Pied Type
Health
Semantics in religion and law
I’m still scratching my head over the furor with Pres. Obama and the Catholic Church about providing contraception for employees. As I understand it, the edict from Washington originally said all Catholic institutions had to cover/pay for/provide contraception for female employees. Church leaders and others had a fit about Obama’s “war on religion.” Obama came … Continue reading
Handel resigns from Susan G. Komen Foundation
Karen Handel, controversial VP at the Susan G. Komen Foundation, has resigned. About time, considering what she cost the organization. Related articles AP confirms Handel’s role in Komen’s Planned Parenthood decision (piedtype.com) Senators ask Komen Foundation to reverse decision (piedtype.com) Karen Handel Is The Komen’s Katrina (tbogg.firedoglake.com) Susan G. Komen Foundation Backs Down On Cutting … Continue reading
Komen relents, sort of
Media are reporting now that the Susan G. Komen Foundation has yielded to public pressure. Komen will continue its funding to Planned Parenthood. Komen’s statement: We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives. The events of this week have … Continue reading
Suggestion for Komen Foundation damage control
Nancy Brinker is founder and CEO of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. She has done a lot of good for American women in her sister’s name. However, in announcing her foundation will no longer issue grant money to Planned Parenthood, another organization that has done a lot of good for American women, … Continue reading
AP confirms Handel’s role in Komen’s Planned Parenthood decision
Regarding the role of Susan G. Komen Foundation’s vice president Karen Handel in the recent decision to cut grant funding to Planned Parenthood, The Associated Press is now reporting: A source with direct knowledge of decision-making at Komen’s headquarters in Dallas gave a different account, saying the grant-making criteria were adopted with the deliberate intention … Continue reading
Senators ask Komen Foundation to reverse decision
Twenty-six U.S. Senators have signed a letter to the Susan G. Komen Foundation asking its officers to reverse their decision to withdraw grant money from Planned Parenthood. The letter, as reported by the Washington Post: Dear Ambassador Brinker, We write to express our disappointment with Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to cut funding … Continue reading
Susan G. Komen officials resign in protest
Several top officials of the Susan G. Komen Foundation have resigned in protest over Komen’s withdrawal of grant money from Planned Parenthood. Anger over Komen’s decision has already prompted enough new donations to PP to make up the loss. As for Komen, no amount of money can repair the damage they’ve done to their own … Continue reading
Surviving winter dryness
I’m always on the alert for new ways to beat winter dryness, something that became a much bigger problem for me when I moved to Colorado. Getting older doesn’t help, either. Creature comfort is very high on my list of priorities and the aggravations and irritations brought on by winter dryness are not welcome. While … Continue reading
Santorum: Raped? Pregnant? It’s a gift
Just when I thought GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum couldn’t impress me as any more extreme, I saw this video on the Huffington Post. His idea of right to life includes not aborting a baby resulting from rape. Not even if the pregnant woman were his daughter. The woman must “make the best out of … Continue reading
Plan B: Politics trumps science
Something disturbing happened in Washington this week. No, it wasn’t election related. It wasn’t even Congress related. It was a single individual, Katherine Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, deciding to overrule the FDA and its determination that Plan B, an emergency “morning after” contraceptive, is safe to be sold without a prescription to … Continue reading
The hermitess hits the wall
One’s senior years are not the best time be a hermitess. Nor are they the best time to have finally established that you’d really rather be left alone. Nope, it’s not the best time to have finally become the independent, introverted loner you’ve always wanted to indulge. Because of course your senior years are when, … Continue reading
Antivaxxers: Your kids don’t live in bubbles
There’s another AP story making the rounds about people who don’t vaccinate their kids. And this time it seems Colorado has the second highest unvaccinated rate — 7% — behind Alaska. That’s worrisome for me. My granddaughter is 5 years old and in kindergarten, just the right age for exposure to unvaccinated classmates. My grandson … Continue reading
Cantaloupe packing house likely source of listeria outbreak
Today, finally, I’m seeing the FDA explanation of how those Jensen Farms cantaloupes from Holly, Colo., were contaminated with listeria. Had the contamination occurred in the fields, I was prepared to consider the farm not directly responsible. However, it appears the cantaloupes were infected in the packing house, under conditions that should not have existed. … Continue reading
What’s sauce for the goose …
President Obama, in his recent jobs speech, noted the next election is 14 months away and the people American people can’t wait that long. Interesting he should chide Republicans for holding out until the election. A CSPAN telecast last night pointed out that the administration is doing everything in its power to delay court challenges … Continue reading
Ron Paul: No free lunch, no free health care
Rep. Ron Paul, Republican candidate for president, is being blasted for indicating in the Sept. 12 GOP debate that a critically ill 30-year-old man with no health insurance should be allowed to die. At least that’s what his opponents would have you believe. The audience applauded and yelled, “Yes!” when moderator Wolf Blitzer asked if … Continue reading
Tulane professor rips Perry and his sonogram law
At 7 pm tonight, with nothing better on the TV schedule, I switched to MSNBC to watch Rachel Maddow. I usually don’t watch MSNBC; I find them so aggressively anti-Republican that even when I agree with them in principle, I detest the way they espouse it. Maddow, however, is refreshing in her calm, pleasant demeanor; … Continue reading
Don’t overlook the shingles vaccine
The planets finally aligned today and I got my shingles vaccination. I’ve been intending to do it ever since the vaccine was approved about five years ago. But I’d ask at the pharmacy, and the man who gave the shots wasn’t working that day. Or he’d say I shouldn’t get it so soon after my … Continue reading
“First, do no harm” is not in the Hippocratic Oath
I first wrote and published this article in 1997 on my now defunct website “Time and the River.” It is a widely held misconception that the familiar dictum “First, do no harm” comes from the Hippocratic Oath, an oath many physicians take when they enter medical practice. However, the Hippocratic Oath does not and never … Continue reading
Update on the triamterene shortage
Just a heads up to readers that I’ve added some new information to my earlier post about the nationwide shortage of triamterene/HCTZ. It seems there was indeed a recall, initiated last November by Sandoz because of an irregularity they discovered in their equipment. No word on whether the company has resumed production.
Kevorkian dead but his legacy remains
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, popularly known as “Dr. Death,” died today at the age of 83. His participation in and support of physician-assisted suicide brought him fame — or infamy, depending on your point of view — and kept the issue in the public eye for many years. Personally, I appreciate what the man did. I … Continue reading
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