GOP Keeps Fucking Up Health Care

As millions of Americans are bracing to see their health insurance premiums more than double due to Republicans' refusal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, GOP lawmakers insisted this week that they will fix health care in the United States. 

Never mind that Republicans for the past 15 years have failed to come up with a health care plan that Americans want or one that improves on the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Republicans are insisting that if they're given just a little more time they will fix the whole health care system.

"We're gonna have a vote before the end of the year for sure, and then we're going to continue to do improvements along the way. In the first quarter, second quarter, there's a lot to fix in health care, we've all acknowledged that," House Speaker Mike Johnson told Punchbowl News.

At a closed-door meeting, House Republicans presented 10 possible ideas, none of which included extending the enhanced ACA tax credits to prevent the coming premium increases.  Yet Republicans left the meeting no closer to an agreement on how to move forward as the clock ticks down for Americans who rely on those credits to stay insured.

“The consensus is we need to come up with something,” Rep. Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, said. 

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, voted on a plan that would give low-income Americans $1,000 to put in health savings accounts. But the proposal failed, receiving fewer than the 60 votes it needed to avoid a filibuster.   Yet, even if it had passed, it wouldn’t have been sufficient to help all of the millions of Americans who are about to be hit with massive premium increases.

"Under the Senate Republican ACA plan, premium payments would still more than double next year. Healthy people could be better off in a high deductible plan with a health savings account. People who are sick would face big premium increases or a deductible they can't afford," Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, wrote in a post on X.

To the mainstream media's credit, reporters grilled Republicans on why, after more than a decade and a half of bitching about the perils of Obamacare, they still have no plan to replace it.

"I'm not sure what we can say," Sen. Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins after she asked why the GOP still has no concrete proposal. Republicans will not like the result of their health care failures next November, when voters will get the chance to make their displeasure known at the ballot box.  “We've got to solve it,” retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told CNN.

  

Kentucky Rural Residents Getting What They Voted For

Glasgow, Kentucky (just outside Mammoth Cave National Park) is proud Trump country. Its home county of Barren gave 76% of its vote to President Donald Trump last year.   The rural town of about 15,000 is 78% white, with a per capita income of around $29,000. It’s the kind of place that has long benefited from subsidies generously funded by Democrats, blue states, and urban areas. Between 1995 and 2024, Barren County received more than $67 million in farm subsidies, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

But rather than support the party supporting them, Barren County went for convicted felon Donald Trump. And now, thanks to the orange man's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill', the town of Glasgow is losing its all-inclusive elder care facility.  “We [were] told that this [facility] is closing down on November third due to Medicaid not letting people in fast enough,” one patient told a local news outlet. “Don’t let it close. We need our family. We need our group. Please don’t let this Horizon close. There’s too many of us that want to stay here.”

When Republicans run the country like a business and brag about cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse,” it turns out that rural health services are what get labeled wasteful—an “abuse” of resources provided by the more economically productive parts of America.  Democrats don’t believe in running the country as a business. We believe everyone deserves dignity and equal treatment. But we were outvoted—by the very people who’ve benefited most from that generosity.

But this sad story if just a preview of what’s coming for Kentucky’s rural population.  One hospital executive warned that the Big Beautiful Bill—supported by the entire Kentucky GOP congressional delegation—will cost the state’s hospital system $15.1 billion in lost revenue.   And a KFF study found Kentucky will be hit harder than any other state, losing over $10 billion in funding over the next decade. Unfortunately, that estimate came from an early draft of the bill. The final version slashed Medicaid even deeper.  Had Kentucky gone for Democrat Kamala Harris last year, Glasgow’s elder care facility wouldn’t be in danger. 

But that’s not the reality we live in. Glasgow is getting what it voted for.

 

Medicare Shock: Trump Administration Plans to Ration Healthcare

Like millions of older adults, Frances L. Ayres faced a choice when picking health insurance: Pay more for traditional Medicare, or opt for a plan offered by a private insurer and risk drawn-out fights over coverage.

Private insurers often require a cumbersome review process that frequently results in the denial or delay of essential treatments that are readily covered by traditional Medicare. This practice, known as prior authorization, has drawn public scrutiny, which intensified after the murder of a UnitedHealthcare executive last December.

