the waiting room Connell is thinking about Lauren, his girlfriend of nearly ten months. She moved to Manchester in September and two weeks ago she slept with someone else when she was drunk. When she told him about it, his failure to feel anything unnerved him and he wondered whether he cared about her at all. For a few days he felt vaguely depressed and tired, and then he slept with Marianne, who accused him of not seeing women as ‘full human beings’. He realised then that he did not in fact see Lauren as a ‘full human being’, but as a minor character in his own life. For this reason, what she did offstage didn’t matter to him. After Marianne left that night, he opened a new tab on his browser and typed: Why can I not feel things.

The next morning, he called Lauren on Skype and told her he thought they should break up. She agreed with him, non-committally. We had fun, she said, but the long-distance thing was never going to work. This sketched trajectory of their relationship bore so little resemblance to anything he thought or felt that he just nodded and said: Yeah, exactly. He has not yet told Marianne about this Skype conversation. She’s had the whole drama with her tooth going on and he doesn’t want it to look like he made a major decision as a result of sleeping with her. Like butter, she says every time they talk. I’m in agony. Connell has actually missed the original import of the butter simile and now decides it’s late enough that he can ask.

What’s this butter thing you keep talking about? he says.

My cheek being like butter.

Your what? he says.

Remember the dentist said, that tooth is slicing through your cheek like butter.

Connell stares at her over the yellow rim of the National Geographic she’s holding.

Fuck, it’s physically slicing through your cheek? he says.

Have you not been listening to me? I’ve been talking about it for like a week.

I think I must tune you out sometimes.

She gazes back into the magazine, looking amused.

A life skill, she says.

So you know, I broke up with Lauren. I don’t know if you heard that.

For a moment she pretends to be engaged in reading. He can see she’s deciding what to do or say. The workings of Marianne’s mind become transparent to him in brief flashes like this before they recede again.

You didn’t mention, she says.

Yeah, well.

He coughs, though he doesn’t need to. This is a weakness and he knows that Marianne senses it, like blood in water.

When did all this go down? she says.

About a week ago.

She doesn’t perform the ‘aha’. She just closes the magazine and puts it back on the small glass table in one languid gesture. Connell swallows. What is he swallowing for? In school Marianne was ugly and everyone hated her. He likes to think about this sadistically when he feels she’s getting the better of him in conversation. In their last year of school he took her virginity and then asked her not to tell people, although he doesn’t actually feel very good about that any more. She just lay there like: why would I want to tell anyone? He finds this emblematic of something.

Marianne feels humiliated that Connell hasn’t told her about Lauren until now. She disguises these feelings by focusing a slow disdainful attention on her immediate surroundings. She wonders if Connell hasn’t told her because he finds her desperate. As a twenty-three-year-old Marianne is occasionally subject to the same dismal anxieties that characterised her adolescent life. Throughout school she was contemptuous of others, but simultaneously seized by a fear of other people’s contempt. Connell was the first person who really liked her, and even he wouldn’t speak to her in front of his friends. She did degrading things to retain his affection and pretended not to find them degrading. She stayed quiet in the background of his phone calls.

Yeah, I thought you would have heard, he says. It was one of these Skype breakups. Relatively relaxed as breakups go.

Lauren’s a relaxed girl.

That’s probably true. He looks out the window and attempts to yawn. He hates himself. He has no idea what Marianne is thinking. Compulsively and out of self-directed spite he thinks about the fact that all the time he and Lauren were together, he never made her come except by accident. With Marianne he has always found it gorgeously, stupidly easy. Of course he knows this means nothing.

Well, don’t worry, Marianne says. I know we’re both single now, but I’m not going to ask you to be my boyfriend.

Weirdly enough I wasn’t worrying about that.

The door opens then and a nurse comes out saying: Marianne? We’re ready for you. Marianne looks at Connell, and he looks back at her. Momentarily she hates him but the malice always dissipates. He doesn’t mean to touch this terrible need in her. With Daniel she felt so free and empowered, because she never took him seriously. His desire to hurt her only emphasised how much he relied on her. But Connell needs nothing and with him she feels powerless. She touches a hand to her face and follows the nurse into the surgery.

When the door closes, Connell gets up and walks to the window. He looks out over the street, at the tops of people’s heads going by. It’s a clear day, cold and blue like an ice pop. He’s trying not to think about Marianne in pain. He knows they’ll numb the necessary part of her mouth, but this agitates him also. Marianne doesn’t express fear of physical suffering. Connell has seen bad things happen to her. Still, it hurt him when she said she didn’t want to be his girlfriend, partly because of how gratuitous it was. He was never going to ask her anyway. He starts to chew on his thumbnail, until he can feel it become pulpy and twisted in his mouth.

At first he was just glad she had finally broken up with Daniel. He was one of these skinny graphic designers who wore thick-framed glasses and talked about gender a lot. Connell sat beside him in the bar at Marianne’s birthday and in lieu of conversation they watched the Bournemouth-Chelsea game on the big screen. Daniel asked: Does it really matter who wins or loses? Well kind of, said Connell. Bournemouth go back into the relegation zone if they lose this one. I meant on a philosophical level, Daniel said. That was a real conversation that happened between them. Daniel was laughing and saying: Masculinity is a fragile thing. Connell didn’t bring up some things he happened to know about Daniel’s proclivities. You’re the one who likes to tie her up and hit her with a belt, he didn’t say. I bet that makes you feel like a big guy.

Inside the surgery they have given Marianne an anaesthetic. The dentist sticks a sharp instrument into Marianne’s gum to see if she can feel it, and she can’t. Then he sets about removing the tooth. At first she can hear grinding. A glowing white lamp reflects into her eyes from the mirror above her, and the latex of the dentist’s gloves tastes sadomasochistic. Something is whirring, and a strange thin liquid is filling Marianne’s mouth. It does not taste like blood. Then she feels something slip down onto her tongue, something smooth and heavy, and suddenly she is sitting upright and the dentist is saying: spit it out! She spits something into the dentist’s hand. It is a small yellow part of her own body. Now she can taste blood, and something else. Her head hurts. The tooth glistens like cream in the dentist’s palm. Good woman, the dentist says. The tooth has fronds like an anemone. Marianne is trembling.

Connell is afraid that he is an emotionally empty person. He tries to look at the issue of National Geographic on the table, but he lacks focus and thinks recurrently about Marianne’s pain. Marianne involves herself in things that are bad for her. That’s an opinion Connell has that he feels guilty about. He knows that she attracts blame for things that aren’t her fault simply because of her tough personality. People have taken advantage of Marianne, but maybe she allowed that to continue when it didn’t have to. She told him some of the things Daniel made her do. She showed him things. I know it’s kind of fucked up, she said. I don’t enjoy it. And she laughed, he hated that she laughed.

The dentist packs Marianne’s mouth with gauze and gets her to bite down. She’s feeling woozy, as though the tooth is a sick child she has given birth to. She remembers that Connell is in the waiting room and feels a tidal gratitude which drenches her in sweat. The gauze rubs her numbed tongue and her eyes begin to prick with tears. The medical part of the procedure is over now. They scoop her out of the chair as if she’s a piece of newspaper.

The surgery door opens and Connell turns from the window. Marianne points idiotically at her mouth. They have given her the tooth in a jar and she rattles it at him. Her face is lopsided and misshapen like a deflating tent. He experiences certain feelings. In school he used to fantasise about making intellectual or witty remarks in front of Marianne. It’s a fantasy he still engages in compulsively during moments of stress. Her imaginary laughter soothes his nerves.

Are you all finished then? he says.

She nods, she tries to swallow. Her mouth feels wrong, she’s in the wrong body.

That was fast, he says. How are you feeling?

She shrugs. She feels the shudder that precipitates a sob and tries to repress this particular kind of ugliness. It’s too late. She’s crying. Clumsily she rubs her eyes, her nose, the numb abyss of her right cheek. She shrugs again. At least the crying is silent.

Connell has only seen Marianne crying once before, when they were teenagers. Her mother had a boyfriend then, called Steven. He came into Marianne’s room at night sometimes to ‘talk’. She went to Connell’s house one night after it happened and she cried and said: Sometimes I think I deserve bad things because I’m a bad person. He had never heard anyone talk like that. He felt sick, and from that moment the sickness would always be there, even if he couldn’t feel it. It was outside him then.

Let’s get in the car, he says.

In the car she’s small and lonely. In one hand she’s holding the jar with her tooth in it, and in the other hand she has a small roll of replacement gauze for her mouth. Placing both items into her lap carefully she reaches for the visor above her seat to look in the mirror.

I wouldn’t necessarily, he says.

She pauses with her hand on the mirror.

Do I look that bad? she says.

Her voice is muffled and thick.

You don’t look bad to me, he says, but you seem fragile now and I don’t want you freaking out.

At first he thinks Marianne is coughing, but then he realises he’s making her laugh.

So I look bad, she says. Why didn’t you tell me about Lauren?

He kneads the steering wheel under his hands. She watches him. She darts away the threat of a tear from her left eye, discreetly, with her sleeve.

This little speech you gave me, he says. About seeing women as human beings. It kind of disturbed me actually.

What, and that’s why you broke up with her?

In some complex way this question, combined with the fact that Marianne is visibly crying, excites him. He thinks, involuntarily, of her naked body. He considers it an image of vulnerability rather than something sexual, but it feels like both. He knows that she’s crying simply from a residual physical pain, which he doesn’t take any pleasure in. But her desire to be cared for touches him. A fantasy that beneath her cold exterior there’s something else.

