how the "free market" really fails in health care

Mike the Mad Biologist : Why We Need Healthcare for All: The Idiocy of Self-Diagnosis:

The NY Times has a heartbreaking story about people under 30 who can't afford healthcare. It's pretty horrific: juvenile diabetics who have to switch from insulin pumps to injections (which lowers blood sugar control), a woman who went to the emergency room for 46 hours and wound up owing the equivalent of a year of college tuition, and so on (that I can say "and so on", and you can probably come up with your own examples is indictment enough). But this gobsmacked me:

Ms. Polec's roommate, Fara D'Aguiar, 26, treated her last flu with castoff amoxicillin -- "probably expired," she said -- given to her by a friend.

That repeating thudding noise you're hearing is me smacking my head against the wall. 'Flu'--probably winter vomiting disease and not influenza (although how could one know? There was no medical professional involved)--is a virus. Amoxicillin is an antibacterial--that is, ineffective against viruses--and can occasionally cause nausea or diarrhea (and severe allergic reactions in very rare cases). Not only is this is irresponsible use, but inappropriate antibiotic use can harm patients.

This is why we need a health system where sick people can contact trained medical personnel.

right hand, meet the left hand

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 02/13/2009 | GOP lawmakers tout projects in the stimulus bill they opposed:

Rep. John Mica was gushing after the House of Representatives voted Friday to pass the big stimulus plan.

"I applaud President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future," the Florida Republican beamed in a press release.

Yet Mica had just joined every other GOP House member in voting against the $787.2 billion economic recovery plan.

Republicans echoed their party line over and over during the debate: "This bill is loaded with wasteful deficit spending on the majority's favorite government programs," as Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., put it.

But Mica wasn't alone in touting what he saw as the bill's virtues. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, also had nice things to say in a press release.

Young boasted that he "won a victory for the Alaska Native contracting program and other Alaska small business owners last night in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

One provision would have made it harder for minority businesses to win contracts, and Young explained that he "worked with members on the other side of the aisle to make the case for these programs, and was able to get the provision pulled from the bill."

Yet later in the day Young — who recently told McClatchy that he would've included earmarks, or local projects, in the bill if it had been permitted — issued another statement blasting the overall measure.

"This bill was not a stimulus bill. It was a vehicle for pet projects, and that's wrong," he protested.

Yeah.  Complain about the fact that the bill is full of earmarks and pet projects, while at the same time praising the earmarks you actually managed to get into it.

I really wonder how these people sleep at night...

HT: Ed @ Dispatches

sniff...

Socks, former White House cat, euthanized - The CNN Wire - CNN.com Blogs:

Socks, the cat who won international fame during his years in the Clinton White House, was euthanized Friday after months of treatment for cancer.

Socks, who was born in 1989, was put to sleep about 10 a.m. at Three Notch Veterinary Clinic in Hollywood, Maryland, said veterinary assistant Rae Dera.

The cat had been losing weight since November and had been treated at the clinic, Dera said. He had been suffering from a cancer in his mouth and jaw.