Ms. Ayres, a 74-year-old retired accounting professor, said she wanted to avoid the hassle that has been associated with such practices under Medicare Advantage, which are private plans financed by the U.S. government. Now, she is concerned she will face those denials anyway.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to begin a pilot program that would involve a similar review process for traditional Medicare, the federal insurance program for people 65 and older as well as for many younger people with disabilities. The pilot would start in six states next year, including Oklahoma, where Ms. Ayres lives.  Even worse, the new Trump plan would use artificial intelligence to decide who gets medical treatment and who doesn't.

$12K to Change Your Eye Color . . . and Possibly Screw Up Your Vision?

There is a growing number of people who are permanently changing their eye color through cosmetic surgery.  Many doctors say the surgery hasn’t been proven safe and warn it could cause lasting damage.

The procedure, known as keratopigmentation or corneal tattooing, is typically completed in about a half-hour-- and the effect is immediate.  Some people getting the procedure say they want to look better and feel more confident. Others did it to look more like family members. One young man changed one of his brown eyes blue to copy the mismatched eyes of his beloved Siberian husky.

Dr. Alexander Movshovich, who emigrated from Russia, is among a few U.S. doctors who offer the procedure. Movshovich, who operates his clinic in New York City, is the first doctor in the U.S. to offer keratopigmentation for nonmedical reasons. “People said I was crazy. But in Russia, they say if you’re not brave, you don’t drink Champagne,” he told the Wall Street Journal.   Movshovich treated about 15 keratopigmentation patients in the first year. This year, he is on track to treat some 400 people, he said. He charges $12,000 per surgery. It isn’t covered by insurance.

Keratopigmentation is irreversible. Movshovich invented a technique that can remove some pigment soon after surgery, but patients can’t return to their original eye color.  Lasers the Food and Drug Administration approved for vision-correction procedures are being used off-label to perform  keratopigmentation procedures. The pigments used by Movshovich haven’t been approved in the U.S. for use in the eyes. 

Doctors can use keratopigmentation to treat people with diseased or injured eyes.  But in the 2010's, doctors in Europe began experimenting with the procedure for cosmetic reasons. Many eye specialists say it is irresponsible for doctors to perform keratopigmentation on people with healthy eyes. The benefits might outweigh the risks for patients with diseased corneas, but there isn’t enough evidence to say the same for healthy people, critics say.

“I’m very surprised that these surgeons are doing this in the United States. They are taking a risk,” said Dr. Guillermo Amescua, an ophthalmology professor at the University of Miami.  The American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a warning in January that cosmetic keratopigmentation carried “serious risks for vision loss” and other complications including light sensitivity and bacterial or fungal infection. The safest way to lighten the appearance of eyes is with prescription contact lenses, the academy said.

 

GOP is Playing With Healthcare Fire

Republicans have finally revealed their health care plan: repeal the Affordable Care Act. A new video has surfaced of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson saying that Donald Trump, if elected, will kill the Affordable Care Act in the first 100 days, potentially throwing 22 million Americans off their insurance. 

“Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” Johnson said during a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Monday, while a life-sized Trump cardboard cutout loomed behind him. The video was first obtained by NBC News.

“No Obamacare,” Johnson continued. “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”  Johnson waxed poetic about the virtues of the “free market” and “taking bureaucrats out of the health care equation.”  However, the ACA remains overwhelmingly popular, with an April survey from KFF finding that 62% of Americans have a favorable view of the law.  How fast do you think Harris can get this into a TV ad?

Convicted Fraudster Granted Clemency is Facing Jail Due to Trump's Incompetency

Philip Esformes thought he had beat the system.  Less than five years into a 20-year sentence for his role in a massive fraud scheme — bankrolling a high-flying Miami Beach lifestyle of luxury cars, designer clothing and high-priced escorts — Esformes walked out of federal prison thanks to Donald Trump, who granted him clemency in the waning days of his presidency.

But Esformes’s reprieve is now in peril, because the Justice Department is seeking to retry him — a move made possible because the jury that convicted him reached no verdict on six counts, including the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud. Because Trump’s clemency order was silent on those charges, prosecutors say they are able to take him back to court.

Time to Boycott Walgreens!

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state is cutting ties with Walgreens, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy store chain, after it was revealed that the company will refuse to sell abortion pills to consumers in 20 GOP controlled states.

