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. 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. News Urgent: Contact Congress to Save the Post Office As I wrote yesterday, Trump and Mnuchin refuse emergency aid for the USPS. See more here or at Resistbot. Trump has long wanted to privatize the Post Office, apparently to hurt his perceived enemy, Jeff Bezos/Amazon, and to enrich his cronies. One other, more nefarious reason, it to stymie states efforts to expand voting by mail. Killing the Post Office will particularly…
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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. News Urgent Volunteer Opportunity: NIH begins study to quantify undetected cases of coronavirus infection to determine how many adults in the United States without a confirmed history of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have antibodies to the virus. The presence of antibodies in the blood indicates a prior infection. Just requires you to obtain and mail a pin-prick of blood in a kit they will…
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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. News Criminally negligent: Vice President Pence says WH officials are looking at whether healthcare workers can wear reusable cloth gowns and will have a recommendation soon. He said: They may have to “recycle gowns” to make sure U.S. has the supplies they need. ~ ~ ~ Highly recommend this article in Stat. Dr. Eric Topol: “The American public doesn’t know that a large portion of this catastrophe was preventable, if not…
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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. News Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word What are they doing with them? Is Jared selling them? https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-04-07/hospitals-washington-seize-coronavirus-supplies ~ ~ ~ A Nurse Bought Protective Supplies for Her Colleagues Using GoFundMe. The Hospital Suspended Her. Another example, this from ProPublica, of healthcare workers not being provided adequate PPE and being punished for using their own “unauthorized” supplies or speaking out about the dangerous conditions…
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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. News: Trump removes inspector general who was to oversee $2 trillion stimulus spending Today, it was Glenn Fine, a career official who has served Republican and Democratic presidents. He is eliminating any attempt at oversight. “On Friday, the president notified Congress that he was removing Michael Atkinson as the inspector general of the intelligence community — a decision that Trump acknowledged was in response to Atkinson’s having alerted lawmakers to the…
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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. The technical aspects of learning this are wearing… I have been immersed in preparing it and reading about coronavirus, 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. News I had an interview for #Baltimore @JewishTimes: Infectious Disease Specialist Answers Common Questions About #COVID19 https://jewishtimes.com/…/specialist-answers-covi…/covid-19/ The key message is later in the interview, where I shared with host Carolyn Conte how I learned from my family how unexpected kindnesses helped save some of their lives. If people could help each other like that under such desperate…
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Quick links News Diagnostics Drugs Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty Note: Tidbits will be abbreviated for a bit while I try to catch up and deal w technical issues. Also need to take a bit more breaks. I’ve moved people from my emails to this automated mailing when I have a new issue. Please refer people to this site: https://www.drjudystone.com/politics-science-and-other-assorted-musings/ My web designer is working to put that signup on each post as well, to make it easier for folks to sign up. Please continue to send questions, great resources, or nice things that are happening. Thx. News: CDC now advises people to wear a mask in public to help slow spread of Coronavirus from asymptomatic people. Setting a bad example yet again, and asked why he won’t wear a covering, Trump said: “I just don’t want to wear one myself…I’m feeling good…I just don’t want to…somehow sitting in the Oval Office…the great Resolute Desk…I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents…dictators…I dunno, I don’t see it.” ~ ~ ~ Americans are underestimating how long coronavirus disruptions will last, health experts say https://t.co/VL50YikQeC?amp=1 via @statnews ~ ~ ~ Capt….
Read MoreThis page will have be “live” with real-time updates as I learn of them. If you have other ones of national or regional interest I should add, please let me know via comments. Thanks. From AARP and Town Hall Project of MoveOn.org (an interesting partnership, the new Odd Couple) Everywhere we look, people are working together—city by city and block by block—to develop teams and resources to meet the needs of our most vulnerable loved ones and face this pandemic together. These are mutual aid networks. Small groups of neighbors asking for and offering help. Click here to find a mutual aid network near you. This will take you to a map of local groups that’s been compiled by Town Hall Project and AARP (which is not a MoveOn project, but we think it’s an incredible resource many of us will want to plug into). You might need help right now, or maybe you can deliver groceries, pick up prescriptions, offer translation services, provide tutoring support, or just be virtual company for someone struggling with self-quarantine. We know there are a million ways (not an exaggeration) that individuals are helping each other and communities are creating mutual support. The map keeps growing, and you…
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