Health and Medicine

Dated Apr 19, 2020; last modified on Sat, 27 Mar 2021

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May 2, 2020	»	Health Ethics 3 min; updated Mar 22, 2023 Harden, a liberal behavior geneticist, is publishing a book, “The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality”. Watch this space as it casts doubt on prevailing social justice thesis that environmental factors, and not genetics, influence behavior or social outcomes. Check back in Sept 2022 (one year from now). Faster Human Trials In 1986, AZT (AIDS treatment) showed 1/145 deaths compared to the placebo’s 16/137. 6,000 AIDS patients were offered AZT, helping it get to the public much faster. ...
May 21, 2018	»	Bad Blood [Book] (27 items) 00. Prologue; 01. A Purposeful Life; Bad Blood [John Carreyrou]; 02. The Gluebot; 03. Apple Envy; 04. Goodbye East Paly; 05. The Childhood Neighbor; 06. Sunny; 07. Dr. J; 08. The miniLab; 09. The Wellness Play; 10. Who Is LTC Shoemaker?; 11. Lighting a Fuisz; 12. Ian Gibbons; 13. Chiat\Day; 14. Going Live; 15. Unicorn; 16. The Grandson; 17. Fame; 18. The Hippocratic Oath; 19. The Tip; 20. The Ambush; 21. Trade Secrets; 22. La Mattanza; 23. Damage Control; 24. The Empress Has No Clothes; Epilogue;
Feb 1, 1997	»	How Dentists Rip Us Off [William Ecenbarger] 2 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 How Dentists Rip Us Off. William Ecenbarger. digitalsmiledesign.com . Feb 1, 1997. This piece was brought up in “Is Dentistry a Science?” ( summary ). Looks like this piece has done its rounds in dentist online spaces. Ecenbarger pitch: moving into the area; had done gum surgery; had a direct-reimbursement program to cover expenses; interested in good oral health; no desire for cosmetic improvements ...
May 1, 2019	»	Is Dentistry a Science? [The Atlantic] 1 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 Is Dentistry a Science? Ferris Jabr. www.theatlantic.com . May 1, 2019. Cochrane Oral Health reviews dental procedures in a systematic manner. Unfortunately, most of the reviews don’t find substantive support for dental interventions. There is currently no substantive evidence for: binannual cleanings, fluoridation reducing tooth decay in adults; regular flossing combating plaque (gum disease? probably); preventative wisdom teeth removal; tooth-colored resin instead of metal amalgam fillings; crown vs. filling to repair root-canaled tooth. ...
Jan 1, 1976	»	Toward a Theory of Medical Fallibility 5 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 Medical care is like the opposite of moving fast and breaking things. If it’s so taboo to admit error, then that could make errors more common because fewer people are learning from past errors. Norms for Scientific Activity and the Sources of Error “Science” is taken to mean “Natural Science”. Internal norms derive from a cognitive pursuit of science. They are: Focus on the central rather than the peripheral problems of the science in in question. Craftsmanship standards in the design of experiments and hypothesis testing. Distinguished theorizing is elegant and simple. Searching for a theory that is closer to the truth than the currently accepted theory. External norms govern motives for participating in and using the results of scientific activity, e.g. ...
Dec 22, 2009	»	The Checklist Manifesto [Book] (0 items)
Jun 15, 2018	»	U.S. Files Criminal Charges Against Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Balwani [WSJ] 2 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 U.S. Files Criminal Charges Against Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Balwani. John Carreyrou. www.wsj.com . news.ycombinator.com . Jun 15, 2018. (Ask HN) Holmes has 200 Patents. If tech didn't work, why not noticed? news.ycombinator.com . Jun 18, 2018. Theranos Lessons. Morgan Housel. www.collaborativefund.com . Jun 19, 2019. This CEO is Out for Blood. Roger Parloff. www.fortune.com . news.ycombinator.com . Jun 12, 2014. Holmes and COO charged with wire fraud. Why risk it? Corporations budget for corporate fines. Executives don’t have any skin in the game. ...
Jun 25, 2018	»	IBM Watson's Health Saga 2 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 Layoffs at Watson Health Reveal IBM’s Problem with AI. Eliza Strickland. spectrum.ieee.org . news.ycombinator.com . Jun 25, 2018. Jefferies gives IBM Watson a Wall Street reality check. John Mannes. techcrunch.com . news.ycombinator.com . Jul 13, 2017. IBM acquired Phytel, Explorys and Truven for their troves of healthcare data and proprietary analytics. ...
Sep 18, 2018	»	On DNA Testing 3 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 The human genome has sequences of nucleotide base pairs that are repeated over and over again. At each locus of interest, a person has two sets of repeats inherited from each parent. Each possible difference at a locus is an allele. The combinations of the possible differences at multiple loci form a DNA profile that can be used to tie suspects to a crime scene. The Accuracy of DNA Testing is Wanting 74/108 crime labs erroneously incriminated a suspect during a mock study. The reported match statistic for whether the match was coincidental varied over 100 trillion-fold. ...
Jan 22, 2019	»	Monopolistic Tendencies in the Prescription Glasses Industry 2 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 Luxottica - Queen of the Seven Kingdoms Luxottica owns and licenses Armani, Brooks Brothers, Burberry, Chanel, Coach, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Oakley, Oliver Peoples, Persol, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ray-Ban, Tiffany, Valentino, Vogue and Versace. Italy’s Luxottica also runs EyeMed Vision Care, LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Sunglass Hut and Target Optical. It also merged with the world’s leading maker of prescription eyeglass lenses and contact lenses, to form EssilorLuxottica. ...
May 6, 2020	»	COVID-19 3 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 Contact Tracing “Apps” in this context means contact tracing apps released by public health authorities to do contact tracing. The APIs are limited to them. Big Picture Release APIs to enable apps to interoperate between Android and iOS devices. Bluetooth-based contact tracing baked into Android and iOS, such that no app is needed for broadcasting/listening. This ensures broad adoption, but will be on an opt-in basis. Interesting debate for privacy, ethics and public health. Public health officials have a duty to warn, but patients risk stigma. ...