A long-term perspective on immunity to COVID/ Nature

June 9 BMJ article by Luc Bonneux and Wim Van Damme: The decisions to stockpile antivirals and influenza vaccines to control avian flu (2005-6) and swine flu (2009) cost large amounts of money.1 2 Both epidemic threats were mostly iatrogenic pandemics of panic, which caused little human suffering, but the global plans to control them…

Excerpts from Dr. Jon Abramson’s ABC News Op-Ed: It’s perfect. Pfizer buys Wyeth‘s pipeline, the behemoth marketing power of Pfizer gets leveraged, the work force gets consolidated and the $22 billion borrowed is read as a sign that banks are willing to lend again… The core problem with American medicine isn’t really access or cost….

There is a huge disconnect between the personal protective equipment (PPE) healthcare workers (HCWs) should be wearing to protect themselves from coronavirus, and what actually exists right now for them to use.  The White House has told the governors to find their own supplies.  The equipment market is in chaos.  CDC is now telling HCWs to make their own…

I recently spent a lot of time in Spain, did a lot of reading about Spain, and got some surprises. The Spanish are the longest-lived people in Europe (barring tiny places like Monaco and San Marino), and are between the 5th and 10th most long-lived nation in the world, depending on who is counting. The…

Just another example of the crazy billing environment for medicine in the US.  From the WSJ: “After David Hubbard underwent a routine echocardiogram at his cardiologist’s office last year, he was surprised to learn that the heart scan cost his insurer $1,605. That was more than four times the $373 it paid when the 61-year-old…

By PETE YOST – MARCH 14, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Friday kept alive a lawsuit in which two Connecticut Air National Guard pilots said they were forced to resign nine years ago for refusing to be vaccinated against anthrax. An Air Force panel must spell out the reasons for denying the two…