A white minivan carrying four Americans from North Carolina crossed the border into Matamoros, Mexico where they were ambushed by an armed gang. A Mexican bystander was killed along with two of the Americans. The two surviving Americans were held captive until they were later freed by Mexican police. They had traveled 1,500 miles to a Mexican border town for cosmetic surgery.
Friday Links
- An argument for mask wearing, even after the Cochrane Review meta-analysis.
- An early (and completely uncritical) history of medical licensing. To be paired with Regulation of Medical Care by moi — for balance.
- Why Daylight Savings Time matters: “The body releases sleep-time and wake-time hormones at a particular time.” Studies have shown that deadly car accidents, workplace injuries, and heart attacks increase following the springtime change.
- Should a face-to-face meeting be required before doctors prescribe a controlled substance for a patient?
- California to end Walgreens contract over abortion pills policy.
- What the Biden plan to “save” Medicare doesn’t do: repeal the Democrats’ IRA bill that takes $246 billion out of Medicare. (CBO p. 72)
Thursday Links
- Scott Atlas: How the experts got Covid science wrong.
- At least 2 in 5 U.S. adults said they are not willing to pay for 11 of the 12 preventive services currently required to be provided gratis by health insurance regulations. Since none of these services are cost effective for healthy people, that shows people are smarter than the politicians who imposed the regulation.
- The operational cleavage between the US public health and medical care systems inhibited our ability to contain the spread of COVID-19.
- A defense of Sharing health plans.
- On Biden’s plan to increase the Medicare net investment income tax from 3.8 to 5 percent for people earning over $400,000: A tax on capital is a tax on labor, including people who make a lot less than $400,000.
Drugs Ordered from Pharmacies Abroad are Illegal (but Mostly Not Opioids)
Hardly a day goes by but what there’s a news article about opioid overdose deaths. Most deaths are tracked back to Fentanyl. According to police almost all prescription opioid drugs purchased on the street contain Fentanyl. China is thought to be the largest producer of Fentanyl and its precursors. To mitigate the risk of dangerous drugs entering the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives funding to inspect prescription drugs arriving in the mail from abroad. According to NBC News: