Coronavirus

[gene]

I have received very bad news this evening. One of the surgeons, Dr Wally Kuriharra, that I worked with very closely, has died of Covid 19 infection today. I have just been informed of this by one of my former residents who now practices in Montana. Wally was a great general surgeon and an especially skilled vascular surgeon. He retired to Oregon.

We shared some very challenging and difficult cases together.

I dread the thought of the idiot currently inhabiting the White House causing untimely deaths that could be prevented. Meantime he is promoting fake dangerous quack remedies that the Chinese are convinced are of no benefit. All this against the advice of his medical advisers.

What a mess we are in.

Sorry for your loss. This is terrible news. It's tragic that our country is embracing a leader who is a textbook case of Dunning Kruger cognitive bias. What's even sadder is he now has > 50% approval rating of how he's handling this pandemic. Once his base get their $2k checks, this will likely go up.

It may take a severe outbreak and increase in mortality rate (which I hope doesn't happen) to change public opinion.

 

[John Parks]

Day two of mandatory stay-at-home order:

 

[Kvn_Walker]

They'll be Pissed next year when they find out they owe taxes due to the $2k checks, but it'll be months after the election.

For as bad as all this poop is, the situation still heavily favors the incumbent, if the opposition candidate has to campaign out of a bunker because he could literally catch his death from venturing into the public.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I hope Gene doesn't have Leprosy. That would be a major bummer.

Well, the atmosphere at home would be less frosty than if he had syphilis...

 

[highfigh]

Agreed. Republican senators are trying to turn the stimulus program into a $500B pork fest for corporations, while the Democrats seem to want to use the opportunity to force the progressive presidential candidate agenda. I'm ashamed of both.

Why does Pelosi want to add stronger collective bargaining for Federal employees to the agreement? They're already the largest single workforce in the US.

 

[highfigh]

- Zero sum carbon emissions for airlines by 2025?
- Wind and solar tax credits?
- Forgive US Postal Service existing debt?
- Same-day voter registration?
- $35M to the Kennedy Arts Center?
All of which is critical to individual relief for Corona impact, right? CNN isn't talking about the importance of these things? This is how concerned the Dems are about us, and how anxious they are to provide Corona relief.

.....why a critical relief package, where time is of the essence, in a climate of political animosity, would put all this known controversial stuff in their proposal, rather than simply focusing on citizen relief.

It's the way Congress has worked for decades.

 

[highfigh]

So just to be clear, I'm not yet on any treatment for my RA other than 800mg Tylenol at night to manage pain so I can sleep. I just found out about RA last year and haven't seen an RA doctor yet to discuss treatments.

I watched a video of a presentation by an otolaryngoligist who was showing that VitaminD deficiency is responsible for a lot of upper respiratory illnesses including Influenza, RA and cancers. Might be something to ask the DR next time.

I looked on YouTube, but haven't found the specific link, but there's no shortage of similar info.

 

[ryanosaur]

Day two of mandatory stay-at-home order:
View attachment 34854

Day two, nuthin’!!! Wait til day 7!
I can only imagine how crazy we gon’be come the end of April. Especially if there isn’t any TP!

 

[highfigh]

Day two, nuthin’!!! Wait til day 7!
I can only imagine how crazy we gon’be come the end of April. Especially if there isn’t any TP!

TP wouldn't be in short supply if people would stop hoarding it.

 

[John Parks]

Day two, nuthin’!!! Wait til day 7!
I can only imagine how crazy we gon’be come the end of April. Especially if there isn’t any TP!

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[Swerd]

I have received very bad news this evening. One of the surgeons, Dr Wally Kuriharra, that I worked with very closely, has died of Covid 19 infection today. I have just been informed of this by one of my former residents who now practices in Montana. Wally was a great general surgeon and an especially skilled vascular surgeon. He retired to Oregon.

We shared some very challenging and difficult cases together.

I dread the thought of the idiot currently inhabiting the White House causing untimely deaths that could be prevented. Meantime he is promoting fake dangerous quack remedies that the Chinese are convinced are of no benefit. All this against the advice of his medical advisers.

What a mess we are in.

I'm sorry to hear that news. It must be distressing for you.

I can’t help it, but when Trump talks about Covid-19 vaccines being just around the corner, or even worse, about chloroquine as treatment, I get angry. It goes against everything I’ve done for the last 20 years of my career. Maybe the FDA could send a Cease & Desist letter to the White House, or the FTC could sue for false advertising, or better yet, the Justice Dept. could arrest Trump for impersonating a US president. Maybe there’s a federal law against CEO malpractice.

 

[Dan]

I am far from the field of rheumatology but I believe all those diagnoses Swerd listed will become obsolete in a few years. They are terms that have been around a long time and I liken it to holes in a peg board. When the symptoms and blood tests fit a hole it is nice but too many people don't fit them and have real disease. The molecular reality and future of treatment will be very different. More sophisticated blood test will change our thinking of this class of diseases. It won't be the first time.

