Syphilis infections are soaring in the United States. Once thought to be nearly eradicated, it’s making a huge comeback.
Category: News and Events
Tuesday Links
- Health Care Innovation. Accolade offers services that sound similar to Medici, which I wrote about at Forbes recently. CEO Raj Singh says that although most people have a primary care doctor, it typically takes 30 days to get an appointment. With Accolade they can get a video consultation in 15 minutes. Like Medici, they offer second opinions on more serious health care procedures. See Singh’s interview with Matthew Holt. Best line: In the near future, “every company will be an AI company, or they will be out of business.”
- Genes Matter. Study: “a one standard-deviation increase in parents’ looks is associated with a 0.4 standard-deviation increase in their child’s looks.” And since looks and income are correlated, a “one standard-deviation difference in parents’ looks generates a 0.06 standard-deviation difference in their adult child’s earnings, which amounts to additional annual earnings in the U.S. of about $2300.”
Monday Links
- More on what happens when the global population starts shrinking.
- Are we eating too much meat?
- By a 2003 act of Congress, the government’s contribution to Medicare from general revenues is never supped to exceed 45% of the program’s cost. So why has this law never been enforced?
- “Research suggests the [weight loss] medications may pay for themselves or even save money in the long run, by preventing heart attacks and strokes that lead to huge hospital bills.” Yet health plans around the country are dropping coverage. (NYT)
Distracted Driving While on the Phone is a Public Health Threat Nobody Tracks
Your phone is spying on you. It’s sometimes a blabbermouth that reveals more secrets about you than you want to admit even to yourself. It tells advertisers when you Google health conditions you’d rather not share with others. It knows where you go, when you speed, and which locations you spend time at. It knows when you waste time at work texting friends or looking for a new romantic interest on dating websites. If your phone is stolen it will sometimes tell thieves how to steal money from your bank account or credit cards. I use mine to locate the aisle where an item I need is at Walmart and Kroger.