Eventful Reading for Saturday Evening and Sunday Morning
An iconic American wilderness turns 150, National Geographic
A “paradox of the cultivated wild.” That’s how National Geographic Explorer David Quammen characterized Yellowstone National Park in a celebrated edition of National Geographic. In that issue, an epic ecosystem – it’s the biggest complex of mostly untamed landscape and wildlife within the lower 48 states – received epic treatment.
On February 25th, Yellowstone National Park turned 150 years since its founding in 1872. The event also marking the birth of the U.S. National Park System. (Images of sites like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, pictured at top, helped inspire Congress to create the park.) This vast panorama – spread across some 3,472 square miles, mostly in Wyoming, and with portions in Montana and Idaho – is still replete with wild sights. It remains wildly popular among travelers receiving 4.9 million visitors in 2021.
Healthcare News
Flight Attendants Union Wants Face Mask Rule Extended (medscape.com)
A union representing flight attendants is calling on the Biden administration to extend a rule requiring passengers to wear face masks on planes.
Letting the mask requirement expire on March 18 would put some passengers in danger, such as the children under 5 who haven’t been vaccinated, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a statement to Bloomberg. The union represents about 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines.
Increase in Maternal Mortality During COVID Underscores Need for Policy Changes – Center For Children and Families (georgetown.edu)
In 2020, there were 861 women who died during pregnancy or within 42 days after the end of pregnancy, compared with 754 women who died from maternal health causes in 2019. The maternal mortality rate for 2020 was 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births compared with a rate of 20.1 in 2019. (see table below)
17 ‘overpaid’ healthcare CEOs (beckershospitalreview.com)
For its report, As You Sow evaluated CEO pay at S&P 500 companies. The nonprofit used data to compute what CEO pay would be assuming such pay is related to cumulative shareholder return. In its methodology, a ranking of companies by excess CEO pay and by shareholder votes on CEO pay are each weighted at 40 percent. The final ranking based on CEO-to-worker pay ratio is weighted at 20 percent.
ER wait times, by state (beckershospitalreview.com)
“Maryland has the longest hospital waiting time, North Dakota has the shortest.”
Sanofi, GSK to Seek Approval for COVID Vaccine Candidate (medscape.com)
Sanofi-GSK’s shot relies on a conventional recombinant protein-subunit approach, compared with the newer mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Medicare Owes Retirees a Refund, Says Powerful Senior Group (msn.com)
the cost of Aduhelm has now been cut in half, and patients can be treated for just $28,200.
COVID-19 Racial Disparities Widen With Omicron (medscape.com)
(Reuters) – New data illustrate the jumps in U.S. coronavirus infection rates caused by the Omicron variant and the heavier toll it has taken on minorities in the latest example of racial disparity in the pandemic.
Overall, for every 2,000 people in the United States, roughly one per day caught a first-time infection when the Delta variant was dominant, compared to about 8 to 10 per day in January after Omicron took over, researchers found.
Hostility Against Hospitals Raged During COVID; Long COVID Patients Lack Safety Net | MedPage Today
As hospitals continue to treat COVID-19 patients, they are also experiencing hostility that has “flourished during the pandemic, encouraged by misinformation campaigns, anti-vaccine activists, and conspiracy theorists,” the Washington Post reported.
Such was the case at Valley Regional Hospital, a small community hospital in Claremont, New Hampshire. One day in December, callers began overwhelming the hospital, demanding it treat a COVID patient in its care with the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, the Post reported. The calls and emails spiraled out of control, even threatening a “military extraction” of the patient from the hospital. And then came the bomb threat.
Simone Gold Reaches Plea Deal on Capitol Insurrection Charge | MedPage Today
At one point during the 17-minute hearing as the judge asked “Ms. Gold” if she had used any alcohol or drugs in the last 48 hours that would impair her ability to understand the proceedings, Gold interrupted the judge, saying, “Your honor, I don’t mean to — I never go by Miss Gold. I always go by Dr. Gold, if that’s okay with you.”
“Okay,” the judge replied. “Dr. Gold.”
(AB) Usually, you are quiet while waiting for your sentence. Privileged . . .
892 hospitals at risk of closure, state by state (beckershospitalreview .com)
More than 500 rural hospitals in the U.S. are at immediate risk of closing because of financial losses and lack of financial reserves to sustain operations, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Nearly every state has at least one rural hospital at immediate risk of shutting down. In 21 states, 25 percent or more of rural hospitals were at immediate risk, according to the report.
Why don’t physicians have more power in healthcare? (beckersasc.com)
Their opinions carry less weight on Capitol Hill than in the operating room.
Health policy is shaped by legislators and influenced by lobbyists representing drug companies, medtech, insurers, hospitals and more. In the first half of 2021, healthcare organizations spent $331 million on lobbying, led by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing of America. The top five spenders were:
- Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $15.2 million
- American Hospital Association: $12.1 million
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: $12 million
- American Medical Association: $10.9 million
- Pfizer: $6.6 million
Cleveland Clinic’s operating income more than triples in 2021 (beckers hospitalreview.com)
Cleveland Clinic posted an operating income of $746.3 million in 2021, more than triple the $232.4 million recorded in 2020, according to its recently released financial results.
