Fringe Centrist
@fringecentrist.bsky.social
Nephrologist & lover of animals, nature, indie music, British crime dramas, woodworking, and pragmatic problem-solving.
Yeah, that’s a load of crap. When you have a health crisis, take your herbs and avoid doctors. See how that works out for you.
December 13, 2024 at 2:26 AM
Yeah, that’s a load of crap. When you have a health crisis, take your herbs and avoid doctors. See how that works out for you.
I wish I knew the answers to this question. However, there is a very good book called “The Cure That Works” by Sean Flynn. It outlines suggestions for the US healthcare system based on the model used in Singapore, which has some of the best health outcomes in the world, at a substantially lower cost
December 8, 2024 at 6:31 PM
I wish I knew the answers to this question. However, there is a very good book called “The Cure That Works” by Sean Flynn. It outlines suggestions for the US healthcare system based on the model used in Singapore, which has some of the best health outcomes in the world, at a substantially lower cost
To be clear, I am not suggesting that there are not racial or gender disparities in the delivery of healthcare in the US, on that there is no debate. Only that I don’t believe CRISPR for sickle cell is kept artificially expensive so as to discriminate against black patients.
December 8, 2024 at 6:27 PM
To be clear, I am not suggesting that there are not racial or gender disparities in the delivery of healthcare in the US, on that there is no debate. Only that I don’t believe CRISPR for sickle cell is kept artificially expensive so as to discriminate against black patients.
What about the thousands of people with other illnesses that cost enormous sums of money — cancer, for example? It’s easy to say that this one expensive treatment is influenced by race when only one racial group is affected. Medical care is too expensive for everyone, especially low income patients.
December 8, 2024 at 5:25 PM
What about the thousands of people with other illnesses that cost enormous sums of money — cancer, for example? It’s easy to say that this one expensive treatment is influenced by race when only one racial group is affected. Medical care is too expensive for everyone, especially low income patients.
I’m not debating that. But the sickle cell cure with CRISPR is a treatment exclusive to black patient since only black patients are affected by sickle cell. It’s not expensive so as to discriminate. An enormous amount of science has gone into its development, and it is not cheap to perform.
December 8, 2024 at 5:15 PM
I’m not debating that. But the sickle cell cure with CRISPR is a treatment exclusive to black patient since only black patients are affected by sickle cell. It’s not expensive so as to discriminate. An enormous amount of science has gone into its development, and it is not cheap to perform.
Many treatments are outrageously expensive, for many people. It’s absolutely a problem, but that’s a different discussion. It’s not a decision made along racial lines.
December 8, 2024 at 5:04 PM
Many treatments are outrageously expensive, for many people. It’s absolutely a problem, but that’s a different discussion. It’s not a decision made along racial lines.
I’m sorry, but that is just ridiculous.
December 8, 2024 at 4:51 PM
I’m sorry, but that is just ridiculous.
And then the recipient takes three anti-rejection medications for THE REST OF THEIR LIFE, or they lose the organ.
December 8, 2024 at 4:42 PM
And then the recipient takes three anti-rejection medications for THE REST OF THEIR LIFE, or they lose the organ.
If I told you that a medication will cause blindness, loss of sensation, chronic pain,dementia, heart attack, stroke, limb loss, kidney failure, erectile dysfunction, and also kill you, you wouldn’t want it. Those are the side effects of diabetes.
December 8, 2024 at 4:40 PM
If I told you that a medication will cause blindness, loss of sensation, chronic pain,dementia, heart attack, stroke, limb loss, kidney failure, erectile dysfunction, and also kill you, you wouldn’t want it. Those are the side effects of diabetes.
What it often ignored are the “side effects” of disease. No medication can be approved if the risks of the medication are worse than the risks of the disease, and doctors won’t prescribe it. Our system isn’t perfect, but it’s a process and we’ve come a long way.
December 8, 2024 at 4:37 PM
What it often ignored are the “side effects” of disease. No medication can be approved if the risks of the medication are worse than the risks of the disease, and doctors won’t prescribe it. Our system isn’t perfect, but it’s a process and we’ve come a long way.
Beside, if there’s a treatment that works (cure or not), SOMEBODY is going to seek to fund it, because there would be A LOT of money to be made. For example, if someone comes up with a cure for type 1 diabetes, they will be filthy rich. Only a fool would pass it up. This is still a free market.