She notices that he doesn’t immediately answer her question. He’s watching the traffic as if he’s thinking of something else. She hopes that her brash curiosity appears dismissive. This is one of many dynamic strategies she employs to conceal from Connell what she feels for him. What she feels is not easily expressed anyway. People love all kinds of things: their friends, their parents. Misunderstandings are inevitable.

You’re still crying, are you? he says.

The feeling is coming back now, she says. That’s all.

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What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Apple-Cider Vinegar Every Day

Is sipping on ACV really the cure-all people make it out to be?

Lauren is an award-winning registered dietitian, author of three books and all-around lover of good food. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in food science and human nutrition and a master's degree in clinical nutrition, Lauren has worked in various nutrition-related settings, most currently writing nutrition-related content for online outlets including Verywell Health, PopSugar, The Kitchn, and EatingWell. Additionally, she manages the Instagram page @LaurenLovesNutrition, where people can receive evidence-based nutrition tips and updates.

Emily Lachtrupp is a registered dietitian experienced in nutritional counseling, recipe analysis and meal plans. She's worked with clients who struggle with diabetes, weight loss, digestive issues and more. In her spare time, you can find her enjoying all that Vermont has to offer with her family and her dog, Winston.

• Health Benefits

Frequently Asked Questions

Apple-cider vinegar, often referred to as ACV, is a staple in many kitchens for its culinary properties, being an acidic addition to salad dressings , sauces and so much more. And in the wellness world, some people tout apple-cider vinegar as a natural Jack-of-all-trades remedy, suggesting that it can be a solution for many ailments, including digestive concerns, obesity and more.

Since being brought to market as an approachable natural remedy in the early 1900s by Dr. Paul C. Bragg (yes, the same name you see on many ACV bottles), this vinegar’s popularity in the wellness space has exploded in recent years, with half of all Americans saying that they currently are using or have used it for health and wellness reasons, per a 2022 poll conducted by Bragg Live Food Products, Inc .

This type of vinegar is made from the fermentation of apples. Once the apples are juiced, the liquid is fermented with bacterial and yeast cultures. This transforms the sugars in the apple juice into alcohol, and then to vinegar.

Some ACV varieties have “the mother” advertised on their label, which refers to the combination of yeast and bacteria formed during the fermentation process. This substance, which looks like a cloudy sediment, is often visible at the bottom of the bottle, and it is believed to be rich in health-boosting natural proteins, healthy bacteria and acetic acid.

ACV contains a variety of flavonoids, such as gallic acid, catechin, caffeic acid and ferulic acid, according to research in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies in 2021. When you consume ACV, you take in these compounds, which may be one reason why people experience certain positive health outcomes.

But what really happens if you drink apple-cider vinegar every day? Along with giving your taste buds an acidic zing, drinking it may provide your body with some impressive benefits.

What Happens If I Drink Apple-Cider Vinegar Every Day?

You may experience better blood sugar management.

Apple-cider vinegar is often hailed as a beneficial tool for blood sugar regulation, with some studies supporting its positive impact on glycemic control. The acetic acid found in apple-cider vinegar is believed to slow the digestion of carbohydrates, thereby reducing the rate at which sugars enter the bloodstream and helping to maintain more consistent blood sugar levels. It may also improve insulin sensitivity, which plays a key role in the body's ability to effectively use glucose for energy.

A systematic review and meta-analysis, published in the aforementioned BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies research, evaluated nine studies to determine whether ACV may affect blood sugar management. Results showed that consumption is linked to improved fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1C concentrations (a measure of your average blood sugar over three months). While results did not show that ACV impacts fasting insulin, the authors did conclude that ACV appears to be a safe natural supplement that may help control blood sugar.

It is important to note that, while promising, these effects should not be considered a replacement for medical treatment in individuals with diabetes.

You May Have Better Digestive Health

In addition to its potential role in blood sugar regulation, apple-cider vinegar is often touted for its beneficial effects on digestive health. The “mother” in apple-cider vinegar is a source of probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that contribute to a healthy gut microbiome. Probiotics support digestion and may even enhance nutrient absorption, according to a review in Cureus in 2022. Note that pasteurized ACV doesn’t contain live probiotics.

While many people report improvements in digestive health when consuming apple-cider vinegar, scientific studies on these effects are limited and more research is needed.

You May Lose Weight

Apple-cider vinegar is often cited as a natural tool for weight loss. The thought behind this claim primarily revolves around the presence of acetic acid, which some research, such as a review in Nutrients in 2019, says may suppress appetite.

A 2022 meta-analysis in Current Developments in Nutrition evaluated short- and long-term studies conducted on apple-cider vinegar and appetite and calorie intake. Results showed four of the six short-term studies reported that vinegar suppressed appetite. However, none of the long-term studies reported any appetite-suppressing benefit.

Apple-cider vinegar can complement a balanced diet and regular exercise to potentially support weight-loss goals. However, it is unlikely that adding this vinegar alone to the diet without other healthy lifestyle changes will make a major impact on one’s weight.

You May Benefit from Antimicrobial Properties

Apple-cider vinegar may have antimicrobial properties when it is consumed at full-strength concentrations. And some evidence suggests it may have antifungal activity as well.

The antimicrobial properties are likely due to the total phenolic contents of ACV, per data published in the International Journal of Microbiology in 2021. This study focused on the potential sanitizing properties of ACV. As for whether it can prevent or treat illness? That’s not as promising. So far, research has not shown that it’s effective against the influenza virus, per a study in 2019 in Natural Product Research .

You May Have Better Heart Health

Heart health can be a result of many factors, including some that are out of your control (like your family history). And when it comes to diet, including apple-cider vinegar in your routine may have some heart-health benefits, according to some (but not all) data.

Results from the earlier mentioned meta-analysis and systematic review showed that ACV consumption significantly decreased serum total cholesterol levels. And results of a 2023 randomized clinical trial in Frontiers in Clinical Diabetes and Healthcare evaluating the effects of consuming ACV among people with type 2 diabetes showed that consuming 30 milliliters of ACV per day for eight weeks resulted in a reduction in the LDL-to-HDL ratio, which is a positive heart-health outcome.

Risks and Precautions

While apple-cider vinegar has numerous potential health benefits, it's also essential to be aware of its potential risks and side effects. Topical application of undiluted apple-cider vinegar can lead to burns, irritation and discomfort due to its high acidity. And for those with stomach ulcers, consumption of acidic foods, like apple-cider vinegar, can exacerbate the condition.

Consumption of ACV may result in lower potassium levels, reports a 2020 review in the European Journal of Nutrition , which can result in heart-health concerns. ACV may also interact with certain types of drugs, potentially altering their effects on the body. Particularly, it may affect diabetes medications, diuretics and certain heart disease medications, according to the National Library of Medicine .

Certain groups of people should exercise caution when considering the use of apple-cider vinegar. Pregnant and breastfeeding women, for instance, should use it sparingly since there's insufficient research to confirm its safety during these periods. Individuals with diabetes, particularly those on insulin or other glucose-lowering medications, should monitor their blood sugar levels closely due to the vinegar’s potential to reduce blood sugar. People with a history of gastric ulcers or acid reflux may find that apple-cider vinegar exacerbates their symptoms.

“When taking ACV daily, it’s essential not to overdo it and stick with the recommended dose of 1 to 2 tablespoons,” says Melissa Mitri, RD , the New York City-based owner of Melissa Mitri Nutrition. Consuming more than that increases the risk of side effects, like gastrointestinal discomfort, and can affect tooth enamel, she says.

Can I drink apple cider vinegar?

Yes, you can drink apple cider vinegar—cold or hot. Either way, though, it should be diluted with water to cut down on some of the acidity going down your esophagus.

Is it better to drink apple-cider vinegar in the morning or at night?

The ideal timing of taking ACV is debatable. Some schools of thought suggest taking it in the morning can kick-start your day, and others suggest taking it at night may benefit blood sugar most effectively. Ultimately, you should consult with your healthcare provider to determine when you should take your ACV dose.

Another part of this debate is whether to take it before a meal or after. Some claim that it has more benefits when taken on an empty stomach. There is no clear-cut research on this. And some people become nauseated when taking it on an empty stomach. So, again, consult with your healthcare provider about the best timing for you.

What benefits does apple-cider vinegar provide for the body?

While more data is needed to definitively say that ACV offers health benefits, some data suggests that it may help support healthy blood sugar levels, weight-management goals and heart health. It may also have antimicrobial effects.

Does apple-cider vinegar burn belly fat?

Apple-cider vinegar is often marketed as a tool for weight loss, including burning belly fat. While ACV may help you feel fuller and consume fewer calories, the relationship between ACV and fat burning, especially belly fat, has not been proven.

Is there an apple-cider vinegar drink that makes it easier to get down?

Yes! Try our Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic , which combines apple cider vinegar with other healthy ingredients, like green tea, maple syrup and fresh ginger.

Can apple-cider vinegar clean out your liver?

There’s a popular belief that apple-cider vinegar can “cleanse” or “detox” the liver, helping it to function more efficiently. Some proponents of this theory suggest that the acids in ACV can bind to toxins and help the body eliminate them more effectively. However, it’s crucial to mention that such claims are not backed by solid scientific evidence.

The Bottom Line

Apple-cider vinegar is a trendy addition to a healthy diet, with some claims suggesting that ingesting it every day can support healthy blood sugar levels, weight-management goals and more. While many of the health benefits linked to this liquid are based on anecdotal experiences, there is limited but emerging data to support some of these claims.