“California won’t be doing business with Walgreens ― or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk,” Newsom wrote in a tweet on Monday, sharing a link to a CNN article about the company. “We’re done.”   Newsom did not specify what business the state does with the chain, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a Newsom spokesperson told Reuters that “all relationships” between Walgreens and the state of California are under review.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, abortion care has been severely restricted. Many states have passed or are in the process of introducing legislation to limit abortion, while some access remains blocked by lawsuits. Some Republicans are specifically going after medication abortion, a safe, commonly used method to end a pregnancy. 

Walgreens’ decision came earlier this month after 20 Republican state attorneys general signed a five-page letter on Feb. 1 urging Walgreens and CVS not to mail or distribute abortion pills in their states.

Walgreens wrote letters to the Republican attorneys general confirming that its stores do not yet distribute mifepristone, one of two pills used for medication abortion, and would not dispense or ship the drug to their states, Politico reported last week.  Mifepristone can be combined with another medication, misoprostol, or used alone. Abortion by way of medication makes up half of all procedures across the U.S., according to the Guttmacher Institute. The medications are also prescribed for miscarriage care.

COVID Variants Are Still Out There-- Get the Jab!

Back in July, I gave you a rundown on the list of known variants of the coronavirus.  Now, we have additional variants to report and some updates on the existing variants:

Alpha Variant (aka, the U.K. variant): originally a highly transmissible variant, with a higher chance of hospitalization/death than the "wild"version.  In North America, it has been largely overtaken by Delta.  Still a variant of concern.

Beta variant (aka, the South African variant): Source of the second wave in South Africa, but not as transmissible as Alpha.  Some versions of the vaccines may not be as effective against Beta.  Still a variant of concern.

Gamma variant (aka, the Brazil variant): more likely to infect younger people, and more likely to result in reinfections.  Some of the vaccines are less effective against Gamma.  Still a variant of concern.

Delta variant (aka, the India variant): Still the dominant source of infections in the U.S.

Epsilon variant (aka, the California variant): out-competed by the more transmissible Alpha, and no longer a variant of interest.

Zeta variant (aka, the Rio de Janeiro variant): no longer a variant of concern/interest

Eta variant (aka, the Nigerian variant): still unknown if more transmissible or if it causes more severe disease.  Vaccines still appear to be effective against it.  Appears to have been out-competed by the Alpha and Delta variants-- no longer a variant of concern/interest.

Theta variant (aka, the Philippine variant): no longer a variant of concern

Iota variant (aka, the New York city variant): out-competed by the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants-- no longer a variant of concern/interest.

Kappa variant (aka, the Indian variant): believed to be more transmissible than Delta, but unknown whether it causes more severe disease.  Vaccines still appear to be effective against it, and is no longer a variant of concern/interest.

Lambda variant (aka, the Peruvian variant): "downgraded" to a variant of interest

Mu variant (aka, the Colombia variant):  is likely more transmissible, but unknown if causes more severe disease. Vaccines still appear to be effective against it.  Continues to be a variant of interest.

Omicron variant (aka, the second South African variant): newly designated as a variant of concern, it is known to have a large number of mutations that could increase transmissibility or resistance to existing vaccines.

Note: The World Health Organization skipped Nu to avoid confusion with the word “new”. They also skipped Xi in an effort to avoid antagonizing China and its leader Xi Jinping.

The bottom line is still the same:  Get the vaccine.  YOU DIDN'T GO TO MED SCHOOL AND YOU DON'T KNOW BETTER THAN A REAL DOCTOR.  IGNORE WHATEVER YOU HEARD ON FOX, OAN, OR FACEBOOK-- GET THE FUCKING VACCINE!  As long as this virus continues to live on (even if it doesn't cause you to get sick), it can mutate to become a more dangerous version.  

 

We're Not Out of This Yet-- Get Your Fucking Shot!

Now comes astounding news that 99.5% of recent deaths from coronavirus are of individuals who were unvaccinated and could have been prevented with a vaccine.  What's wrong with these people?  If we don't get this epidemic under control, there is a real risk that a variant will emerge that will be resistant to the vaccines.  So here's where we are with emerging variants of the coronavirus:

Alpha Variant (aka, the U.K. variant): highly transmissible, higher chance of hospitalization/death.

Beta variant (aka, the South African variant): driving a second wave in South Africa

Gamma variant (aka, the Brazil variant): more likely to infect younger people, and more likely to result in reinfections.

