Human Health Care vs. Animal Health Care

H1N1: A Man-Made Strain?

What if all we are doing in the pursuit of an effective flu vaccine actually ended up creating a new strain? That is certainly a possibility. From Bloomberg.com:

Adrian Gibbs, the virologist who said in May that swine flu may have escaped from a laboratory, published his findings today, renewing discussion about the origins of the pandemic virus.

The new H1N1 strain, which was discovered in Mexico and the U.S. in April, may be the product of three strains from three continents that swapped genes in a lab or a vaccine-making plant, Gibbs, and fellow Australian scientists wrote in Virology Journal. The authors analyzed the genetic makeup of the virus and found its origin could be more simply explained by human involvement than a coincidence of nature. ...

... While the exact source of the new H1N1 strain is a mystery, their research has "raised many new questions," they said. The authors compared the genetic blueprints of flu strains stored in the free database Genbank and found the pandemic virus's nearest ancestors circulate in pigs.

If this latest strain did originate in a laboratory, that raises an even more ominous question: Was its release accidental or intentional?

What We Have to Look Forward To

Vaccinations at gunpoint?:

It took the strength of two sheriff's deputies to keep a middle schooler still enough to receive a shot of the swine flu, or H1N1, vaccine at a recent clinic.

During a regular Wheeling-Ohio County Health Board meeting Tuesday, health department Administrator Howard Gamble told board members about the student's attempt to flee Wheeling Middle School during a vaccination clinic held there last Friday.

He noted the boy's mother could not bear to watch the scene and left the gymnasium. Out of apparent fear of receiving the injection, the student ran out of the building. The school's resource officer, Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy John Haglock, coaxed the boy back inside. Once at the shot station, however, Haglock apparently needed some help keeping the boy still, and another deputy assisted

No one actually held a gun to the kid's head, but that is essentially what will happen if/when such vaccinations become mandatory. We're already faced with the prospect of going to prison if we refuse to buy health insurance, so nothing's impossible.

Did Vaccines Rid the World of Deadly Diseases?

The vast majority of Americans believe that vaccines helped rid the world of deadly diseases. Is that really the case? Is it possible that these diseases were already in decline by the time the vaccines were introduced?

Just a little food for thought.

Get Vaccinated or Get Kicked out of School

Mandated Health Insurance Is on Its Way

Dr. David McKalip is on to Obama's (and the Republicans') health (s)care plan:

Mr. Obama has been keeping this secret until his 9/9/09 speech when he finally admitted that it will be everyone’s "shared responsibility" to buy health insurance. It was here where he finally threw the public option under the bus as planned all along while deflecting blame from himself and assigning it to "blue dog" and Senate Democrats. His base should be furious. Of course, the tea party activists -- a million of whom converged on D.C. on 9/12/09 -- may also be betrayed by Republican leadership who appear more interested in appearing to "compromise" and avoid being "called out" by the President. But there is no surprise here. This is how "Romney Care" came to Massachusetts. Cloaked in the silky robe of "compromise" so that the politicians from both parties could join arm and arm but not admit that no matter what letter was behind their name, they were really all about more government power and less individual power. ...

... There is the standard sleight of hand: "if you like your doctor or your health care plan -- you can keep them". That trick is easy to dissect. The fact is that the President will make any plan or doctor that is not government-approved disliked by the vast majority of Americans. For doctors, he will support an inaccurate "report card" system that allows doctors to be labeled as "bad" (who would "like" that doctor?). Doctors will not be graded on true medical quality, but on how well they comply with rationing protocols and how well they provide government-approved, one-size-fits-all medical care. For your insurance, his plans will force any insurance plan that is not government approved out of business. His plans will tax every person who dares to buy an insurance plan that is not approved by the government up to 2.5% of income. In fact, his plans would make any change to your health insurance policy or choice illegal after 2013.

Read the full article here.

Get Vaccinated or Get Deported

As a libertarian and an adoptive parent, you can imagine how upset I was when I read this:

An adopted teen who has lived in Port St. Joe, Fla. since she was 3 faces possible deportation to England for refusing a vaccination, she and her mother say.

Simone Davis, 17, said she has no need for the vaccine Gardasil, which guards against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus virus, because she is not sexually active, ABC News reported.

But the U.S. government requires female immigrants between the ages of 11 and 26 to receive Gardasil shots before they can become citizens.

Whether you have adopted or not, just imagine the government threatening to take away your child unless you agree to have her injected with a controversial, unproven vaccine for a disease that isn't transmitted through casual contact.

Health Care Rationing in the U.K.

Not surprisingly, health care rationing in the U.K. is killing patients:

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.

Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.

But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.

As a result the scheme is causing a "national crisis" in patient care, the letter states. It has been signed palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.

"Forecasting death is an inexact science," they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death "without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.

"As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients."

The warning comes just a week after a report by the Patients Association estimated that up to one million patients had received poor or cruel care on the NHS.

And to think that advocates of free-market health care are the ones considered to be cruel and heartless.