As long as you get the green light to include apple-cider vinegar in your diet from your health care provider, taking it in appropriate doses comes with little risk, and you may experience health benefits, too.

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Cleveland Clinic leans into AI to stay atop care needs

When it comes to artificial intelligence, Cleveland Clinic is focusing on how to use the technology to better evaluate its patients and to drive greater caregiver efficiencies.

"The better we can risk stratify our patients, the better we can forecast who's at higher risk of something versus not," Rohit Chandra, PhD, chief digital officer of Cleveland Clinic, told Becker's . "This has a dual benefit because it enables us to focus our energies and resources on the patients that need us the most and because of that, we can actually drive better outcomes."

For example, sepsis, which according to Dr. Chandra takes the lives of roughly 300 people in the U.S. every day, is one area where Cleveland Clinic believes AI can help. The organization recently launched a pilot across 1,000 beds designed to leverage AI to determine how the technology can help predict the onset of sepsis with the aim of providing timely interventions for patients.

"The key to saving lives with sepsis is early detection and early intervention, but there's no single black-or-white test that you can do. You have to look at a multitude of factors that can predict the onset of sepsis and potential upcoming organ failure, and hours matter," Dr. Chandra said. "With the pilot, we're trying to look at all of the different patient vital signs, physician notes and see how we can improve our ability for detection." 

Beyond patient care, Cleveland Clinic is exploring AI-powered scribes to streamline documentation. 

At the health system, physicians spend an average of 45 minutes a day on documentation, Dr. Chandra said, adding that the time commitment is as much as two and a half hours a day for some specialties. 

"Anything and everything that we can do to reduce this burden is a no-brainer," he said. "Because if you improve this, you improve patient experience, you improve the physician experience and you improve efficiency because they're getting more time back to see more patients." 

By using AI as a forecasting tool, Cleveland Clinic seeks to maximize the efficiency of its facilities and staff, ultimately enhancing access to care for more patients.

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‘What if I’m going to die?’ Bianca Balala risked it all to get a body that matches her gender identity

By Mailee Osten-Tan and Prim Chuwiruch Corben for CNN

Trigger warning: This story contains graphic content and may be disturbing.

Editor’s note: This story is part of  As Equals , CNN’s ongoing series on gender inequality. For information about how the series is funded and more, check out  our FAQs .

Mindanao, Philippines and Bangkok, Thailand — By 8:30am on April 27, 2023, the Pratunam Polyclinic in Bangkok was already full. Women sitting in rows of plastic chairs occupied most of the already cramped reception area. An empty fish tank with dirty water stood in one corner of the room and a receptionist snapped instructions in broken English in the other.

It is here, according to the owner of the clinic, that hundreds of transgender women, from across Asia and further afield, come every year, hoping to get an anatomy that better reflects their gender identity – at a fraction of what it costs elsewhere.

On that Thursday, 29-year-old Bianca Balala from the Philippines was one of them. After years of “being trapped in a wrong body,” and working to save up the money for a gender affirming vaginoplasty, Balala finally took what she called the “longest journey of my life.”

The 12-hour trip started when she took a bus from her rural hometown in southern Philippines to Pagadian City, where she caught a flight to Manila. The next day, she boarded another plane to Bangkok. Balala checked into a hostel once she arrived, and four days later, she walked a short distance to the Pratunam Polyclinic, feeling nervous but determined.

A staff member handed her a dressing gown and gestured for her to get changed in an adjacent room with yellowed newspaper clippings of women in lingerie and before-and-after breast surgery pictures were taped to the walls. Then she was led up three flights of narrow stairs to a windowless operating room. After she lay down on an old operating table, her arms were strapped by the wrists to a narrow wooden plank placed horizontally under her upper back.

Listen to this woman who says she risked it all for gender affirming surgery

The small operating room was stuffed with random items, including a VCR, and empty boxes of breast implants were stacked up to the ceiling, Balala told CNN. The sight “shocked” her because it didn’t look like anything like an operating room.

Despite being told to leave all her belongings at the reception desk, she said she snuck in a pink rosary in her dressing gown pocket. Her mother had pressed it into her hands as they waited for the bus that would take her on a trip that would mark the end of one chapter of her life and the beginning of another.

“My heartbeat was so fast,” Balala told CNN. “I was just thinking, what if bad things happen to me?” Balala began to pray.

The reception area of Pratunam Polyclinic, Bangkok, in July 2023. Watsamon Tri-yasakda for CNN

Pratunam Polyclinic, opened in 1988 by Dr. Thep Vechavisit, has built a reputation, according to media reports, as a low-cost destination for gender affirming and cosmetic procedures including breast augmentation, nose jobs, and vaginoplasty, which involves rearranging genital tissue to create a vagina and vulva.

