- Blockbuster story: First person sickened by COVID-19 was the Chinese scientist who oversaw the “gain of function” research that created the virus.
- Harvard Medical School morgue manager and others sold stolen human remains.
- Health care to consume one out of every five dollars of national income.
- More progress on quantum computing.
- Is Merck being “coerced” by Medicare? Michael Cannon: No. David Henderson: Yes.
Author: John C. Goodman
Thursday Links
- US plans to rejoin UNESCO. Trump pulled us out because the organization is flagrantly anti-capitalist and anti-US. Biden is not only rejoining; he has agreed to $619 million in “arrears” payments.
- More than 90% of cancer centers are impacted by drug shortages.
- Cato paper on new technologies: Should we try to avoid harmful effects by regulation or by tort law?
- Is woke culture the reason Hollywood can’t make good movies any more – unless it recycles old plots and themes?
- Two different views of AI:
The New York Times: “Generative A.I. Can Add $4.4 Trillion in Value to Global Economy, Study Says,”
Bloomberg: “Biggest Losers of AI Boom Are Knowledge Workers, McKinsey Says.”
Wednesday Links
- Deaths in local jails due to drug or alcohol intoxication in 2019 was the highest recorded in 20 years. Drugs? Alcohol? In jail?
- Yglesias completely loses it over Donald Trump. And he’s not alone.
- The downside of prior authorization: A survey of more than 1,000 physicians found that 93% reported care delays and more than 50% said prior authorizations led to treatment abandonment because of patient hardships navigating the prior authorization process
- Quote of the week: DeSantis on Larry Fink:
“Who do these people think they are that they govern our society? Nobody voted for him. And so, our mantra in Florida is no economic or social transformation without representation. These are policies that could not win at the ballot box, and so they’re trying to do through corporate America what they can’t do in the electoral process.”
Tuesday Links
- Can drinking water lower your stress level?
- 85% of patients say compassion is more important than price when choosing a doctor.
- 71% of patients say they have gone to doctors who were not compassionate.
- Chatbots are helping doctors find the words to break bad news or express concerns about a patient’s suffering. (NYT)
- Zuckerberg: Establishment asked to censor COVID-19 posts that ended up being true.
- Historians rate Woodrow Wilson as a near-great president and Warren Harding as among the worst. Graboyes: the reverse is true.