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.

Coronavirus Tidbits #87 9/30/20

By Judy Stone | October 1, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #87 9/30/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. We’re coming up on the anniversary of the birth of my book, Resilience: One Family’s Story… I began furiously writing it in 2016 because of the divisiveness and hate-mongering, as a warning to where that would lead…and here we are, with unmistakable parallels to 1930s Germany and the rise of fascism. In this final push before the election, please do everything you can to help people register, verify their registration, educate others, and find volunteers for poll workers and election judges. We need a massive turnout if we are to have a prayer of overcoming the voter suppression.   News  After news of Trump’s tax dodges, only paying $750 in each of 2 years, and nothing in >10 years, a good proposal: ~ ~ ~ Despite rising cases in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) moved…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #86 9/27/20

By Judy Stone | September 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #86 9/27/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News  Scientists Discover Genetic and Immunologic Underpinnings of Some Cases of Severe COVID-19 New findings by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators help explain why some people with COVID-19 develop severe disease. The findings also may provide the first molecular explanation for why more men than women die from COVID-19. The researchers found that more than 10% of people who develop severe COVID-19 have misguided antibodies?autoantibodies? that attack the immune system rather than the virus that causes the disease. Another 3.5% or more of people who develop severe COVID-19 carry a specific kind of genetic mutation that impacts immunity. Consequently, both groups lack effective immune responses that depend on type I interferon, a set of 17 proteins crucial for protecting cells and the body from viruses. Whether these proteins…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #85 9/24/20

By Judy Stone | September 24, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #85 9/24/20

pQuick 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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. What a week from hell…besides RBG’s death and the sleazy response to that, I’m not going to post each piece of travesty from this regime…I wrote 2 posts on Forbes that I will refer you to.  1) an overview of political interference at the CDC, FDA, and EPA–agencies that are suppose to protect our health. Politics Around The CDC And FDA Is Eroding Trust In Their Covid-19 Recommendations  and then a post 2) specifically in vaccine uptake and what that means for our outlook. Public Trust In Covid-19 Vaccines Is Being Eroded By Politics News  Question from @BrianKarem 9/23/20: Do you commit to making sure there is a peaceful transfer of power? Trump: We’re going to have to see what happens. Pressed on it again: Trump: “Get rid of the ballots, we’ll have a…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #84 9/20/20

By Judy Stone | September 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #84 9/20/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. We’re coming up on the anniversary of the birth of my book, Resilience: One Family’s Story… I began furiously writing it in 2016 because of the divisiveness and hate-mongering, as a warning to wear that would lead…and here we are, with unmistakable parallels to 1930s Germany and the rise of fascism. In this final push before the election, please do everything you can to help people register, verify their registration, educate others, and find volunteers for poll workers and election judges. We need a massive turnout if we are to have a prayer of overcoming the voter suppression.   News  Devastating news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death– Came in the middle of Erev Rosh Hashanah services…   ~ ~ ~ CDC scientists didn’t write the virus testing guidance on its website last month,…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #83 9/17/20

By Judy Stone | September 17, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #83 9/17/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. ~ ~ ~ We’re coming up on the anniversary of the birth of my book, Resilience: One Family’s Story… I began furiously writing it in 2016 because of the divisiveness and hate-mongering, as a warning to wear that would lead…and here we are, with unmistakable parallels to 1930s Germany and the rise of fascism. In this final push before the election, please do everything you can to help people register, verify their registration, educate others, and find volunteers for poll workers and election judges. We need a massive turnout if we are to have a prayer of overcoming the voter suppression.   News  ~ ~ ~ ICE flew detainees to Virginia just so the planes could transport agents to D.C. protests. A huge coronavirus outbreak followed After the transfer, dozens of the new arrivals tested…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #82 9/13/20