Delta variant (aka, the India variant): currently the source of a second wave in the U.S.

Epsilon variant (aka, the California variant): out-competed by the more transmissible Alpha

Zeta variant (aka, the Rio de Janeiro variant): no longer a variant of concern

Eta variant (aka, the Nigerian variant): under investigation

Theta variant (aka, the Phillippine variant): no longer a variant of concern

Iota variant (aka, the New York city variant): out-competed by the more transmissible Alpha

Kappa variant (aka, the second Indian variant): under investigation

Lambda variant (aka, the Peruvian variant): newly designated a variant of concern

In the U.S., we are still fighting the Alpha variant, with the Delta variant driving a second wave in states where vaccinations are low.  Now, they have identified a Lambda variant which may ultimately present a new threat.  If we don't beat this virus down, it will keep producing variants-- which may end up being a greater threat than the original virus.  Schedule your vaccine as soon as possible folks-- whatever the fucking reason, deal with it and get the jab!

 

Katie Porter Takes Down Big Pharma

Indeed . . .

 

Update on Trump's COVID Diagnosis and Treatment

 There have now been over a dozen people who have tested positive for the COVID during the last three days:

• Donald Trump
• Melanie Trump
• Hope Hicks
• Utah Senator Mike Lee
• North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis
• Kellyanne Conway
• Campaign manager Bill Stepien
• Notre Dame President Reverend John Jenkins
• RNC Chairman Ronna McDaniel
• Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson
• Former NJ Governor Christ Christie
• White House Aide Nicholas Luna
• Three White House journalists
• A White House press staffer
  

The press and the public have received conflicting reports on Trumps' condition and subsequent treatment from his personal physician, the doctors at Walter Reed, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and White House officials.  Based on the most credible of these sources, a picture of the timeline is emerging.

From Dr. Sean Conley's briefing on Saturday morning, we know that Trump was diagnosed with coronavirus on Thursday morning.  He went to a New Jersey fundraiser anyway, recklessly exposing hundreds of additional people.  We don't know if that diagnosis was based on observable symptoms or an actual test.  In fact, we still don't know when Trump last tested negative.   One of the doctors at Walter Reed told reporters that Trump received a dose of experimental antibody therapy on Thursday morning.

Trump developed a fever on Friday morning, and at some point his blood oxygen level began to drop rapidly-- after which he was given supplemental oxygen while at the White House.  White House officials were concerned that Trump would eventually need to go to Walter Reed for treatment-- but to avoid having him transported in a wheelchair or gurney, they decided to call for the Marine One helicopter while Trump could still walk under his own power.    At Walter Reed, Trump was given his first dose of remdesivir, and will continue to be on a five-day course of the experimental antiviral medication.  Trump later had a fever of 103 degrees and experienced heart palpitations on Friday night.

The "Super Spreader event" where Trump is believed to have caught the virus is the Rose Garden ceremony for Judge Amy coney Barrett on Saturday September 26.  A crowd of over 150 Republicans and White House staff were seen without face masks and failing to socially distance themselves-- hugging each other, shaking hands, and sitting shoulder to shoulder for the hour-long ceremony.   Attendees were instructed (after entering) they no longer needed to cover their faces, and the no-mask mantra applied inside the White House as well.  Cabinet members, senators, Barrett family members and others mixed unencumbered at tightly packed, indoor receptions in the White House’s Diplomatic Room and Cabinet Room.

Attorney General William Barr has foolishly chosen not to quarantine despite clear photographic evidence that he was in close and prolonged contact with several people at the White House who later tested positive.  Barr and Kellyanne Conway were seen conversing closely (neither wearing a mask) and Barr was later photographed shaking hands with other guests, touched his face and mingled among the crowd.

Members of the Secret Service (who rarely speak critically of the presidents they serve) expressed “anger and frustration” to colleagues, worried that President Donald Trump’s actions have put them at risk of contracting the coronavirus, too.  “He’s never cared about us,” one agent told a friend, who spoke to The Washington Post.   Another agent reportedly said, “This administration doesn’t care about the Secret Service. It’s so obvious.”  Secret Service agents had complained about not being tested for the virus after returning from multiple rallies with the president in recent weeks.

