Bernie's medical idiocy
Sorry, Berniecrats. This segment on The Five (Fox) reveals Bernie's politically correct idiocy. Disregard the remainder of the video if you wish. This Bernie statement shows why this pandering proves why Bernie is failing. It's not just the DNC undermining Bernie. It is the moron stance that closing Borders to Protect our People Against Coronavirus is Xenophobic. Even Gavin Newsome gives Trump some credit for the current handling of the Virus.
As a physician, Bernie is unsafe at any speed. I was not going to post any more about the Dem primary because of the hurt feelings of many Berniecrats. Policy stances are fine--when it does not endanger public health.
Is Bernie trying to lose on purpose? Who could support his stance on containing the COVID-19?
P.S., if you watch Juan Williams on this video trying to tell us that closing borders from Ebola-endemic areas would be counterproductive. Sorry, Juan, you are spewing hot, doctrinaire nonsense.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEIkzH0O2m0&pbjreload=10]
I got off the Bernie train when he kissed the Rodent's ass. Every day, my decision looks better and better.
Bring it on, Berniecrats. Tell me quarantining is wrong. Tell me the whole of Italy is racist. Cook up some other dogmatic silliness to defend what Bernie said about closing the borders. I am awaiting a medically-based refutation of closing the border to contain COVID-19 being harmful or RACIST.
Comments
Dr. John Campbell, March 11, 2020
We need a bomb squad, not somebody sweeping this mess under the rug.
URL for Dr. Campbell March 11, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzXQ6Bu9JVI
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzXQ6Bu9JVI]
Too late to learn from Italy's experience
It's already out of control. US had 1066 cases this morning. It has now risen to 1281 with 37 deaths. That's over 20% increase in a half day!
The US reported COVID-19 cases is drastically underestimated
Not enough test kits. Not enough testing. Too many (most) infected persons in US undetected.
Trump is quarantining the entire country
next Friday. No entry from Europe or other countries where infection rates are high.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXdkS-y-xcU]
A necessary but not sufficient move
The population as a whole must be shielded from importation of new cases. This Trumpian embargo will do some of that but will be quite leaky. The most obvious immediate example is Trump's failure to ban travelers from the UK. The Uk has not been proactive. The UK is not being reactive, in large part. Mainly, the UK is NOT active. I don't know whether the Cheltenham Festival is postponed or canceled, but 250,000 were anticipated attending.
Two immense in vivo experiments on COVID-19 danger are underway: the Grand Princess and the Diamond Princess. I lack precise numbers of disease incidence, morbidity and mortality. Earlier reports that only 700 cases in toto were reported from the Diamond Princess as of 8 days following cessation of ship quarantine. 700 / 3700 = 18.9%. This fails to reach definitional 30% level. I also do not know the mortality rate from either Princess.
Observers of this disease, in my estimation, are failing to closely analyze these two grand unintended in vivo experiments. There is a lot to be learned here:
How were passengers isolated
How did crew interact with passengers after the infection was discovered
What type of disinfection protocols were instituted and when
What disinfectants were used
What medical care was available to all involved during the quarantine
Was genetic mutation discovered
What was the number of Class B cases (which I define as those who were never symptomatic)
How calculate the infectivity of Class B persons
The US has only done about 8,500 tests to date
The confirmed cases as of right now stands at 1,312. Most of these were tested due to hospital/clinic admissions due to visible symptoms.
How many cases will be discovered once they roll out tests on a national level? 75,000 test kits have just been distributed for all 50 states. This is enough to test only those that demonstrate physical symptoms. That's not good enough to get ahead of the curve.
The US is replicating Italy NOT China and Korea (1.6 million & 200,000 test/wk respectively).
Watch the cases skyrocket once testing starts in earnest. I think the Trump admin already knows the shit is going to hit the fan big time.
When they tried to convince Americans
...that they didn't need face masks when they went shopping or out in public — was when I knew.