By Judy Stone | September 13, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #82 9/13/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. ~ ~ ~ We’re coming up on the anniversary of the birth of my book, Resilience: One Family’s Story… I began furiously writing it in 2016 because of the divisiveness and hate-mongering, as a warning to wear that would lead…and here we are, with unmistakable parallels to 1930s Germany and the rise of fascism. In this final push before the election, please do everything you can to help people register, verify their registration, educate others, and find volunteers for poll workers and election judges. We need a massive turnout if we are to have a prayer of overcoming the voter suppression.   News  Must read Timeline of Coronavirus Pandemic and US Response Feb. 7: Trump tells Woodward he knows of airborne risks and covid is worse than worst flus Feb 10-Mar 2, 2020: Trump…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #81 9/10/20

By Judy Stone | September 10, 2020 | 2 Comments

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. New Post @Forbes: Rural Communities Needlessly Risk Covid-19 From Prisons Even as I wrote this today, the US Marshals irresponsibly transferred in more prisoners, including at least 1 who has already tested positive. News  Trump Knew… And yet the Republicans remain silent… ~ ~ ~ More lies and hiding data by the Trump administration: The White House has been blocking access to its weekly coronavirus task force reports, enabling the administration and governors to downplay the threat of the virus, according to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), which has regularly obtained those reports. ~ ~ ~ Proud Mama moment–daughter and her team got nice coverage in CNN! The FDA’s new CURE ID app for frontline doctors could help discover Covid-19 treatments faster This drug repurposing–researching already approved drugs for new, hard to treat…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #80 9/6/20

By Judy Stone | September 6, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #80 9/6/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News  Fauci warns that Labor Day celebrations could drive Covid-19 spikes https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/04/fauci-labor-day-covid-19/ Vaccine makers are planning a public statement to push back on pressure on the FDA: The effort is shaping up as a joint statement from the leading companies developing Covid-19 vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, Glaxo, Sanofi, J&J and others. The companies will likely pledge not to submit a vaccine to FDA without extensive safety and efficacy data, a bid to head off concerns that political pressure could see the agency rush out a shot. https://t.co/SsXln7SPz4?amp=1 ~ ~ ~ At least 15% of Big Ten athletes who were positive for Covid-19 have heart involvement #PennState‘s director of athletic medicine, Wayne Sebastianelli, says that cardiac MRI scans revealed that roughly 30-35 percent of Big Ten athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 appeared to…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #79 9/3/20

By Judy Stone | September 3, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #79 9/3/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News  Trump says we won’t join WHO-linked effort to develop, distribute coronavirus vaccine This unilateralism will come back to bite us in the ass. If our vax doesn’t work, no one will want to share theirs. And if it does, turning our backs on others will backfire. Trump endangers us more every day with his #whitenationalism. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/coronavirus-vaccine-trump/2020/09/01/b44b42be-e965-11ea-bf44-0d31c85838a5_story.html ~ ~ ~ Op-Ed by Harold Varmus, a former director of the National Institutes of Health and Rajiv Shah, the president of the Rockefeller Foundation. These changes by the C.D.C. will undermine efforts to end the pandemic, slow the return to normal economic, educational and social activities, and increase the loss of lives. Like other scientists and public health experts, we have argued that more asymptomatic people, not fewer, need to be tested…the C.D.C. seeks to dissuade…

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Coronavirus Tidbits #78 8/30/20

By Judy Stone | August 30, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Tidbits #78 8/30/20

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. Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that. News  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/us/politics/joe-biden-trump-conventions.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage ~ ~ ~ Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) informed congressional intelligence committees that it will cease to provide in-person briefings on foreign interference with the 2020 elections…They will only provide written notices. ~ ~ ~ The Kenosha shooter was one year away from having a badge, a state-issued weapon, and qualified immunity… FBI warned of white supremacists in law enforcement in 2006, more than 10 years ago. Has anything changed? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement ~ ~ ~ A Kenosha Militia Facebook Event Asking Attendees To Bring Weapons Was Reported 455 Times. Moderators Said It Didn’t Violate Any Rules. the next highest event for the day had been flagged 18 times by users compared to the 455 times of the Kenosha Guard event. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/kenosha-militia-facebook-reported-455-times-moderators ~ ~ ~ Covid gag rules Workers at…

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