 

Billionnaire Hospitals Receive Bailouts but Fire Workers and Cut Wages Anyway

Congress provided $100 billion in emergency funding to hospitals to respond to the coronavirus crisis in the CARES Act passed back in March. That was supposed to provide about $108,000 per hospital bed across the country, to help hospitals make up for lost revenue and ramp up infrastructure to meet the coming demand. The legislation gave wide discretion to the  HHS Secretary for the distribution of the funds, without imposing many constraints. That turned out to be a mistake, as an investigation from The New York Times demonstrates.

The NYT team analyzed tax and securing filings from 60 large national hospital chains that received collectively more than $15 billion of that funding. They found that a lot of that money went into the pockets of CEOs while thousands of employees—health care and support workers—were furloughed, laid off, or had their pay cut.

For example, HCA Healthcare, whose chief executive was paid $26 million last year, got $1 billion in emergency funding, but reportedly failed to provide adequate protective gear to nurses, medical technicians and cleaning staff-- and even warned that they would lay off thousands of nurses if they didn't agree to wage freezes and other concessions.

Of the 60 hospital chains the Times looked into, at least three dozen have laid off, furloughed, or cut the pay of their staff to "try to save money during the pandemic," despite the fact that among them they've got tens of billions in cash reserves. The five highest-paid executives among these chains were paid a collective $874 million in the last year financial data was available.   At these same hospitals, the front-line staff have been hurt the hardest—custodial and cafeteria workers, and nursing assistants. They also said that "pay cuts and furloughs made it even harder for members of the medical staff to do their jobs, forcing them to treat more patients in less time."

The Mayo Clinic got $170 million in CARES funds, despite having eight months worth of funding in reserve.  It has furloughed or cut hours for 23,000 employees.  Seven other chains—Trinity Health, Beaumont Health and the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan; SSM Health and Mercy in St. Louis; Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis; and Prisma Health in South Carolina—received a collective $1.5 billion and among them have let 30,000 employees go, either permanently or temporarily.

Tenet Healthcare got $345 million in bailout money, and has furloughed 11,000. Stanford University's health system got $100 million (it has $42.4 billion in reserve) and "is temporarily cutting the hours of nursing staff, nursing assistants, janitorial workers and others at its two hospitals."

HCA, however, is the worst offender. The $1 billion it got in emergency grants is the largest. But in the past few months, the medical staff at 19 of its hospitals have filed Occupational Safety and Health Administration complaints over lack of personal protective equipment, including respirator masks and gowns. At least two HCA employees have died from coronavirus because they didn't have adequate PPE. Celia Yap-Banago, a nurse in Kansas City died in April after she had to treat a patient without wearing PPE.  At an HCA hospital in Riverside, California, Rosa Luna and her fellow janitorial staff clean rooms of coronavirus patients, but haven't been provided proper masks. Rosa Luna died last month, while HCA executive were pressuring its unionized workers to accept wage freezes and the elimination of company contributions to workers’ retirement plans, among other concessions.

Yes, all of these systems have lost money-- but they have received disproportionate amounts of CARES bailout funds and have billions in reserve collectively. They have CEOs bringing home millions in salary and bonuses. They can afford to keep their staff.  They need to be required to use some of the bailout money to retain and pay staff at current (if not enhanced or hazard) rates.

There's a hell of a lot that this pandemic has revealed about how broken everything is in our health care system-- saving lives based on profit margins means that unacceptable numbers of lives are going to be sacrificed.

Lack of FDA Transparency Adds to Coronavirus Panic

The Food and Drug Administration has now admitted that one drug is now in short supply because of problems related to the coronavirus outbreak. But it refused to disclose the name of the drug and its manufacturer — as well as where the product or its ingredients were made — saying that it could not reveal “confidential commercial information.”

The F.D.A. has long been criticized by public interest groups for refusing to reveal company information that could affect public safety. Federal law protects companies from having proprietary information disclosed, which the agency has used an excuse to withhold details, like naming countries where raw ingredients come from.

“They’re using it as a convenient excuse not to release this information,” said Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, a consumer advocacy organization, which has previously sued the agency to disclose more information about companies.  “Full transparency on issues like this is important to maintain public trust, and any hints that the government is hiding important information will sow distrust,” he added.

Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the commissioner of the F.D.A., said the unnamed drug is already on the F.D.A.’s shortage list and that “the shortage is due to an issue with manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the drug.”

