Here CAR stands for Chimeric Antigen Receptor and refers to CAR killer T-cells which are cells genetically engineered to kill other cells which display something detectable (and antigen) typical of a type of cancer. The crazy refers to my dream of improving CARs using the knowlsege from my long ago BA in biology. The amazing […]
The US has been an international leader in biomedical research for decades. Now, the Trump administration wants to blow that up. “The directive also brings the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) lengthy scientific grant review process to a standstill. “All NIH study sections canceled indefinitely. This will halt science and devastate research budgets in universities,” […]
As I’ve said here before, together with water purification and sanitary sewers, vaccines are a triumph of public health. Hundreds of millions of lived (at least) have been saved by vaccination, not just as a direct result of immunization but indirectly by slowing the rate of pathogen evolution. It is both shocking and frankly dangerous […]
“California is advising healthcare providers not to write down patients’ immigration status on bills and medical records and telling them they don’t have to assist federal agents in arrests. Some Massachusetts hospitals and clinics are posting privacy rights in emergency and waiting rooms in Spanish and other languages. “Meanwhile, Florida and Texas are requiring healthcare […]
What to Watch for at The Department of Veterans Affairs – by Allison Gill The Contrarian “During Donald Trump’s first term, it took a while for me to get fired” . . . Allison Gill an employee of the Department of Veterans I had worked at the VA for over a decade when I was […]
A not-so-short report made shorter by me on homelessness during the pandemic. It is not a terrible read. Plenty of charts and graphs to help explain the words. Dive into it, it is pretty good. The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR to Congress) Part 1: Point-In-Time Estimates of Homelessness, December 2024 National Estimates of […]
Trump has charged the DoJ and FBI to focus on his political enemies. That means that the focus of these “law and order” agencies will be on Trump’s political security and not our national security. Expect terrorist attacks and domestic violence, which will then be used as an excuse for martial law. Trump has pardoned […]
ACA Marketplace Reflections on Retention and Year-round Enrollment – by Andrew Sprung xpostfactoid Writing about the ACA marketplace at this point has an elegiac feel (as does writing about almost any not-depraved or degraded aspect of American life). As of 2026, coverage is likely to be far less affordable, out of pocket costs will rise […]
The COVID pandemic in the US began five years ago. It wasn’t declared a pandemic then, but in retrospect, that’s when it began. My university has an NIH-designated vaccine testing and evaluation unit. In late January 2020, I attended a lecture by the clinical director about the recently named SARS-CoV-2. That was the first time […]
The way to make money in America’s private health insurance industry is to deny coverage. There’s no question about that. The question is whether the denials are valid. According to one long-time doc, industry is valorizing speed over accuracy. “In late 2020, Dr. Debby Day said her bosses at Cigna gave her a stark warning. […]