Gene I would like to caution you about acetominophen. It is perhaps the MOST DANGEROUS over the counter drug there is. As little as 2000 mg will induce fulminant acute liver failure requiring immediate transplant for survival. I've been involved in liver imaging and liver transplants since the early nineties. I've seen so many kids make attention seeking suicidal gestures with what they think is a safe drug only to wind up dead or on life support waiting for a liver. I can't think of a drug that has a narrower window between it's usual dosage and it's LD50 (50% lethal dose).

Go see Rheum when you can. It's a very interesting field these days. The good ones are damn smart.

 

[Dan]

So it looks like we have our bailout. I see Trump wants to help that critical national industry, the cruise lines, virtually all of whom are not US based to avoid taxes. I would have liked to see any airline bailout tied to some customer service requirements like adequate seats. Have you noticed how in addition to the shrinking space the cushions are thinner and harder?

It is a sad reflection of the times that the Cheetohead's businesses had to be specifically excluded from benefiting or I'm sure his businesses would have taken all they could and then some. THAT has never been an issue with any prior president. (Well except Cheney I guess).

 

[NINaudio]

Day two, nuthin’!!! Wait til day 7!
I can only imagine how crazy we gon’be come the end of April. Especially if there isn’t any TP!

I'm on day 12... Slowly losing my mind and my ability to focus on training materials for work. Had a delivery of alcohol set for tomorrow as bourbon stocks are running low. It was canceled. Made another order to be picked up today as next delivery wasn't until Monday. Looking forward to going for a drive later to get it! We have 4 rolls of tp left. None to be found anywhere.

 

[JerryLove]

Agreed. Republican senators are trying to turn the stimulus program into a $500B pork fest for corporations, while the Democrats seem to want to use the opportunity to force the progressive presidential candidate agenda. I'm ashamed of both.

To be fair: Keeping the corporations afloat is part of the point (The problem is that it's string-free and without oversight; so literally it could be used entirely on stock buy-backs)

And for the left: protecting citizens is the point; especially as they are losing their jobs. Many of those progressive programs are about people in exactly this situation.

They have called for expansions in unemployment insurance, increases in SS funding,growth in the SNAP program. All of these are things they wanted already; but they are directly targeted at this pandemic as well. (There may be some less well tailored things as well)

 

[Dan]

I am all for helping vulnerable businesses, especially small restaurants and retail stores that are closed or nearly so. Airlines are another matter. They have gone bankrupt frequently to reemerge. There is a set amount of air travel demand and if one fails a new airline will spring up flying the same repainted planes using the same trained personnel etc. etc. I feel bad for the gig economy workerswho don't get fired and their ability to get unemployment and other benefits. I will probably not be getting a check nor eligible for anything other than occupational exposure to Covid, so I don't have a personal stake other than watching my taxes get spent wildly.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Why does Pelosi want to add stronger collective bargaining for Federal employees to the agreement? They're already the largest single workforce in the US.

I haven't seen evidence of anything about federal employees in the approved stimulus package. IMO, public service unions should be outlawed, end of story. For the feds they weren't even legal until the Kennedy administration, according to an expert on the topic I know. Even FDR knew better than to allow federal employees to unionize.

 

[Irvrobinson]

So it looks like we have our bailout. I see Trump wants to help that critical national industry, the cruise lines, virtually all of whom are not US based to avoid taxes. I would have liked to see any airline bailout tied to some customer service requirements like adequate seats. Have you noticed how in addition to the shrinking space the cushions are thinner and harder?

It is a sad reflection of the times that the Cheetohead's businesses had to be specifically excluded from benefiting or I'm sure his businesses would have taken all they could and then some. THAT has never been an issue with any prior president. (Well except Cheney I guess).

As a former very frequent flyer, I couldn't agree more. My sympathy for the airlines is exactly zero. And the Democrats, while claiming to be for the people, proposed nothing to force bailed out airlines to stop their bad behavior, worrying more about executive bonuses and stock buybacks, which are practically meaningless.

Bailing out the cruise lines is the biggest example of pork I can think of. The ships aren't built here, many of the crew members are temp employees, and their product is purely a luxury. When I read that Trump called it a "very important industry" it was nauseating.

 

[Verdinut]

I watched a video of a presentation by an otolaryngoligist who was showing that VitaminD deficiency is responsible for a lot of upper respiratory illnesses including Influenza, RA and cancers. Might be something to ask the DR next time.

I looked on YouTube, but haven't found the specific link, but there's no shortage of similar info.

I refer you all to post #454 above where I mention about that wonderful vitamin. We, in North America, are not the most exposed to the Sun's rays.

 

[Verdinut]

Bailing out the cruise lines is the biggest example of pork I can think of. The ships aren't built here, many of the crew members are temp employees, and their product is purely a luxury. When I read that Trump called it a "very important industry" it was nauseating.

I agree with you. IMO, the future of cruise lines is really dim. Most of them will go bankrupt.