Of course I already know that the US was out of masks. There is no public health agency in the US that stockpiles antivirals for the population, or masks, or anti-infectious kits with hand sanitizer. Check your local Craigslist For Sale. Hand sanitizer is being sold for $50 a bottle.
Viral droplets remain airborne for as long as 30 minutes.
At some point, one might want to tape around windows with plastic sheeting. Or build an airlock at the door for outerwear and used masks, especially in multifamily units or high density apartment buildings.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
[Edited] On the other hand...
Italy had about 900 deaths with just over 12,000 confirmed cases. That's a 7.5% fatality rate. The US had 37 deaths with 1,281 cases. That's a 2.9% fatality rate. Italy's death rate is 2.6 times as high as the US rate.
It's probably not a good idea to draw conclusions about what will happen in the US based on Italy's experience.
Correct so far as it goes
But the dearth of testing precludes accurate estimate of both infection prevalence and case fatality rate.
Are you saying ...
that Italy's testing is vastly superior to that of the United States?
At this moment, the answer is yes
Italy has allocated 25 billion euro
to pay for workers, including part time, who are unable to work because of the virus.
Also, China has supplied 100,000 hi-tek masks, 2,000,000 N35 masks, 20,000 protective suits plus 50,000 test kits.
The US case numbers have just gone from under 100
to current 1281 in less than a week. Deaths occur about 5 to 10 days after hospitalization for pneumonia. It requires extensive medical intervention to keep people alive with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Here's why the death rate is so high at this point:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okg7uq_HrhQ]
Here's the level of medical care required to keep people alive:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=JK0JnuuyKWA&feature=emb_...
MedCram is as fine reference source for COVID-19
and other medical topics as well.
Here is a well-explained, well-illustrated example of how viral replication occurs at the cellular level.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeh054-Hx1U]
The test kits were not available at the start of the infections
in China. The US has no such excuse. The sooner the diagnosis the better the outcome. Most of the current cases in the US are from sick people going to the hospital.
I don't understand your point.
The US had tested over 11,000 people as of Monday. About 1,200 were confirmed positive. What is it you're suggesting?
Korea
tests between 5 and 10 thousand people per day with a smaller population.
The current number of confirmed is 1,312
According to the CDC total tests done from Jan 18 to Mar 10, 4PM was 11,079 nation wide. There are 330 million people in the country. The CDC has just announced it sent out 75,000 tests for all 50 states to be used for the next week. They will have to restrict testing to those who are symptomatic. Therefore, we can expect a very large percentage of those to test positive. Test results are within 24 hrs.
South Korea is testing people at the rate of 20,000/day with staff working 24/7. The population is 51 million. Their fatality rate is currently 0.7% but that low number may be a function of early diagnosis in combination with testing a very large number of people. Test results are given within 6 hours. We really don't know the true death rate of Covid-19 but this may be the truest one.
China is producing millions of test kits/wk and sending them out by the tens of thousands all over the world - Italy, Iran, Africa.
Watch the number of cases in the US sky rocket in the next week after testing. I estimate well over 15,000.
My point is the US wasted 3-4 weeks in designing complicated test kits that failed. They should have started the moment China verified and published the genetic sequence by Jan 11. China had developed and was manufacturing and using test kits by the thousands within 10 days.
How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.
Test. Test. Test some more
This is a point which both you and I as well as others have been trying to emphasize. This is the KEY to step one of containment.
Yeppers. Have a look at a plot where
extensive testing and isolation was used in China compared to the rest of the world. Notice the quick curve and flattening out of new cases.
China gave the US and the world a head start. They blew it (other than Korea).
The ONLY way to push the curve towards the horizontal is with proactive testing. Then follow that up with more testing.
Edit: Added another graphic.
Good night Al. Time for bed.
The Asst MD in charge of my county's health dept
and I talked it seems like 3 days ago but is was only March 10. Things are moving so fast now, we really have to be on it almost every few hours. For instance, I was correctly criticized (in a constructive manner) by our beloved co-host for not doing my due diligence. I, sob, reluctantly admit that news of current events was 48 hours old (gasp), when in fact the Chicago PTB had cancelled 24 hours later.
