Health and Sanity category archive
Rx 0
In the Portland Press-Herald, a Maine doctor who is actively involved in treating victims of COVID-19 offers some words of advice for these viral times (emphasis added):
I warn everyone away from those who call themselves “Doctor,” but either misappropriate the term (i.e., did not go to an accredited medical school) or no longer practice evidence-based medicine, using their titles to promote metaphysical ideas. Maine has a hardy crop. In the midst of a crisis, it is comforting to be around those who claim to know. Charlatans thrive in chaos. Accept a little discomfort, some unknowing, and double check all the “facts” that such people espouse ad nauseam. As Winston Churchill said, “When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.”
Follow the link for the entire article. It is worth your while.
Against Covidiocy 0
At NJ.com, a nurse argues that the severity of COVID-19 has not been clearly communicated and pleads with persons to follow the rules during this pandemic. A nugget; follow the link for more, but be forewarned–it’s not pretty or comforting (emphasis added).
“Zoonodic” 0
Thom and his guest, Zach Corrigan, discuss how diseases can make the leap from animals to people.
You Can’t Trust Dr. Google 0
Not that that should surprise anyone.
Health Care in a Health Scare 0
Thom discusses how the “for profit” health care model is breaking down at a time when health care is sorely needed.
Truth in Labeling 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, Stephen Buckley, citing John M. Barry’s research, looks back at how news of the 1918 flue epidemic was covered and reminds us that reporting facts is not being alarmist. Here’s a bit:
In North Carolina, some newspapers would not publish the names of the dead.
One newspaper in Phoenix declined to write about influenza deaths there, or anywhere else. The paper, Barry writes, “was utterly silent, saying nothing about influenza anyplace in the country until the news was such that it could no longer keep silent.”
Nattering Nabobs of Narcissism 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Kristy Lee Hochenberger writes of the danger posed by narcissists who believe that they are entitled to ignore the advice of experts in these viral times. A snippet; follow the link to see whether her depiction of narcissism and narcissists reminds you of anyone in the news.
One Insure Thing 0
Wendell Potter, at one time a flack for CIGNA, reminds us that for profit insurance companies exist for profit. They don’t want you to get sick, and, if you do, they don’t want to take care of you. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):
Viral Vigilantes 0
Civilization is a thin veneer indeed.
The Epidemiologist’s Apologist 0
A conservative right-wing* law professor tried his hand at sciencing and failed miserably.
In related news, The Roanoke Times’s Dan Casey, who is decidedly not an apologist for the Epidemiologist-in-Chief, responds to those who complain that his coverage of Donald Trump has been–er–less than even-handed.
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*He’s with the Hoover Institute.
Held Heath Hostage
0
Afterthought:
Last night, we watched an episode of Cheers, a sitcom from the ’80s, in which a subplot involved a $683.00 emergency room bill.
Good times.
Don’t Look! 0
This is a classic example of treating the symptom, not the cause.
Words fail me.
Denial Is Not Just a River in Egypt 0
Two recent posts at Psychology Today Blogs offer insight into the intersection between political leanings and failure to take seriously–even to actively discount–the seriousness of the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Nassir Ghaemi offers a taxonomy of disease deniers:
Meanwhile, Nigel Barber identifies an irony:
Given the confused and chaotic–often self-contradictory–response to the coronavirus by the current Federal Administration and tendency of many to, say, confuse a Facebook frolic with a fact, I commend both pieces as being worth the few moments it will take to read them.
Aside:
My grad school professor for early federal period history, Dr. Shade, was fond of saying that “history is irony.”
Far too often, history has proven him correct, as when the United States went from having its first black President to having the most racist President since Woodrow Wilson.
