In the Midst of the Health Care Debate and the H1N1 Vaccine Crisis

[TalkingDog]

Discussion of the Efficacy of Medical Care

"The modern "heresy" that medical care (as it is traditionally conceived) is generally unrelated to improvements in the health of populations (as distinct from individuals) is still dismissed as unthinkable in much the same way as the so-called heresies of former times. And this is despite a long history of support in popular and scientific writings as well as from able minds in a variety of disciplines."

"With the appearance of his book, Who Shall Live? (1974), Fuchs, a health economist, contributed to the resurgence of interest in the relative contribution of medical care to the modern decline in mortality in the United States. He believes there has been an unprecedented improvement in health in the United States since about the middle of the eighteenth century, associated primarily with a rise in real income."

"Now is the time for us to ask ourselves: Would the money spent on the now all-but-neutered health care bill be used more effectively by developing jobs for the populace so that real income levels rise for those most affected by the downturn? Would a combination of public health education and income increases work to reduce the current spate of common causes of death as it did in the first half of the last century even though the cause of mortality has changed? I think we need to take a broader view of what has worked in the past, as it is evident that medicating the problems will not solve them now any more than it did then."

[truedelphi]

1. K & R and before the Powers that Be went ahead and put together the

Six billion dollars of financial backing that went into "re-constructing" the San Francisco Bay Bridge, there were one or two brave editorials that took a differing view. These editorials postulated that perhaps we would all be better off just accepting that when the Big Earthquake hits, many will die.

But that was not acceptable. After all, the local construction (ie mostly mafia) job bosses wanted their share of this six billion bucks. The editorials had pointed out that six billion dollars put into the hospitals of the local San Francisco Metro area (Which has about 7 million people) might save far more lives than a bridge re-construct could.

But the "No one can ever die in an earthquake" forces went ahead. The hospitals in this metro area have laid off nurses, and some hospitals have closed. Also, the number of people died because of the stress that occurred while traffic backed up every day for years, also the smog created by all that backed up traffic affected people in surrounding neighborhoods, etc. is anyone's guess.

And in the end, the damn bridge re-modernization failed less than two months after the job was "completed," when chunks from the project ended up crashing down on motorists. Now the bridge might end up being closed!

[TalkingDog]

2. I guess the day before Thanksgiving is like the Friday News Dump

Put something provocative out there and it sinks like a stone.

[TalkingDog]

3. Well, I'm surprised. This article shows that vaccines have been generally useless

And not one single flame war...

Impressive.

[Robb]

4. Well, it's (a) old and (b) written by a sociologist. It doesn't "show" shit. nt