Governing Through Fear

When they aren't trying to frighten us into submission with possible nuclear annihilation or purported terrorist threats, the ruling elite like to try a good ol' fashioned health scare. From WorldNetDaily:

A "pandemic response bill" currently making its way through the Massachusetts state legislature would allow authorities to forcefully quarantine citizens in the event of a health emergency, compel health providers to vaccinate citizens, authorize forceful entry into private dwellings and destruction of citizen property and impose fines on citizens for noncompliance.

If citizens refuse to comply with isolation or quarantine orders in the event of a health emergency, they may be imprisoned for up to 30 days and fined $1,000 per day that the violation continues.

Um...does anyone remember what happened in 1976?

The Future of American Health Care

A couple of recent news stories from across the pond paint a frightening picture of what lies in store for America. If we really wish to continue down the road toward universal health care, then we will have to get used to seeing things like an appendix rupturing after it had already been "removed" and a hospital bed shortage forcing thousands of mothers to give birth in elevators, offices, and bathrooms.

That, my friends, is change we can believe in.

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare

John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc., lists in the Wall Street Journal "eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone":

1. Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
   
2. Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
   
3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
   
4. Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
   
5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
   
6. Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
   
7. Enact Medicare reform.
   
8. Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

For further details, read the full article here.

Why can't we at least give this a shot? These reforms are certainly preferable to wasting billions of dollars and turning the eventual control of our entire health care system over to a swarm of parasitic tax-feeders.

Spending more money and enacting more regulations is a strategy that has been tried countless times before, and not one problem has been fixed as a result. If insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results, then perhaps our leaders in Washington should try something they have never tried: just getting out of the way.

Beware Universal Health Care

According to British physician Anthony Daniels, the U.K. has the "the dirtiest, most broken-down hospitals in Europe." He writes in the Wall Street Journal:

The question of health care is not one of rights but of how best in practice to organize it. America is certainly not a perfect model in this regard. But neither is Britain, where a universal right to health care has been recognized longest in the Western world.

Not coincidentally, the U.K. is by far the most unpleasant country in which to be ill in the Western world. Even Greeks living in Britain return home for medical treatment if they are physically able to do so.

The government-run health-care system -- which in the U.K. is believed to be the necessary institutional corollary to an inalienable right to health care -- has pauperized the entire population. This is not to say that in every last case the treatment is bad: A pauper may be well or badly treated, according to the inclination, temperament and abilities of those providing the treatment. But a pauper must accept what he is given.

And the paupers here tend to accept what we are given. The only way to combat the chaos of universal (i.e. government-run) health care is to exercise what remains of our liberty and vote the control freaks out of office.

If, however, universal health care is forced upon us, I would hope that freedom-loving doctors, patients, insurers, and employers will choose to ignore the dictates of Washington. Since neither the president nor members of Congress have the constitutional authority to manage our health care, we are under no moral obligation to comply. That's easier said than done, but perhaps we Americans have had it too easy for too long.

Brave Senator Wants to Ban Tobacco

Those of us who view smoking bans as draconian affronts to private property rights have often asked, "If tobacco is so destructive, why not ban it altogether?" Admittedly, we aren't all that sincere when we ask that question. We all know the reason tobacco hasn't been banned is because the unhappy souls who despise smokers are greedy unhappy souls, and they need the revenue generated by that evil plant to fund their misguided crusade to shape the rest of the country in their own image.

Well, wouldn't you know it? Some principled idealist is actually talking about banning tobacco -- and he happens to be a Republican. Newsmax.com reports:

Sen. Tom Coburn, who is also a medical doctor, is calling for an outright ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

"What we should be doing is banning tobacco," the Oklahoma Republican declared on the Senate floor during a debate on a tobacco regulation bill.

"Nobody up here has the courage to do that. It is a big business. There are millions of Americans who are addicted to nicotine."

So, Senator Coburn fancies himself as someone with courage. Well, since he wants to use the most powerful government in the world to crack down on private businesses and consumers, he can afford to be brave.

Too bad he hasn't the cojones to take his oath of office seriously and actually abide by the Constitution he swore to support and defend. I guess there's a fine line between being brave and just plain insane.

Who's in Charge of Your Health?

Why, the government is, of course! Just ask Daniel Hauser, who has been forced to undergo chemotherapy against his beliefs. Oh, and ask Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. He just vetoed a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to use marijuana to alleviate pain.

Radley Balko disagrees, and he points out the glaring discrepancy:

The state of Minnesota is forcing Daniel Hauser into chemo because he isn't old enough to decide his own course of treatment, and because his parents' claimed moral opposition to chemotherapy is irrational. Yet at the same time, the state will forbid Hauser from smoking marijuana to offset the effects of said chemo because, despite research showing marijuana's clear benefits in that area, the state has a moral obligation to prevent people from smoking marijuana. Science should trump belief. Except when it doesn't.

