Nobody Cares about Your Health

[Sid]

I'm perfectly fine with how our system works at the moment.
I don't see a need for any major changes.

 

[danielravennest]

It's an interesting question.

The FDA exists in the first place because of "patent" (quack) medicines that were sold without regard for effectiveness or safety. Coca-Cola was originally made with cocaine and sold that way. As others have noted, medicines are too complex for the average consumer to rely on manufacturer's information, so we restrict it to doctors and pharmacists who have some level of training to prescribe and dispense. They can and do make mistakes, and drugs have side effects, but our system is better than completely unregulated use.

 

[Sovereignty]

 

[Free]

I must be seriously out of it today because the first pass through on this, I read it as "Salmonella outbreak that has been linked to wild bird songs" and I was Huh? How does that happen?

 

[Free]

 

[Free]

 

[Romana]

I'd read something about the flu one. It makes sense, given mRNA vaccines can be adapted quickly if needed.
I'm puzzled that they seem to think that Moderna vaccines still need a special fridge, though.

 

[Free]

 

[Romana]

I stopped in for some treats for Ziggy, and the pet store had dog T-shirts that said things like "medically necessary" and "organically grown" over a picture of a marijuana leaf. I almost bought him one (after all, he is medically necessary) but I wasn't crazy about the color (fluorescent green).

 

[Free]

In other vaccine news:

 

[Rose Karuna]

In other vaccine news:

Malaria is a big hurdle!

Fact sheet about malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes.

www.who.int

• The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 409 000 in 2019.
• Children aged under 5 years are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria; in 2019, they accounted for 67% (274 000) of all malaria deaths worldwide.
• The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2019, the region was home to 94% of malaria cases and deaths.

 

[Free]

I laughed at "and/or higher wages," but otherwise this looks good.

 

[Rose Karuna]

This is why we need medicare for all in the US : 'It's been heart-sickening:' A major US hospital chain has sued thousands of patients in the last year

In another letter to an Oklahoma court in October, a former patient being sued by CHS hospital AllianceHealth Clinton wrote that her partner had been laid off because of pandemic shutdowns, she was working part-time at a job that offered no health insurance, and she was struggling to pay each month's rent.
"I am currently doing my best not to drown," the woman wrote. "I do not have anything left to give. If you take my check from me, I would have no place to live." The hospital continued with the lawsuit. Two months after she wrote the letter, the court entered a judgment against her -- ordering her to pay the hospital her $781 debt and nearly doubling it by tacking on $400 in attorney's fees and $304 in court costs.

I just don't have words for these hedge fund assholes who are buying up hospital chains, marking up the price of healthcare and then suing to the extent that they put entire families out into the street. Please Biden, get to work on Health Care for All while you still have the chance!

 

[Khamon]

Had a cracked molar removed this afternoon and they mixed some of my plasma with processed cadaver bone to create a substance that my jawbone will grow though to build a base for an implant. The nurse told me halfway into the explanation that she was supposed to ask if I was squeamish before describing the process . Now I have a bottle of hydrocodone and am thinking that it can't possibly hurt enough to take this shit. She said it might not be needed but couldn't just be called in if it was. It's legally easier to hand it out like candy than make it available only when absolutely necessary.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

That's horribly close to home! Thank heavens for the NHS when I needed them after developing a weird lump on my neck (which would apparently have killed me within a year if left untreated).

 

[Free]

Oh ho, calling Obama. Biden be trolling.

 

[Free]

 

[Free]

Scientists Used CRISPR to Engineer a New 'Superbug' That's Invincible to All Viruses

The team used CRISPR to replace over 18,000 codons with synthetic amino acids that don’t exist anywhere in the natural world.

singularityhub.com

Right on time, scientists!

 

[Rose Karuna]

This is really good news!

Obamacare survives after Supreme Court rejects latest Republican challenge

The Supreme Court ruled against Texas and other Republican-led states seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act in its latest high court test.

www.cnbc.com

“Neither the individual nor the state plaintiffs have shown that the injury they will suffer or have suffered is ‘fairly traceable’ to the ‘allegedly unlawful conduct’ of which they complain,” Breyer wrote.

The decision is a major victory for the legislation, which former President Barack Obama signed in 2010. The law has since become a crucial element of the nation’s health-care system, responsible for the coverage of tens of millions of Americans.

 

[Free]