China is the dominant global supplier of the raw ingredients used in many common drugs, from antibiotics like penicillin to painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin. Many Chinese factories closed their doors as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, with millions of citizens ordered to remain at home. While many plants have reopened, experts in the drug supply chain say some are operating at reduced capacity and that shipping has been interrupted.

Representative Anna Eshoo, Democrat of California, said in a telephone interview that the F.D.A. had told her office Friday that the drug in question was a generic and that the shortage was because of “the circumstances on the ground in China.” But she said the agency did not tell her the name of the drug. Ms. Eshoo has previously warned about Americans’ dependency on China for their drug supply, holding a hearing last fall on the topic.

In 2017, Hurricane Maria damaged many pharmaceutical factories in Puerto Rico, closing them for weeks and leading to supply problems, including a shortage of saline bags made by Baxter. Problems with manufacturing quality have caused other shortages, including a global shortfall of valsartan, a widely used blood pressure drug.

Erin Fox, a drug shortage expert at the University of Utah, said, “When the F.D.A. tells the American public that there is a shortage without disclosing the specific drug, this only creates fear and panic, which is unacceptable in the current situation.”

Whining About Warren's Medicare-For-All Plan Fades to a Whimper

Elizabeth Warren has posted her plan to pay for Medicare for All, and it's getting a pretty enthusiastic review from Paul Krugman, who says it's a serious plan whose numbers -- though you can argue about 'em -- add up. Democratic primary debates will probably still start off with a mandatory 40 minutes dedicated to bickering about whether we really want to provide health coverage for all Americans or just for more Americans than we do now, plus some bad-faith moderator questions that inject Republican fears of socialism into the discussion.

But, according to Doktor Zoom at Wonkette, at least Warren has shifted the terms of the debate from "she hasn't said how she'd pay for it" to "will this plan work?" Warren even managed to put together a plan that doesn't call for new taxes on the middle class, although honestly, that's still a bullshit way of framing the debate.

As Krugman points out, whatever the math, no plan to remake American healthcare more equitably is going to be ready to go, out of the box, even if Warren gets elected. The real crafting of a healthcare reform bill will happen between the president and, let's hope, a new Democratic Congress. But Warren's plan passes some basic tests for seriousness as a policy proposal, says Krugman. It was drafted with the help of a bunch of serious people like former Obama health policy honcho Don Berwick, who headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the World Bank, plus several other real economists. Warren's detailed overview is accompanied by a pair of detailed appendices analyzing the numbers and economic assumptions in further detail.

Argue all you want over the numbers, says Krugman, but they're there -- and unlike every Republican plan of the last few decades, it doesn't depend on waving a magic wand and chanting "magic of the marketplace."

Innocent Man Billed By Hospital For Anal Rape

A New York man wrongly suspected of hiding drugs in his bum was reportedly given a rectal probe - and billed for the unwanted examination.  Torrence Jackson said he refused consent for the invasive procedure, and suffered internal injuries as a result.

To add insult to injury, the hospital sent 42-year-old Jackson a bill for $4,595.

The incident happened on 16 October 2017, but has only been pieced together after a review by the newspaper of police, court and medical documents.  Jackson was originally stopped in his car by police after failing to signal, according to reports.

Officers found a bag of marijuana and cocaine residue in Jackson's vehicle.  Police officer Anthony Fiorini said Jackson's posture in the car was consistent with someone hiding drugs in his rectum.  Police also said Jackson had taunted them about having drugs concealed on his person, which he denies.

He was taken to St Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse where an X-ray found no foreign objects in his body.  Despite that negative finding, police obtained a court warrant to perform a sigmoidoscopy, using a flexible 8-inch tube.

In a private conversation with the police, doctors initially refused to perform the procedure, until advised by a hospital lawyer that Jackson did not have a legal right to refuse.  Jackson was forcibly sedated for the examination.

After the procedure found no drugs, Jackson was released and said he only learned what doctors had done to him when he found blood in his underwear.  "I felt tampered with," he told reporters.

Upon release, the hospital had a debt collectors' agency pursue Jackson for the medical bill.  He refused to pay, and the matter was ultimately dropped.

In a statement to reporters, the hospital said its officials "comply with court orders whenever they are issued for detainees who come to our hospital in police custody".

Your Privacy Is At Risk Even If You Haven't Had Your DNA Tested

A new Columbia University study has found that so many people have had their DNA sequenced that they've put other people's privacy in jeopardy.

