Politics, Science, and Other Assorted Musings
I love helping people understand issues and look at them from a different perspective. In this blog, I hope I can offer you some new insights—bridging the gap between basic science and your medicine chest—as I am still a practicing physician, as well as having had broad clinical research experience. I'm interested in developing new medicines and treatments, as well as caring for patients—and explaining these topics for you.
As medicine has evolved, so have my interests. I have also become increasingly interested in health disparities, social justice issues, and ethics. I invite you to join me as we explore a variety of territories. I hope that reading these posts will encourage you to learn, engage, and above all, work for the forces of good.
If there are topics you'd like to see me cover, please let me know—I welcome your input as to what you would like us to discuss in this column.
Coronavirus - COVID19
Please note that I will be posting Coronavirus Tidbits of news here. You can sign up for updates by clicking the box at the right and subscribe to Covid, Politics, and Science. All Covid posts will go here, and I will upload back issues as I have time. Please share w friends. Thanks!
I’m going to have a reference file here for articles I have found particularly worthwhile, and will update this here as we learn new information. Click on the COVID-19 Resources, below, to expand that.
If you see something terrific, please share. We’re all in this together.
Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News Idiocy du jour: Feds About To Bail On Supporting COVID Testing Sites In Texas And Other States–as cases skyrocket https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/exclusive-feds-about-to-bail-on-supporting-covid-testing-sites-in-texas-and-other-states Trump: “Slow the testing down please.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Watch this dataviz. ~ ~ ~ Ousted Rebekah Jones in Florida explains how they are trying to cook the numbers again BREAKING: 1 OF 3: Florida announced yesterday they’re not counting the icu bed availability anymore, a key element in keeping things open, so the state can proceed to the next phase…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News Wastewater studies show Coronavirus was present in Italy in December! Rome (AFP) – The coronavirus was present in two large Italian cities in December, more than two months before the first case was detected, a national health institute study of waste water has found. That suggests the virus appeared in Italy around the same time it was first reported in China. Researchers discovered genetic traces of Sars-CoV-2 — as the virus is officially known — in samples of waste water collected in Milan and…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News: Terrifying: Trump: If COVID-19 testing stops — the US won’t have coronavirus cases anymore https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/trump-if-covid-19-testing-stops-the-us-wont-have-coronavirus-cases-anymore/ ~ ~ ~ 27 state and local health officials across 13 states have resigned, retired or been fired since April —a result of increasing pressure to reopen states. This politicization of #publichealth is a danger to our nation’s people. The abuse ranges from antisemitic comments and harassing them at their homes to death threats. Many of these officials are women. https://www.startribune.com/public-health-workers-fighting-virus-face-growing-threats/571211822/ ~ ~ ~ Arizona is the new national…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News States across the south and west (eg CA, AZ, TX, FL, SC, NC) hit record high new cases and rising hospitalizations. ~ ~ ~ Despite rising number of cases, Trump schedules rallies in Tulsa–on Juneteenth–and in Jacksonville on Axe Handle Saturday both thumbing his nose at Blacks and at epidemiologists/public health officials. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Fired scientist Rebekah Jones builds new coronavirus dashboard to rival Florida’s Dept. of Health Rebekah Jones has created FloridaCOVIDAction.com, which asserts that the state’s widely read public-facing dashboard…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. Tear Gas And Pepper Spray Can Maim, Kill And Spread Coronavirus https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2020/06/08/tear-gas-and-pepper-spray-can-maim-kill-and-spread-coronavirus/#2cf91d30725f News Most Hospitalized COVID Patients Have Neurologic Symptoms — Severe complications seen in all stages of COVID-19, including recovery Neurologic manifestations were seen in 57.4% of 841 patients. Potentially severe conditions, like stroke and inflammatory diseases, appeared in late COVID stages. “Optic neuritis and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy are two examples.” In the study, one in five patients (19.6%) hospitalized with COVID-19 had disorders of consciousness. ~ ~ ~ Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Pesach is always a bit rough anyway, so I will turn to more nature. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. My latest post: ICE Is Fueling Coronavirus Outbreaks, Ignoring CDC Guidelines https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2020/06/04/ice-is-fueling-coronavirus-outbreaks-ignoring-cdc-guidelines/#180c21c15ad4 News Meat processors are hard hit by COVID-19–this will make things so much worse. Tyson Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. meat processor, will return to its pre-Covid-19 absentee policy, which includes punishing workers for missing work due to illness, the company confirmed in a statement to @business https://buff.ly/2Mwdh1P ~ ~ ~ Why coronavirus hits men harder: sex hormones offer…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News Beijing now admits that coronavirus DIDN’T start in Wuhan’s market… so where DID it come from ‘At first, we assumed the seafood market might have the virus, but now the market is more like a victim,’ said Gao Fu, director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. another key academic paper by three America-based biologists that said all available data suggested the disease was taken into the market by someone already infected. Genetic stability makes it easier to find vaccines. But Nikolai Petrovsky,…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News What we do and don’t know about Covid: Excellent thread by Megan Ranney, MD MPH @meganranney start here: https://twitter.com/meganranney/status/1264589288659922945?s=20 or https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1264589288659922945.html ~ ~ ~ What the growing rift between the US and WHO means for COVID-19 and global health by Amy Maxman A disaster in the making for all global health https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01586-0 ~ ~ ~ Trump decides unilaterally to pull out of WHO 5/29 destroying everything he can of international relations and cooperation, damn the cost “The US government provides 27% of the WHO’s…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News Don’t want to wear a mask? Who will take care of you? CDC report finds over 60,000 healthcare workers have COVID-19 The CDC says there have been over 290 deaths among healthcare personnel with over 1,662,400 cases in the country and 98,000 deaths. https://www.wkrg.com/health/coronavirus/cdc-report-finds-over-60000-healthcare-workers-have-covid-19/? https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html ~ ~ ~ Baby steps from Twitter, putting a small, easily overlooked link in response to some of Trump’s more egregious lies in his tweets: ~ ~ ~ Need another reason to quit Facebook? Zuckerberg knocks Twitter for fact-checking…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Announcements: First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting. Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. My latest post, a response to Trump’s insistence that churches reopen, although they are dangerous A Stairway To Heaven? Reopening Churches And Coronavirus https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2020/05/24/a-stairway-to-heaven-reopening-churches-and-coronavirus/#3bee5142326e News Horrifying and dangerously stupid: ~ ~ ~ What Happened to Kroger’s “Hero Pay”? Workers at the grocery chain are being asked to return emergency pay, even as company revenue and stock prices climb upward. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/what-happened-to-krogers-hero-pay Diagnostics: still an incredible, negligent lack of testing. Drugs: WHO Halts Hydroxychloroquine Trial Over Safety Concerns because of Lancet report https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31180-6/fulltext that found increased cardiac…
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