- Covid study: almost no form of pandemic preparedness helped to ameliorate or shorten the pandemic. Compared to other countries, the United States did not perform poorly because of cultural values such as individualism, collectivism, selfishness, or lack of trust.
- Are science and technology becoming less disruptive?
- MLK Day studies reviewed, including this finding: Slavery played no major role in the US economic growth.
- Is the decline of religion causing a rise in “deaths of despair”?
Sneaky FDA Tricked Congress to Granting it the Power to Regulate the Practice of Medicine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs, and medical devices in addition to food and cosmetic safety. One thing the FDA is not responsible for is regulating the practice of medicine. The following is from an FDA Q & A website:
Tuesday Links
- America’s public hospitals are privatizing.
- The Economist: Now is a bad time to have a heart attack. Hospitals around the world are having trouble meeting the demand.
- Wokeness comes to medical schools: Instead of thinking, “How can my patients protect themselves against health problems?” the AAMC asks medical students to think, “What kind of public collective action is necessary to confront health inequity across identifiable populations?”
- US cancer death rate is down by a third.
- Having a friend is healthier than having a life partner; it’s even as important as diet and sleep. (WaPo)
- Lottery winner gets $1.35B prize. The bulk of the prize money comes from below-average-income ticker buyers, of course, even though this lottery was created by liberal lawmakers in a liberal state. All of the critics who routinely remind us of the evils of inequality are saying …. hum … not much of anything.
Artificial Intelligence Mental Health Counseling Chatbot Worked Well Until Patients Found Out
On January 2nd I wrote about an electronic health records (EHRs) suite designed for mental health counselors. I even joked that perhaps a future version would include a mental health counselor chatbot. The following is what I had to say on the matter: