- A reminder: The Cuban health care system is far from the best in the world and nothing about it warrants extraordinary praise.
- “In the past few weeks, there’s been an explosion of new tools for programming DNA and RNA.”
- “We’re entering a golden age of engineering biology.”
- “Once groundbreaking Covid-19 vaccines became available a year into the pandemic, rich countries looked out for themselves and poorer countries were largely left behind.”
- AI can handle customer calls better than humans.
Category: COVID-19 and Public Health
Monday Links
- The United States pays more for hospital care than any other nation, despite using hospital services less frequently. Site neutral payment is one answer.
- Administrative spending makes up around 25 percent of the United States’ total health care costs, amounting to about $1 trillion every year Can AI reduce the cost?
- How safe are Covid-19 vaccines?
- Is oat milk good for you?
- How Covid can affect clinical trial results.
Nearly Half of Americans Know Someone Who Died of an Overdose
More than 100,000 Americans die every year from a drug overdose in the United States. In the 12-month period ended in September 2023, 111,380 Americans had died. As recently as 2015 the number of Americans overdosing was less than half of recent figures, although that’s no small number either. Overdose deaths had risen to about 70,000 just prior to the covid pandemic. Covid appears to be a catalyst that spurred more drug use, resulting in the number of deaths skyrocketing.
Wednesday Links
- Study: Too much niacin may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It helps me combat vertigo.
- A person younger than 18 shot and killed another child somewhere in the United States once a day, every day — on average last year. (NYT)
- Study: Teens turn to drugs because of stress.
- Are cancer patients being overdosed with cancer drugs?
- Among millions immunized, largest Covid vaccine study yet finds links to health conditions.