But, I digress: part of our medical conversation included yours truly remarking to the doc on the other end: "I never thought I would ever say this, but China is doing something right"! Failing to admit that fact is similar to fail recognizing the sovereignty of other nations. Such is a patented US tactic in the 21st Century.
And the Band Played On 2.0
That's what this reminds me of.
[video:https://youtu.be/2-o_8aQx4r8]
Coronavirus arrived in the US before Italy.
The first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV infection in the United States was reported on January 20, 2020 and involved a 35-year-old man who visited an urgent care center the previous day. He returned to the US from Wuhan, China on January 15.
The first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Rome, Italy on January 31, 2020. A Chinese couple, originally from Wuhan, China, had arrived in Italy on January 23.
So the disease appears to have arrived in the US earlier than in Italy.
Far different cultures.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6dobVgy36c]
Your math is off...
37 over 1281 is 2.9%, not 0.29%. Thus, based on the numbers you cite, the death rate in Italy is only 2.6 times greater, not 26%.
Thanks. Corrected. n/t
Closing borders at this point is meaningless.
This virus already has a foothold in every country that has begun testing. How we respond to this fact is important. Do we delay acknowledging the inevitable growth in the number of infected patients who will need skilled hospitalization to survive, delay testing the larger subset of patients with mild symptoms, delay providing free testing for everyone who might have been exposed, all for political reasons?
Locking up our borders will do absolutely nothing to deal with these urgent needs. We need to be proactive rather than reactive if we are to avoid the completely overwhelmed health care system that Italy is now experiencing. The horse is already out of the barn, locking the doors will not help.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
Closing the borders is still useful
Yes, the cows have fled the barn, but we don't need to let more cows into the pasture. The key for now is accurate testing, which CDC's 3-biomarker test kit includes. Low false negative rate (meaning, few false negatives) and high sensitivity (meaning few false positives).
Test. Test. And test some more.
Case ascertainment in the US is horribly delayed. Ramping up production of CDC test kit materials is occurring but distribution is slow, painfully slow. My local health department has an allotment of only 20 tests per day, due to limited testing supplies. This INSURES that only the worst cases will be tested.
insures contests
key point
how is the insurance industry
going to make a mill, bill or trill on this contest
without us getting healthier
As one wag said "curing disease is a poor business model"
I'll try to find my several years old essay on this point. Better for Big Pharma to find agents which hold disease at bay without cure, than to find and sell a cure.
no need to dig
on my behalf
remember it well
investors prefer $$ returns over cures
sick business model
capital idea
I recall some video
that used the HIV one shot cure as an example of how one shot cures ruin profits, are very bad for the market.
Bastards.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
If you have a reference, I will research it
Thanks for the observation, too.
It has been a year or more since I read it.
I might do a search on the evils of a one-shot cure, see what turns up.
I just know I was ready to send some letters with stern words to these greedy, heartless, cruel pricks.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Unfortunately, I can't argue
with you. Open borders right now, during a declared pandemic would be counter productive. Especially considering how unprepared capitalist business is already. We don't have the necessary resources at the ready to be mobilized for hardly any emergency, much less a real pandemic.
(Edit)
But then again this happened...
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
I love Republicans... s/
Those horrible conniving bastards--any thing for a buck--a buck to be made, a buck to be redirected, a buck to be kept out of the pockets of the poor.
But the wunnerful Democrats who control Chicago are still planning on having a Saint Patrick's day parade. This celebration typically involves dyeing the Chicago river green. Not to worry, there will be plenty of green people after mixing with the throngs. A great way to cull the herd of the ignorant. Now, if only we could get the current mayor and Rahm Emmanuel to officiate at the parade down State Street, mingling with the expectorating, sneezing masses--o schadenfreude, ice liebe dich!
Get your facts straight Ed...
the Chicago River event has been cancelled.
Thanks for the correction
The closure must have happened in the past 36 hours.
One of medical organizations to which I belong had to cancel their planned convention in Philadelphia scheduled to begin a few days from today. As of March 5th, this organization was still emailing members about securing travel and hotel arrangements for the conference. Yesterday conference is abruptly and wisely cancelled.
Jumping the gun...
search engines are your friend. But don't let that stop you from throwing out falsehoods to make your point.
Sorry, to be tardy
The COVID-19 situation changes almost hourly. I shall try keeping up to the hour information.
medically-based refutation
unfortunately is less effective
than political cures for various virus
current science messaging is unable to overcome
economic impediments that are preventing
suitable solutions
thanks for sharing
The amount of scientifically published articles
is dreadfully low. But, none of this early reportage, let alone rapid viral sequencing was available 5 years ago. Now, 2020, we have accurate test strips. We need containment. We need lots of things.
Friendly advice for your c99ers and any others--if you are 60 years or older--socially isolate yourselves. Why risk it? An antiretroviral drug is now in stage 3 testing. Stage 3 means used on large test samples, typically 1000 or more for infections so widespread.
Bernie seemed like he decided that ID Pol pandering was the way
to remedy his previous weakness with minorities. But it doesn't seem to have helped at all with the older blacks (the ones who vote) and has killed his support with older whites.
Open borders seems to be a hit for the "woke" folks, but not so much with the rest of us. YMMV
chuck utzman
TULSI 2020
Has anyone told Gutfield that a socialist country has
developed a dozen different tests for Covid-19, one of which predates US capitalist corporations by 4 weeks? And that this socialist country now makes 1.6 million test kits per week and is now testing 100,000's people daily at no cost as compared to about 6,000 tests for corporate America in the last 2 weeks?
One useful side-effect of this epidemic will be reinforcing
demand of M4A. People are rightly incensed about the high cost of emergency room visits, even prior to this viral outbreak. People should not go to ERs for mild symptoms. They should go to out-patient facilities, having called ahead to warn the facility that they are on the way for COVID-19 testing. Then, without entering the clinic, nasopharyngeal specimen collection tubes may be brought OUT to the patient's vehicle for testing. Thus, such procedure reduces possible disease spread.
for sure
Tulsi has a short vid out on what needs to be done
to address this potential disaster.
Sorry, but haven't the link.
Same as you state.
Many actions officials need to instigate.
Right away.
here she is with Tucker
yes that is one of them
the one I saw had her outside
in a windy city
thanks!
Tulsi ...
Yes, and that's why she's the leader we need as opposed to the 70+ white guys remaining in the Presidential race.
EDIT: Of course, just now, some two weeks after Tulsi started issuing her recommendations on this public health emergency, ole Sleepy Joe gets free air time on CNN to present his "plan," much of which is stuff Tulsi has already spoken up for, and CNN commentators are slobbering all over themselves to talk about how "Presidential" Joe is.
and this
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article240955346.html
Pretty soon the US will be using stadiums
filled with beds to put infected patients with milder symptoms to free up hospitals. Maybe they can hire Chinese contractors to make several 1,000 bed hospitals c/w necessary medical equipment in every state?
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sh7hghljuQ]
reminds one of some
post-apocalyptic novel
focusing on the inability of
officials to address some dreaded virus
packed them into stadiums
then fried the infected
forget the author
but not the concept
Some boneheads on the nets discovered China had brought in
40 portable incinerators to "burn the dead bodies that were piling up in the streets" in Wuhan. The truth of the matter was these incinerators were required to burn the huge amount of infectious waste generated from the hospitals rather than dump it in waste sites. They have since modified a modern incineration plant to handle the load.
You reveal just one instance of many where MSM idiots
mislead the public. Burning disease infested corpses in incinerators without proper exhaust shielding is a wonderful way to rapidly disseminate the virus into the atmosphere. Bravo, MSM. Another disservice to the people they purport to serve--with lies, damned lies, and more lies (let alone statistics).
@QMS If I remember
If I remember correctly, there was a TV show The Last Ship, which had to do with a virus, ie global pandemic, and they were burning bodies as fuel for their power generates needs.
From WikiPedia The Last Ship:
[video:https://youtu.be/8W5AdU1W9qI]
It's your standard USA propaganda fare, yeah the US will save humanity...
There's a line in this clip... that's been on my mind for years.
"The birds?", they pick up the virus from the melting permafrost..."
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
While What You Say May be True ...
… From what I've read, there was an eye doctor in Wuhan who warned about this outbreak back in December who was told by the local authorities to keep his mouth shut and go back to work. This he did, and he contracted the virus and died some time in Feb. So, the Chinese govt (at least the local govt. in Wuhan) did not initially take the matter seriously.
But, honestly, all this finger-pointing now gets us nowhere … The focus has to be in dealing with the situation as it exists today and planning for the future, not looking back at the past and pointing blame.
We are about 2 mos past window to close borders
However, it's only logical that closing them completely, except for supplies, would prevent new arrivals of the infected. I'd even go a step further and say that if you choose to leave the country now, you should make arrangements not to be allowed back in for an indefinite amount of time so we can bury the dead and get back to our 70-100% intensive medical care levels.
Crazy right?
If you understand how people and their behaviors are how the virus spreads, it's only logical.
Our intensive care system is about to be overwhelmed. If you keep letting in more people, at this time, you are only adding to the load, even if they are 100% negative for the virus. How? Our brave leaders have under responded since the news started trickling in during Dec, 2019, thereby guaranteeing spread, including to the healthy ones we allow in.
Italian doctors are being forced to decide who gets to have a ventilator and who will likely die.
That's us soon.
And it's too late to stop it.
We fucked up!
just slow out of the gate
entangled in a bureaucratic
tug of war with corporate
interests over civil health
concerns
Political consideration are ruining medical responsiveness
Afraid of being bashed by the mediots of the MSM, there has been confusion and delay about how to admit we are behind the curve and begin getting proactive.
This is horrible. Fuck the Dems. Fuck the Republicans. Our lives are at stake but the elites don't care--as long as they have someone to cook their meals, wait on their tables and clean their houses.
mediots
love it
what do you get when you expose
a pundit to important news ?
not good information
Wish I could claim I invented this word
but one of our c99ers coined the phrase earlier.
Filed under silver linings
Coroavirus targets Biden voters.
Well most of the fools voting for ByeDone are over 60
Vote for ByeDone? WTF! Epidemic is right--epidemic Dem stupidity. No cure--not even lefty political re-education camps.
ornamental headgear
corona en espanie es crown
descriptive of a head gear (virus)
perhaps explains the panic
something more about the
You know that closing the borders won't work.
If that's IF the borders had been closed AND no one got through, then and only then would this strain not have entered this country.
There is no way in hell that the "close the border" people are advocating for a real "close the border" operation.
RIP
Correct but disease delay is worthwhile
The US is woefully unprepared for the presumably huge onslaught of severe respiratory illness, often requiring ventilator support. Slowing the apex of the infectivity curve thus allows more time to allocate and deliver needed machines, personnel, medication wherever needed. Closing the border is always incomplete. But it is necessary to help delay disease incidence.
I agree
but the existence of ICE and the mindset of those carrying the weapons that make implementing this so very difficult. I am certain that this approach would help in non-shit-hole countries, but here I expect not good results.
We (in the USofA) do not live in a civil society.
RIP
Can you explain this...
The virus is already here and doing quite well. It’s not like infected illegals are flocking to the border to be tested for the disease, since we have a dearth of test kits, or to be cared for by our for profit health care system, which is woefully unprepared to deal with this crisis. The arrival of a few more people will have next to no impact on the trajectory of the disease incidence. Suggesting immigrants, legal or otherwise, will significantly exacerbate our situation seems needlessly inflammatory and baseless.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
Your argument does not stand scrutiny
Many of the immigrants, regardless of why they came, which certainly was not to get tested and treated for COVID-19, will have amongst their numbers individual harboring several unpleasant diseases including COVID-19. Your argument can reasonably be analogized to "why don't we let more patients into the CCU, even if they don't need to be there". Infected illegal immigrants do not need to be here.