According to the study, more than half of Americans could be identified by name if all you had to start with was a sample of their DNA and a few basic facts, such as the region where they live and about how old they might be.  More than 1 million Americans have already published their genetic information, and dozens more do so every day.  The researchers behind the new study say that once 3 million Americans have uploaded their genomes to public genealogy websites, nearly everyone in the U.S. would be identifiable by their DNA alone and just a few additional clues.

There are two developing trends that have made this possible. One of them is the rise of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Companies such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe can sequence anyone’s DNA for about $100. All you have to do is provide a sample of saliva and drop it in the mail.  The other essential element is the proliferation of publicly searchable genealogy databases like GEDmatch, which are used by people looking for lost relatives or by adopted children looking for their natural parents. Anyone can upload a full genome to these sites and powerful computers will crunch through it, looking for stretches of matching DNA sequences that can be used to build out a family tree.

To test the growing power of these sites, researchers led by Columbia University computer scientist Yaniv Erlich set out to see whether they could find a person’s name — and thus, her identity — if all they had to go on was a piece of her DNA and a small amount of biographical information.

They started by uploading a full DNA sequence from a random Utah woman  to GEDmatch and ran a search to see if she had any relations on the site.They found two: one in North Dakota and one in Wyoming.  By comparing the DNA of all three relatives, Erlich’s team was able to find a common ancestral couple that were the Utah woman’s great-grandparents.

Next, the researchers scoured genealogical websites and other sources for additional descendants of that long-ago couple. They found 10 children and hundreds of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Then they started culling their massive list of descendants. They eliminated all the men from the sample, then those who were not alive when the Utah woman’s DNA was sequenced. The authors also knew that their subject was married and how many children she had, which helped them zero in on their target.  After a day's worth of work, they researchers were able to correctly name the owner of the DNA sample.

The authors said the same process would work for about 60% of Americans of European descent, who are the people most likely to use genealogical websites, Erlich said. Though the odds of success would be lower for people from other backgrounds, it would still be expected to work for more than half of all Americans, they said.

It's clear that these genetic databases are turning into quite a problem from both a privacy standpoint and in terms of giving healthcare insurance companies a big heads up on pre-existing conditions. Combine that with GOP dreams of eliminating the pre-existing condition requirements and you have the recipe for a permanent under class of uninsurable people starting before they are born.

Trump Finally Addreses the Opioid Crisis

After promising two months ago to do something about the opioid crisis, Trump finally declared it a public health emergency .  The declaration allows the executive branch to dip into the Public Health Emergency Fund-- which unfortunately holds only $57,000.  No other funding was made available by the declaration.   Trump also promised to waive some regulations and give states more flexibility in how they use federal funds- but he stopped short of declaring a more sweeping  national state of emergency that would have given states access to funding from the federal Disaster Relief Fund.  The event was characterized by many as too little, too late.

A few excerpts from Trump's speech:

"I learned myself, I had a brother Fred, great guy, best looking guy, best personality, much better than mine, but he had a problem. He had a problem with alcohol. And he would tell me don't drink. Don't drink.  He was substantially older, and I listened to him and respected. But I would constantly tell me don't drink. He would also add don't smoke. But he would say it over and over and over again. And to this day I've never had a drink. And I have no longing for it. I have no interest in it. To this day I've never had a cigarette. Don't worry, those are only two of my good things." 

Naturally, Trump can't avoid bragging about himself!

"The fact is if we can teach young people, and people generally, not to start, it's really, really easy not to take them. And I think that's going to end up being our most important thing. Really tough, really big, really great advertising. So we get to people before they start so they don't have to go through the problems of what people are going through."

Just great-- a return to Nancy Reagan's failed "Just say no" program!

For too long dangerous criminal cartels have been allowed to infiltrate and spread throughout our nation. An astonishing 90% comes from across the border which we are building a wall which will help in this problem. We'll have a great impact. My administration is dedicated to enforcing our immigration laws, defending our maritime security, and securing our borders. 

 And of course, we have to plug the idiotic border wall!

Male GOP Decide On Women's Health Care

Mike Pence tweeted a photo of a group of Republicans discussing whether the Trumpcare bill should mandate that health insurance plans provide essential benefits, including maternity services.  As one would expect, the reaction was immediate.

 

 

Selling A Bad Product