Jim Ragsdale of the St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote a terrific column this week, “Rational health care, not rationed.” It begins:
“I invented a device called Jim’s Full Body Scanner. It takes up a city block, which means it cost kabillions to build and operate. But for $50,000 per scan, the Jimmer, as I call it, can give you a cell-by-cell breakdown of your bod. It can show dozens of microscopic changes, giving you a chance to take pre-emptive medical action.
Most of those scanned go right to a conveniently located miniJim Clinic for further tests, a biopsy or two, some minor surgeries or maybe even a pre-emptive transplant. I admit that it’s controversial. We don’t really know if some of the fixes are needed. The eggheads want long-term studies and “evidence” before deciding whether insurers should pay.
“Rationing!” I say. “They’ve put a bureaucrat between you and the Jimmer!”
OK, I didn’t actually invent any such device. I am an aging civilian scribe whose anatomical knowledge is well below average. I imagined the “Jimmer” because it helps me understand the battle over scientific evidence and its relation to the gaping holes into which our health-care dollars disappear.”
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Like Michael Corleone of science reporting that @garyschwitzer is (he tries to get out, bullshit disguised as #science #journalism keeps pulling him back in!), he drops this on @nytimes idiocy 🙄 in reporting T1 diabetes "cure"
HT @HealthNewsRevu
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/11/cure-for-type-1-diabetes-weve-been-down-this-road-before-with-ny-times/
A great read on this weekend’s NYT claims of a cure for Type 1.
Cure for Type 1 diabetes? We’ve been down this road before with NY Times https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/11/cure-for-type-1-diabetes-weve-been-down-this-road-before-with-ny-times/
"But it is the framing and the emphasis of the #journalism by a leading science journalist at a leading newspaper that demands scrutiny. It has an impact on readers and on sick people that may cause harm by promoting false hope about extremely preliminary research"
👍👏💪 truth https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1465399358137024518
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