Your reply did not answer my question.
What we need to do to is to flatten the curve of the number of infected to
preventmitigate thepossibilitylikelihood that our hospitals will be overwhelmed. If border security was ever a realistic method to protect ourselves from this pandemic, it most certainly is of minimal value at this point.Isolation has been shown to be highly effective at slowing the rate of infection. This remains to be the case on an individual level, but is no longer an option on a National level. Our country is already well and truly infected.
Isolation is also at the root of the urgent need to identify, isolate and treat infected individuals. At the moment we are suffering from a seriously delayed response on this front. This delay will cost the lives of countless Americans who may not even be aware that they are already infected.
Efforts to secure our borders at this point are little more than political theatre. We need to test and isolate infected individuals, both symptomatic and asymptotic. Because the lack of proactive testing to date there will be a significant number of unidentified infected individuals among the population, many of them asymptomatic. For this reason each of us, individually, need to assess our vulnerability and socially isolate as appropriate.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
So if I understand correctly, isolation is best
Isolation can be applied to groups, which for purposes of further discussion, I will label as "clusters".
Some of these clusters would rationally contain, as a whole, the number of illegal aliens crossing in any 24 hours period at any oft-frequented border-crossing point.
Some of the aliens in today's batch likely have disease, ranging from lice to possibly cholera, tuberculosis, gonorrhea. Many in the cluster won't catch any of these illnesses readily after brief exposure except lice, which pesky critters are difficult to ablate when one does not have clean water, soap, delousing drugs/shamppo etc.
So, in only one of undoubtedly many oft-used crossing sites, in any 24 hour period, you have then observed multiple potentially disease-laden clusters into the country.
Now, let's consider the corona virus version 2019. It's a kind of SARs virus, which is of interest only to scientists. As far as the average person is concerned, COVID-19 is something like a bad flu. Then you tell one of your neighbors "hey neighbor, you know I think that people should come into OUR neighborhood and kinda squat out in that vacant lot down the street". And being the good citizen that someone in this situation should be, by way of informed consent as it were, tell your neighbor also that some, all, or none of those folks you wish to squat in your neighborhood have COVID-19. What do you think there neighbor might say in response?
I am interested in your response because it lacks epidemiological soundness. I am happy to discuss epidemiology with you--here in this comment or one of the other essays concerning diseases run amok.
Trump is closing down the borders on Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXdkS-y-xcU
China will be happy about this. They have only about 10-20 cases from inside the country. Most are now coming from external sources.
Sure
so let's see how he implements the process.
RIP
Doesn't even start until midnight Friday
Ha!
He's so serious.
See how serious he is?
He's so serious he's giving everyone a chance to get here before he closes the flow of people from "Europe" but not the UK.
He means serious business! (Earlier in the week, unless it was a deep fake, he said it would all go away like magic.)
a real "close the border" operation
A real "close the border" operation would block goods as well as people. Remember, COVID-19 lives on ordinary surfaces for several days.
And Trump just promised no blockage of goods, just people.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
True. Good observation
Touching COVID-19 contaminated packages is possibly a fine way to spread disease, although at a slower rate.
That depends
upon how serious you are about touching the packages.
RIP
IMO, it depends upon 'how' a M4A system is designed--
IOW, UMFA or MFA must be structured so that UM (Utilization Management) tools do not severely restrict medical services for anyone--regardless of age.
Bear in mind, at least one US medical ethicist, Dr Zeke Emanuel (Rahm's brother) recommended setting strict guidelines for public health programs, so that the individuals (seems like it was the cohort of roughly 18-48 year-olds) would receive the 'bulk' of medical services. That is because he deemed these individuals to be the most 'productive,' or, the most capable of contributing to society. Therefore, they would have the least restrictive guidelines applied to them, when assessing which medical services they could receive. (believe it or not, Zeke Emanuel served as a key adviser to the 'O' Administration during the writing/implementation of the ACA--Phew!)
Which reminds me, I ran across a piece about 'O' questioning whether his own Grandmother should have had hip surgery (or, should have had Medicare pay for it), since she was terminally ill with cancer. Cripes!
Here's an excerpt,
As someone whose own Mother--at the age of 97--lived several years after her hip surgery (repairing a hip fracture after a fall, and, who, notably, was mentally "as sharp as a tack" until she drew her last breath)--I have a major problem with the idea of converting Original/Traditional (FFS) Medicare to a "managed care" system.
Both my parents, and my FIL/MIL were covered by OM and the most comprehensive Medigap Insurance, Plan F. Neither they, nor their three children, collectively, had to pick up one dime of their medical costs. Except, of course, they did pay Medicare and Medicare Supplement (Medigap) premiums. (which were very reasonable.)
There were absolutely no deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance. No physician 'networks' to deal with, either. Plus, our parents had all their RX's covered. (Only grandfathered Medigap plans provide that coverage, today, unfortunately.) IMO, there's no reason that couldn't be changed, if lawmakers so desired. They dictate 'what' Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurers cover. It's not up to a Medigap/Medicare Supplement insurer to deny coverage--they must pay for any and every medial service covered by Medicare. Period. End of story.
We can spend trillions of dollars on war profiteering. Why not simply finance OM at 100%, expanding it to everyone? No reason that laws can't be enacted making all health care facilities/organizations operate on a nonprofit basis. This is what's done in many European countries.
Heck, the best healthcare we've received was at military medical facilities. So, I'm not even opposed to completely nationalizing our healthcare system, which goes well beyond the current UMFA/UFA proposals.
As I've mentioned, Mr M was Medevaced twice from Interior Alaska to top medical center in Washington State--at no cost to him. And, I was allowed, at no cost, to accompany him as his "medical aide or assistant." Even our meals were included/free. Now, it was a super long flight, since we were routed to (IIRC) Travis AFB, CA, then back to Tacoma (WA)/Madigan Medical Center.
But, heh, who could possibly complain, under the circumstances!
Just my 2 cents.
Mollie
“This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man . . ."
~~William Shakespeare
“Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then, I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving.”
~~Author Unknown
“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
~~George Bernard Shaw
Irish Dramatist & Socialist (1856-1950)
WhiskerDocs
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Utilization review is always necessary
because even with M4A, demand will exceed current capacity--capacity for everything--meds, docs, nurses, ventilators, hospital beds. The problem is where to draw the line.
As a physician, I view myself as a patient advocate. I don't and didn't care how old a person was or is, I will strongly advocate for most of them. One (of several) situations in which I counsel to let nature take its course is with the severe dements who don't even recognize their own family. (JoJo is already showing signs of this).
I am late to your dinner party, ed.
I am too busy admiring and supporting the Chinese approach to quarantining. I've long wondered how the Chinese came to be the oldest continuous civilization on the planet. Naturally, they rejected foreign wars, which was one great advantage of their temperament. But they have a inner stoicism that does not countenance denial or wishful thinking. They are a science and mathematics-based society, which is, apparently, not the ticket for everyone.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
I spoke to the County assistant health director yesterday
Part of what I said was: "I never thought I would be saying this, but the Chinese are doing this right".
Got to recognize the truth, especially when failure to do so might be worse than the proverbial bite in your ass.
The Republicans want to make it better ...
unconscionable-senate-republicans-block-emergency-paid-sick-leave-bill
Read More
But sure target Bernie, cause reasons …
Closing the borders
will at least protect other countries from the uncontrolled pandemic in the US.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Snarky but likely true
Trying to absorb what I read, I just wanted to tell JtC
that I am glad that our servers can still shaking hands without transmitting 'the evil virus' and that my hugs to all of the commentators - (no matter how hard to recognize for me trollish kiddos behind the kewl language and word creations by our desperate heros) are virtual by nature and not physical... Who doesn't like the physical ones more?