The 19-hospital system also reported a 66.7 percent increase in net income for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2021, from $1.3 billion in 2020 to $2.2 billion in 2021.
Hostility Against Hospitals Raged During COVID; Long COVID Patients Lack Safety Net | MedPage Today
As hospitals continue to treat COVID-19 patients, they are also experiencing hostility that has “flourished during the pandemic, encouraged by misinformation campaigns, anti-vaccine activists, and conspiracy theorists,” the Washington Post reported.
US to Extend Airplane, Transit Mask Mandate Through April 18 (medscape.com)
President Joe Biden’s administration will extend requirements for travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and in transit hubs through April 18 as public health authorities review when mask requirements should be dropped, the White House confirmed.
Ivermectin is the cure for covid (with vit D and Zinc). Withholding it from patients is a crime. A violation of patients rights as well.
A crime committed for money, as the Cares act mandates that only Remdesivir be used. Remdesivir has a mortality rate of 27%. And no clinical effect other than renal failure.
Ivermectin has no side effects. ivmmeta.com. Other zinc ionophores work well too (HCQ and Quercetin).
The beauty of humans is their intelligence. Massive numbers of Americans now use it while bypassing the corrupt health care system. And do wonderfully.
“rich”
So what you are telling me is Ivermectin is acting more like an ionophore allowing greater entry into the cell for Vitamin D and Zinc. By them selves, Zinc and Vitamin D have issues getting into the cells. Ionophores increase the likelihood of Zinc, D, AZT, etc. passing through a cell wall and blocking the Covid virus RNA non structural proteins from joining with host RNA. Read all of this stuff before and posted on it a while back. How the coronavirus infects cells — and why Delta is so dangerous
Much of this is early on remedies and are less useful past 10-14 days.
There are many limited studies out there which no one is going to admit to and I do not have the time to look at each and every study on your proposed site to determine legitimacy. However, this popped up on my radar; Ivermectin for COVID-19: Addressing Potential Bias and Medical Fraud as well as this: The World Health Organization doesn’t recommend ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment; the drug’s safety and effectiveness remains uncertain in COVID-19 patients
Cherry-picking, unsupported, small studies, etc appear to be (a) common complaint(s) cited by reputable studies. The US has something called the Cures Act
Repubs picked up a lot of money passing that one.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8688140/
When one refuses a change of opinion based on evidence, it’s a religious belief (maybe political) , certainly not scientific or even commonsensical. (it’s only 80 studies, lots of randomized prospective: I did have a (racist obviously) liberal ER doc from Cali, tell me that “we don’t care here in America (sic) about studies coming from Argentina or Egypt… While he carelessly administered (and killed) many of his patients (there’s is not 1 study for Remdesivir). IVM acts as a ionophore in the viral phase and a profound antiinflammatory agent in the cytokine storm phase. It’s perfection for covid. The DARPA documents on gain of function identify it as cure. Darpa would know: they created it.
As a no longer practicing (rich that’s why) MD I did treat dozens of patients with it, including (oh, the irony) certain physicians (from Yale and Cornell) and politicians. Never lost one, not even 1 admission. Even treated myself. I’m not injected of course: I know better.
The Pfizer documents: Dr John Campbell
A Letter to Andrew Hill | Dr Tess Lawrie | Oracle Films
“Peter Daszak and his cronies are asking the world to believe that the HIV-Gp120 and FCS/HIV-Gag inserts that were proposed in his own document and ended up at exactly the binding sites of the #SARSCoV2 was just a chance event in a bat cave
“What happens to those billions of NanoParticles you’ve become host to?”
“Please understand that every study that shows spike toxicity is another warning that you do not want this stuff generated by your own cells”
Republicans are as corrupt as Democrats. It’s not about left vs right, more good vs evil, freedom vs tyranny. The Cares act removes patient’s rights at admission. A first in the history of medicine. Not everyone will make it: sadly. Good luck to all.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/4Luw4fHMUEmG/ All injectees have vasculitis. Some non clinical (the majority), lots clinical, many deaths. Very painful situation. But I believe that IVM does help thru various mechanisms in the aforementioned article. A bit technical for here. IVM can be found online or in DR, MXC, Brazil etc for the jet set. Dirt cheap. Miraculous.
“rich?”
If one has to say it, then they are probably not.
Concluding sentence of the NIH study. “The controlled clinical trials that are underway will reveal if these activities will translate into clinical efficacy.”
Another article of the same page; “Based on the current very low- to low-certainty evidence, we are uncertain about the efficacy and safety of ivermectin used to treat or prevent COVID-19. The completed studies are small and few are considered high quality.”
Your alleged personal experiences are not proof. I spent enough time on this with you. no more . . .
There is no refereed study documenting the efficacy of Ivermectin against COVID. Prescribing Ivermectin for COVID is malpractice.
Those of us who travel in business class, don’t have to wear masks. It was always a simple humiliation of the lower classes.
“rich”
No, I usually sit in the Exit rows where if we are still alive after a crash, I can throw passengers out of the plane through the exit way. Just as roomy for my long legs and I am not rotund. I have no issues with the mask the same as no issue with getting my hair cut every three weeks.
Masking was always a simple precaution against viral transmission. The evidence that masking reduces spread of COVID is infinitely better than the evidence that Ivermectin has cured anyone of COVID.