Drs. Robert Popovian (a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at ACSH) and Radife Kiral, both at Pfizer, examine the response of our healthcare system to the COVID pandemic. In some areas we did well; in others not so well. What can we do better in the future?
Policy & Ethics
Consider that committing a crime is a choice involving tradeoffs; the initial one is whether criminal action will be more lucrative than working. Of course, those lucrative moments are short-term gains, and they come with the risk of being caught and suffering long-term, or latter-term, losses. Can an individual criminal’s preferences – for short-term gains (impatience) and risk adversity (avoiding latter-term losses) – predict crime? A study of young Danish man suggests a link.
Catchy phrase, but let me ask you this: does it have a different meaning to you when spoken at a Women’s Day rally as opposed to an anti-vaccine mandate confab? It does for me; I wonder why.
In an attempt “to ensure the full potential for optimal health for our patients,” the American Medical Association, in conjunction with the Association of American Medical Colleges, developed a whitepaper, Advancing Health Equity: A Guide To Language, Narrative And Concepts. It is a challenging document to get one's head around. Let’s you and I take a deeper look inside.
Even as the Supreme Court authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to mandate vaccination of all Medicaid and Medicare employees–including those not employed by the federal government, a Texas court [1] just blocked the federal government from mandating vaccination over its own employees. That case surely will eventually reach the Supreme Court. All the while, we will grapple with the delay in vaccination – the effect of which, for the moment, is not entirely known. Perhaps, this is all about “decision-making under uncertainty?”
California is poised to empower children as young as 12 to receive COVID vaccines without parental consent. The Golden State is on the wrong path.
The New York Times recently published an excellent story illustrating what causes vaccine hesitancy and how to effectively combat it. Is the media finally learning that forcing shots on people doesn't work?
Four months after President Biden announced his innovative plan to compel vaccination, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on its validity. Biden’s plan had three parts; the Fifth Circuit Court struck them all down.
We Have New Covid Drugs- FDA Needs to Get Out of the Way. Drs. Singer and Bloom in the NY Daily News
Two newly-approved antiviral drugs against COVID are now available to those who need them. But the FDA is getting in the way with unwise and counterproductive requirements. Drs. Jeffrey Singer and Josh Bloom explain in their Op Ed in the New York Daily News.
Reporters and science communicators commonly point to widespread COVID misinformation to explain why so many people are skeptical of vaccines and other infection-control measures. Bad pandemic takes clearly influence the public, but there's much more to the story.
Another study has found that lotteries didn't boost COVID vaccine uptake last year. Here's a few reasons why these giveaways probably didn't work.
As the Supreme Court gears up to determine “the fate of the fetus,” the state of their “pre-genitors” also remains murky.