Now having said that, I just wonder how long it will take for Germany to ban Americans from the US to travel into Germany I say baloney, you say malarkey, baloney, malarkey to the tune of good 'ol tunes of Luis and Ella.
I know that I can't travel to my son anymore to Hawaii in the US. And I know that a cruisehsip is sitting in Maui's harbor (eanwhile under quarantaine) and I know that the live-in partner of my son has fever, cough and sneeze since quite a while and she has had close contact with tourists, who come into the island either by debarking the cruisehsip or flights mostly from Washginton State and Vancouver (I believe).
I try to be reasonable, but I can't stop thinking of being separated from my son, in case he gets sick. (He was already, but says it's over, but then I know he would try to hide bad news from me). If he or she can'get tested, can't quit working ((both of them, as they need the money to pay the rent etc.) can't travel himself to Germany eventually and I can't travel to HI. hmmm, 'Do you feel what I feel'? (to the tune of 'Do you see what I see')
Sometimes even to be reasonable, doesn't help much to keep up a positive outlook.
Tulsi so far was the most clear and calm talking politician about this.
I have difficulties to recognize trolls. Therefore often I get anxious, when someone points out that there may be some here on C99p or that our resident medical Doctor is spreading wrong information. All I understand is that no human being can be as fast reading all the medical news from the scientists and all the news from the poltical talking heads or the official press releases by government officials worldwide. So, I think it's very important that when suspicions of 'trollish misinformation' are raised, that those who were targetted as that, can and must explain themselves openly and freely.
Oh, now it popped up a notification that Austria had the first death of a patient with the corona virus.
The only thing that seems to spread faster than the virus are websites forcing you to subcribe and pay for reading their news articles. Apparently their IT guys and girls so code-challenged to not adjust their donate pages to reflect on worldwide readership to have differenly formated telephone numbers and Codes for their towns, cities or states or countries. Sigh, or is it me who has overlooked something?
To those who code those pages, at least they should offer all the nations of the world with then related differently formatted pages for their address and telephone formats. And they should NOT demand to reveal their national passport or national ID or DL numbers online.
I guess I don't understand why that is not possible. Anyone who can educate me in what way I am wrong?
PS. Just think for yourself and whatever you want. That is no baloney.
End of ranting frustration. Just had to get rid of it.
PS1 Just popped up a notification that we have the 4rth death in Germany due to corona virus.
Amen.
Despite your frustration, your posts are fun to read
Being one of the resident doctors in this swamp, I earnestly attempt avoiding errors--but, hey, alligators are fallible too. Although the core of the comment, see below, is serious, it is sandwiched in like a good German pastry (or Viennese, if you prefer)by enjoyable prose.
I do not know the situation required to obtain testing for COVID-19, due to the almost non-existence of accurate test materials. Here in Central Coast Calif. the local health officers have been forced to limit tests to a maximum of 20 tests. Because this scarcity, restrictions guarantee that the disease will go undetected in many individuals who have either mild symptoms or NO symptoms at all. So, it's like tagging a fish after you catch it. But how many went under the boat, while snagged your catch.
Firstly--locally you understand in SLO county, you must have
1. temperature ≥ 100.4˚ F
AND
2. fatigue OR muscle aches OR cough
In other words only a few early cases will be detected. The majority of those detected will have moderate disease OR have mild symptoms + contact with a known patient.
An idea for JtC ?
I think at this moment of time it could help if we had the NEWS LIVESTREAM link streaming live coverage from DW and France 24 and any similar news organizations as a permanent link on top of the "Community Content" page. (like your own 'Who is with me' essay's link was up there for two days or so.
Disadvantage is that the NEWS LIVESTREAM link talks also about other news aside from COVAD related ones too, but I think it's the easiest method of us to get the latest numbers and responses from Europe with regards to COVAD.
Just a suggestion.
Speaking of Idiocy... Take A Look at Air Travel on Monday:
These are the flying petri dishes above the East Coast on Monday afternoon...
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
Perfectly said indeed!
Each of those blips is a mini Diamond Princess.
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