December 8, 2024 at 4:34 PM
Beside, if there’s a treatment that works (cure or not), SOMEBODY is going to seek to fund it, because there would be A LOT of money to be made. For example, if someone comes up with a cure for type 1 diabetes, they will be filthy rich. Only a fool would pass it up. This is still a free market.
Visit pubmed.gov sometime.
PubMed
PubMed® comprises more than 37 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full text content from PubMed Central a...
pubmed.gov
December 8, 2024 at 4:31 PM
Visit pubmed.gov sometime.
Once the research is published, it’s out there for the whole scientific world to see. You can’t get the toothpaste back in the tube.
December 8, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Once the research is published, it’s out there for the whole scientific world to see. You can’t get the toothpaste back in the tube.
True to an extent, but if you have a stroke, you’re not getting that brain tissue back. If you have chronic kidney disease, it’s generally not reversible. That’s just not how our bodies work. Medications are certainly over-prescribed, but many are life-saving and life-changing.
December 8, 2024 at 4:28 PM
True to an extent, but if you have a stroke, you’re not getting that brain tissue back. If you have chronic kidney disease, it’s generally not reversible. That’s just not how our bodies work. Medications are certainly over-prescribed, but many are life-saving and life-changing.
Since a researcher’s sole commodity is publishing their research, they publish their work in peer reviewed journals. No researcher would put work into something and then not publish their findings. That would be ludicrous. That’s just not how it works.
December 8, 2024 at 4:25 PM
Since a researcher’s sole commodity is publishing their research, they publish their work in peer reviewed journals. No researcher would put work into something and then not publish their findings. That would be ludicrous. That’s just not how it works.
3)But cancer is complicated and each cancer is different. We just haven’t reached a point where all cancers can be cured.
December 8, 2024 at 4:13 PM
3)But cancer is complicated and each cancer is different. We just haven’t reached a point where all cancers can be cured.
2)In the 1950s about 1/2 of people with a heart attack died. Now only 5-10% do. As a consequence, those individuals who survive live with long-term effects such as heart failure. Likewise, people live much longer with cancer.
December 8, 2024 at 4:13 PM
2)In the 1950s about 1/2 of people with a heart attack died. Now only 5-10% do. As a consequence, those individuals who survive live with long-term effects such as heart failure. Likewise, people live much longer with cancer.
1)I’ll just add that while a significant portion of medical research come from industry, the rest of it comes from researchers in universities and the NIH. We all want cures for things. It’s not a plot to keep people sick. We are better at keeping people alive now than we had in years past.
December 8, 2024 at 4:12 PM
1)I’ll just add that while a significant portion of medical research come from industry, the rest of it comes from researchers in universities and the NIH. We all want cures for things. It’s not a plot to keep people sick. We are better at keeping people alive now than we had in years past.
Similar medications include lisinopril, enalapril, and ramipril.
December 8, 2024 at 3:23 AM
Similar medications include lisinopril, enalapril, and ramipril.
I appreciate you kind words. I just hope our very terrible healthcare system hasn’t convinced you that I’m the only one out there :)
December 7, 2024 at 4:04 AM
I appreciate you kind words. I just hope our very terrible healthcare system hasn’t convinced you that I’m the only one out there :)
Approximately 150 hospitals in the US closed in the past decade, disproportionately in rural areas.
December 7, 2024 at 3:44 AM
Approximately 150 hospitals in the US closed in the past decade, disproportionately in rural areas.
There are certainly organizations like Sutter and Kaiser and HCA, but the other half doesn’t do well
December 7, 2024 at 3:39 AM
There are certainly organizations like Sutter and Kaiser and HCA, but the other half doesn’t do well
I’m not confusing anything. In the time I’ve been in practice, several hospitals our group covers have shut down. The hospital I work in now operates at a loss. It is not owned by a large system. It only stays open due to charitable donations and government subsidies. This is not unusual.
December 7, 2024 at 3:37 AM
I’m not confusing anything. In the time I’ve been in practice, several hospitals our group covers have shut down. The hospital I work in now operates at a loss. It is not owned by a large system. It only stays open due to charitable donations and government subsidies. This is not unusual.
I’m sure some do, especially in certain specialties. However, on the whole physician are earning less, not more, when adjusted for inflation over the past two decades.
December 7, 2024 at 3:21 AM
I’m sure some do, especially in certain specialties. However, on the whole physician are earning less, not more, when adjusted for inflation over the past two decades.