Balala told CNN that she was quoted $7,300 for a vaginoplasty by a clinic in the Philippines. In Thailand, few clinics publicly disclose their pricing. But one plastic surgeon in Bangkok charges between $6,500 and $12,000 , depending on the surgical technique, according to his website. Another clinic in the Thai capital says the cost can vary from $10,000 to $17,000. But Pratunam Polyclinic offers vaginoplasty using the penile inversion technique for just $2,065.

Dr. Thep, as everyone calls him, said he performs roughly 350 vaginoplasties every year. Most of his patients are from Thailand but about 20% travel to the clinic from other Asian countries, including: India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. They come despite the discrimination they face and the lack of healthcare support for transgender people in their home countries.

“People come to see me for my skills, not because of what my clinic looks like,” said Dr. Thep Vechavisit, 71, who founded and runs Pratunam Polyclinic. Watsamon Tri-yasakda for CNN

In the case of the Philippines, the national health insurance program, PhilHealth, does not currently cover gender affirmation surgeries for transgender people, said Dr. Albert Domingo, deputy spokesperson for the Philippine Department of Health.

Balala had known about the Pratunam Polyclinic’s low-cost surgeries for some time but said she had initially been reluctant to go to Dr. Thep. She told CNN that she’d heard mixed reviews. Some of his patients had been happy with their operations, but others said they’d experienced medical complications or been unhappy with the results of their surgeries, because they weren’t aesthetically pleasing. There were also complaints about the rudeness of the clinic’s staff.

But Balala would soon change her mind.

“I risked everything to go”

Balala was assigned male at birth. When she was around five years old, she remembers wrapping a handkerchief around her head to mimic long hair and telling her grandmother, “This is my hair. I am a woman.”

Her mother, Juhanna Balala, told CNN that she let Balala be. “She has always been my daughter.” Despite their strong Catholic faith, family members helped Balala accept her gender identity as she grew up.

Having heard mixed reviews about Dr.Thep, Balala held on to her faith as she underwent surgery at his clinic in Bangkok. Mailee Osten-Tan for CNN

As a teenager, she started to participate in local trans beauty pageants. Exposure to older trans beauty queens, who had undergone surgical transitions, made Balala think about getting gender affirming surgeries herself. “I wanted to have the surgery to become more confident in my body. It was really hard for me to have the male part.”

Not all people who identify as trans or non-binary feel they need surgery, but for some, the gender dysphoria or discomfort caused by the incongruence between their physical bodies and gender identity, can take a heavy mental and emotional toll. Globally, according to a 2023 review and meta-analysis of 65 selected studies, the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide among transgender people over their lifetime was 50%, and 29% respectively, and nearly half of the transgender people who had suicidal thoughts did end up taking their own lives.

Despite the distress Balala’s body caused her, the cost of a vaginoplasty was much more than she could afford. She said a clinic in Manila had quoted her $7,300 for the procedure.

But Balala lives hundreds of miles away in the southern Philippines, where the incidence of poverty among families in the province was estimated at around 44% in the first part of 2023, according to official government statistics. Most people in her rural hometown support themselves through farming or run small businesses. Balala sold husky puppies and, occasionally, sex online. “I hate to say it but it’s part of survival,” she told CNN.

According to Naomi Fontanos, a trans activist and founder of Gender and Development Advocates Filipinas, a non-profit organization campaigning for trans rights in the southeast Asian country, “A lot of trans women in the Philippines do cybersex” because workplaces continue to discriminate against trans job applicants or insist that they present as the gender they were assigned at birth.

Balala now feels more confident in her body. Mailee Osten-Tan for CNN

Despite saving whatever money she could, Balala thought she was out of options until her friend Lana made her an offer that was hard to refuse. Lana, whose name has been changed to protect her identity because she doesn’t identify publicly as transgender, had found a package for less than half of what Balala had been quoted in the Philippines. The online deal included a vaginoplasty, travel arrangements and nearly a month of accommodation with caregivers in Bangkok for just $3,200, said Balala. The only part that concerned Balala: the surgery would be with Dr. Thep at the Pratunam clinic. But Lana would be going too and even offered to lend Balala the $600 she needed to bridge the gap in her savings.

Worried but excited, Balala said yes. “I was really nervous. I heard a lot about ladies who had problems in their surgeries. I was worried what if I’m going to die? but I still went because it was my dream to have that surgery,” she told CNN. “I risked everything to go.”

A frugal doctor

Dr. Thep, 71, lives next door to his four-story clinic where he is the only surgeon. With a flush of pride, he told CNN that he’s performed at least one vaginoplasty every single day since 1998 when he first started offering the operation, and that he never takes a day off work. “How could I close on any given day?” he said. “It’s my own clinic on the line!” He also rarely stops for lunch, subsisting instead on cartons of chocolate milk.

When asked why he keeps his prices so low, Dr. Thep said: “I know what it’s like to not have money,” alluding to his humble beginnings. He said he grew up poor in a family where his parents didn’t encourage him to study. The low-cost surgery at his clinic also ensures a consistent influx of patients. As a result, he said, the clinic has always been profitable.

Dr. Thep told CNN that he keeps costs down by maintaining a basic infrastructure at the clinic, keeping staff numbers lean, minimizing the operational overhead, and spending money only on what’s essential. “People come to see me for my skills, not because of what my clinic looks like,” he said.

To illustrate how his surgical prices compare to other clinics, Dr. Thep matter-of-factly compared his work to “a plate of fried rice:” “At some auntie’s shop along the side of the road, it will cost 50 baht ($1.40), at a coffee shop it’s 200 baht ($6), and at a 5-star hotel it’s 300 baht ($8.30).” Prices depend on where the service is offered and what else is offered alongside the service, he told CNN. “It doesn’t mean that auntie’s fried rice is inedible.”

To offer his services as cheaply as he does, Dr. Thep also uses a local anesthetic combined with sedatives to perform the vaginoplasty, instead of general anesthesia, which would need to be administered by an anesthesiologist.

“I don’t think general anesthesia is needed for vaginoplasty. Local anesthesia with sedation is safe for patients,” Dr. Thep told CNN, adding that hiring an anesthesiologist would add “at least 30,000 baht ($800) to the surgery cost.”

Dr. Thep at his clinic in Bangkok. Watsamon Tri-yasakda for CNN

But Dr. Jess Ting, a surgeon with New York’s Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery told CNN, “It is uncommon to do major gender affirming surgeries under local anaesthesia,” Dr. Ting, who was referred to CNN by the non-profit World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), wrote in an email, “General anesthesia allows the patients to be free of pain during these intricate and prolonged operations. Anesthesiologists play a vital role in the operating room monitoring the vital signs of patients and ensuring that they are adequately anesthetized, so they don’t experience unnecessary pain.”

Likewise, Dr. Chettawut Tulayaphanich, who has been doing gender affirming surgeries in Thailand for 25 years, told CNN that he would never recommend vaginoplasty under local anesthesia unless his patients had a pre-existing condition that would make general anesthesia unsafe.

A 2021 review of the considerations for anesthesia used in gender affirmation surgeries said there was a growing need for doctors to look for more effective modes of anesthesia to improve surgery outcomes. General anesthesia and local anesthesia with sedation are both used in gender affirmation surgeries, the review stated, but the choice of which mode to use should only be made after a “cautious evaluation” of the surgical procedure and a discussion of the patient’s expectations.

WPATH’s guidelines recommend that surgeons provide patients with detailed pre- and post-operative consultations, including an explanation of potential consequences, while being sensitive to local cultural realities. Balala, and two other patients who spoke with CNN but were not comfortable revealing their transgender identity publicly, said they received very little consultation from the doctor or nursing staff throughout their experience.

When asked whether he offers detailed consultations to his patients, Dr. Thep said: “As long as patients have a certificate from psychiatrists, one of whom should be from Thailand, clearing them for the surgery, I go ahead with the surgery.” He added that he prescribes “lots of rest” after the surgery.

Patients rest after undergoing surgical procedures at Dr. Thep’s clinic. Watsamon Tri-yasakda for CNN

Balala, who acknowledges that she didn’t ask any questions of Dr. Thep, remembers being “awake, but eyes closed” during the procedure. She said she sometimes felt pain and could hear the nurses chattering around her. A series of thoughts was running through her mind.

“What if there are complications? What will happen to my family? What will happen to my dogs?”

After about two and half hours, Balala was wheeled off into a cramped recovery room and transferred onto a narrow, stiff bed chair, which she told CNN was “very uncomfortable.” When she asked for her phone, she said, a clinic employee shouted at her, “Shut up! Sleep! Shut up!” Only a few of Dr. Thep’s employees speak English well, so their communication with patients tends to be curt.

Dr. Thep said that he is aware of these complaints but they don’t bother him. “I am not in the market to run after patients like other clinics do who lure patients with sweet language,” he said, adding that sometimes he tells his staff to learn English but many of them don’t, and he doesn’t force them because most of the time he is around to talk to patients and “these days most patients anyway have smart phones and we use google translate to communicate with each other. It is no problem.”

When Balala eventually got her phone 24 hours later, she called home crying, telling her mother Juhanna that she was uncomfortable in the bed chair, that the staff was rude, and that she was worried about post-surgical healing. Later, Juhanna told CNN that she wondered at the time whether her daughter was in good hands.

