Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

No Benefit to Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan

There are no Benefits to Trump’s “Great Healthcare Plan” – Public Citizen Public Citizen Health Care Policy Advocate Eagan Kemp issued the following statement: “Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan is impressive only in the fact that it isn’t great, would not substantively improve healthcare. It is not even detailed enough to be considered a plan. “Trump and his […]

The cat rescue myth and vaccines

My dad, an MIT-trained chemical engineer, was a practical man. He was scornful of efforts to rescue cats out of trees. His response was: “Look around; how many cat skeletons do you see in trees.” Setting aside the merits of the cat rescue argument, the larger point is to use critical thinking to assess whether […]

Trump’s ‘Great Healthcare Plan’ Leaves Open Questions for People with Pre-existing Conditions

Trump’s most recent healthcare plans as reported on by the former Kaiser Family Foundation known today as KFF. It appears and as reported. Trump is taking from various sources for his plan. Hopefully, a united Congress improves upon what Trump is proposing and what Republicans had in mind earlier. Many US citizens could end up […]

Two cheers for congressional science funding

Things were looking grim for federally funded science earlier this year: • Trump proposed an overall cut in science funding from $198 to $154 billion, a reduction of 22% that would have been the largest reduction in federal science spending since World War II: • Trump proposed that the National Science Foundation budget be slashed […]

A pediatrician’s thoughts on the new vaccine schedule

The other day, I was getting my semi-annual cleaning at the dentist office. When the hygienist asked what I did before retirement, I told her I was a medical school professor. That touched off a 15-minute interrogation about childhood vaccination. She has an infant daughter. While she’s gotten all the recommended vaccines, she was plainly […]

“We control our own destiny here, but we’re not controlling it right now”

“Southwest’s disappearing precipitation is also due to human-driven climate change,” University of Michigan News To end the Colorado River Basin’s megadrought, ‘we just need to stop climate change,’ a U-M expert says. ‘We know how to stop it and it’s not too late to stop it.’ Like much of the southwestern U.S., the Colorado River […]

Perhaps, It is Not a Good Idea to Do Only One Clinical Study?

Typically, it does take more than one clinical study to insure . . . A lower number of Clinical Studies: WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration plans to begin requiring one clinical study, instead of the standard two, for medical products before consideration for approval, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced late in 2025.  While historically the […]