Cheerios Is Now a Drug

The (unconstitutional and tyrannical) Food and Drug Administration is treating America's favorite breakfast cereal as a drug. Why? It seems General Mills has been making certain claims the FDA believes "indicate that Cheerios is intended for use in lowering cholesterol, and therefore in preventing, mitigating, and treating the disease hypercholesterolemia. Additionally, the claims indicate that Cheerios is intended for use in the treatment, mitigation, and prevention of coronary heart disease through, lowering total and 'bad' (LDL) cholesterol." Naturally, General Mills received a friendly letter that threatened legal action if the company didn't cease making such claims in compliance with the FDA's (unconstitutional and tyrannical) regulations.

What's next? DEA raids on kitchen pantries across America to make sure that middle-aged men who just got their cholesterol test results back aren't consuming Cheerios for the wrong reasons?

Better get used to the idea. The government is going to take care of you whether you like it or not.

(HT: Chris Knight)

More Drugs in Our Water?

The "civilized" world has already caved to forced fluoridation. Now, some think it might be a good idea to start adding lithium to the mix. The Telegraph has the story:

Very low levels of lithium in drinking water may help prevent suicide in the general population, according to a new study.

The study has prompted calls for further research into the possibility of adding lithium to drinking supplies -- like water fluoridation to improve dental health.

Researchers at Oita University in Japan measured natural lithium levels in tap water in 18 communities in the surrounding region of southern Japan. ...

... Professor Allan Young, a Vancouver-based psychiatrist, has described the study as "intriguing".

Professor Young said: "A logical first step would be for the Medical Research Council to convene an expert working party to examine the available evidence and suggest further research.

"Large-scale trials involving the addition of lithium to drinking water supplies may then be feasible, although this would undoubtedly be subject to considerable debate. Following up on these findings will not be straightforward or inexpensive, but the eventual benefits for community mental health may be considerable."

While some substances like fluoride and lithium can occur naturally, what's added to our water supply is anything but natural. For example, the most common type of fluoride added to municipal drinking water is a hazardous industrial waste known as hydrofluorosilicic acid.

How Conspiracy Theories Get Started

A top U.N. scientist is saying that the current swine flu virus causing all this panic "possesses certain transmission 'vectors' that suggest that the new flu strain has been genetically-manufactured as a military biological warfare weapon." Just another conspiracy nut, right? Well, even the most outlandish theories have some basis in fact.

Earlier this year it was learned that Baxter International Inc., which has developed a flu vaccine, was responsible for releasing live flu viruses. From the Toronton Sun:

The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. ...

... The contaminated product, a mix of H3N2 seasonal flu viruses and unlabelled H5N1 viruses, was supplied to an Austrian research company. The Austrian firm, Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, then sent portions of it to sub-contractors in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany.

Was this a simple mistake?

Then came the story of vials containing a "potentially lethal pathogen" that went missing from a U.S. military lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland. This is the same lab, by the way, to which the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings were traced.

Without drawing any conclusions here, one can certainly see how rumors and conspiracy theories get started.

Just Say "No" to Universal Health Care

Last year, Sven R. Larson, PhD., wrote an article for the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons entitled "Lessons from Sweden's Universal Health System: Tales from the Health-Care Crypt." Scary stuff.

Read it here (PDF).

A Step Toward Universal Health Care

From the New York Times:

Without waiting for President-elect Barack Obama, Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, will unveil a detailed blueprint on Wednesday to guarantee health insurance for all Americans by facilitating sales of private insurance, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, and requiring most employers to provide or pay for health benefits.

Aides to Mr. Obama said they welcomed the Congressional efforts, had encouraged Congress to take the lead and still considered health care a top priority, despite the urgent need to address huge problems afflicting the economy.

The plan proposed by Mr. Baucus, Democrat of Montana, would eventually require everyone to have health insurance coverage, with federal subsidies for those who could not otherwise afford it.

Other Democrats with deep experience in health care are also drafting proposals to expand coverage and slow the growth of health costs. These lawmakers include Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Representatives John D. Dingell of Michigan and Pete Stark of California.

The proposals are all broadly compatible with Mr. Obama's campaign promises. But Mr. Baucus's 35,000-word plan would go further than Mr. Obama's in one respect, eventually requiring all people -- not just children -- to have coverage.

Freedom is having the government tell you how to live your life.

A Glimpse at the Universal Health Care Socialist Utopia

This country won't just jump into universal health care overnight. Like every other erosion of liberty, it requires a piecemeal approach to alleviate suspicion. That includes things like price-fixing, controlling the dispensing of drugs, telling doctors who they can and can't treat, which insurance plans they must accept, and so on. The result, of course, is an overall drop in the quality of care. Expect to see more stories like this in the near future:

The wait to see primary care doctors in Massachusetts has grown to as long as 100 days, while the number of practices accepting new patients has dipped in the past four years, with care the scarcest in some rural areas.

Now, as the state's health insurance mandate threatens to make a chronic doctor shortage worse, the Legislature has approved an unprecedented set of financial incentives for young physicians, and other programs to attract primary care doctors. But healthcare leaders fear the new measures will take several years to ease the shortage.

Those who support universal health care want everyone to be treated equally. So, when everyone is suffering because of their idiotic policies, they will know they have succeeded.