Aftercare courtesy of a hostel that was once a cafe

Balala and Lana had booked their medical tourism package through Fukelya , a hostel owned by a social-media savvy Filipino entrepreneur, Simon Po II. After spending three nights at the clinic, Balala was taken to the hostel to recover. It was just five minutes away from Dr. Thep’s clinic. Lana who had her surgery a day later, joined Balala at the hostel on the following day.

Opened in 2022, Fukelya was once a café. An empty cake fridge and bar counter remain on the ground floor. It is one of several businesses that have sprung up around Pratunam Polyclinic to meet the demand for post-surgery accommodation and aftercare. Though none of these businesses are formally connected to Pratunam Polyclinic, Dr. Thep told CNN he advises his patients to stay close so that they can return for routine check-ups and antibiotics every morning for two to three weeks.

Simon Po II prepares beds for Dr. Thep’s patients who will recover at his hostel, Fukelya. Watsamon Tri-yasakda for CNN

When CNN toured the hostel in the summer of 2023, the rooms at Fukelya were laid out like dormitories. Each bed had an emergency button that patients could press to call a caretaker to bring food or other supplies, help them walk to the toilet, or deal with emergencies. Buckets were placed between each bed for patients to empty their own catheter bags. None of the staff at Fukelya were medical professionals, but Po hired a nurse who came by, once a week, to check the patients’ vitals and change their bandages – though these services are also provided at the clinic. If a patient showed signs of distress, Fukelya’s staff contacted the clinic directly, Po explained.

Complications and compromises

The recovery process was fraught. Balala waited anxiously to see if her surgery had been a success and if she’d heal without any complications. She repeated a phrase one of her friends who’d had surgery at the clinic told her: “Don’t expect too much.” For Balala and other trans women CNN interviewed, a “good enough” vulva was much better than the distress of gender dysphoria.

But Balala worried. She’d heard stories of operations gone wrong and had seen it for herself when, one day, the woman lying next to her in the clinic “pooped from (her) vagina.” She had developed a rectovaginal fistula, when a hole forms between the rectum and vagina. It occurs in 2% to 17% of vaginoplasties .

“These cases happen, and no surgeon can claim that they never had a case of fistula,” Dr. Thep told CNN, adding he has had “very few” cases of patients developing fistula, and when they do he said: “I treat them for free.”

Dr. Alvin Jorge, who runs Cosmedics, a Manila-based clinic, said that as many as 20 women, who had received vaginoplasties at different clinics in Thailand, approached him every year with various complaints. Without specifying which clinics they came from, he said their problems included difficulty urinating, the death of labial tissue, narrowing of the neo-vaginal canal which can make penetrative sex difficult, and displeasure at how their vulvas looked.

Bianca Balala recovers after undergoing surgery at Pratunam Polyclinic on April 27, 2023. Courtesy Bianca Balala

At Fukelya, Balala said she killed time watching Netflix, listening to music, or scrolling through social media. A week after her operation, she saw her vulva for the first time at the clinic during a check-up. She told CNN she immediately called her mom. “I told her I am happy. I am happy because I am fully a woman.”

After spending about three weeks in Thailand, Balala returned to the Philippines. Juhanna greeted her at the airport with a large bouquet of flowers. Back home, she has tried to avoid any strenuous activity as Dr. Thep recommended. But she told CNN she has found it hard to follow another of the doctor’s instructions: making sure she washes herself with clean water, which is difficult as the family home has no bathroom or access to clean water. They usually wash out in the open, with water in buckets, collected from community taps, and buy drinking water.

Despite this, Balala has healed well and told CNN she is excited about being able to wear leggings, short skirts, and a bikini without hesitation. “I always wanted to wear sexy clothes and feel sexy in my body.”

Bianca displays her beauty pageant sashes and photos at her home in the Philippines. Competing in trans pageants gave her a sense of pride in her identity. Mailee Osten-Tan for CNN

The day CNN went to see Balala in the small pink house she shares with four family members, two of her aunts had come to visit and the family sat gossiping under a soursop tree, eating lechon, a Filipino speciality of pork belly slow roasted on an open fire. Balala held a small dog in one hand and gesticulated wildly with the other at her young cousins who were prodding tadpoles in the pond. The struggles she faced to get to Thailand and the fear that gripped her occasionally while she was there are now only a hazy memory.

She is full of gratitude for the Pratunam clinic and said she’d recommend Dr Thep – who many of his patients call “father Thep” – to other trans women like her.

“Dr. Thep fulfilled the dreams of the transgender [people],” she said as she relishes having what she had so long wanted. “I wanted to have surgery not just to become a woman. The main goal is to be free. To free ourselves.”

If you or someone you know might be at risk of suicide, you can reach out for help by calling these numbers:

In the US, you can call or text 988-The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources.

For support outside of the US, a worldwide directory of resources and international hotlines is provided by the International Association for Suicide Prevention . You can also turn to Befrienders Worldwide .