Kennedy, who is a nephew of late US President John F Kennedy, openly opposes the use of vaccines and has also backed several conspiracy theories, including on so-called chemtrails allegedly left by airplanes. He has repeatedly been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation and dubious theories on health. He also often promotes the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism.
Recording TV programs, and then skipping through commercials during playback, I don’t often watch live television. Today, a 30-second version of this video caught my attention:
“Over the past 40 years, many health-care systems that were once publicly owned or financed have moved towards privatising their services, primarily through outsourcing to the private sector. But what has the impact been of privatisation on the quality of care? A key aim of this transition is to improve quality of care through increased market competition along with the benefits of a more flexible and patient-centred private sector.
“However, concerns have been raised that these reforms could result in worse care, in part because it is easier to reduce costs than increase quality of health care.”
Lancet Public Health 2024; 9: e199–206.
Department of Social Policy
and Intervention, University of
Oxford, Oxford, UK
(B Goodair MSc, A Reeves PhD)
Defunding mRNA Vaccine Research Is a Catastrophic Mistake
AND
New mRNA Cancer Vaccine Delivers Stunning Results, Sparks Universal Treatment Hopes.
One of the less frequently noticed luxuries of the postwar liberal order was the licence to be a fool. For the better part of a century, prosperous, scientifically minded countries have tolerantly sustained an underbelly of madmen and extremists — medical sceptics, conspiracy types and anti-democratic fantasists who would quickly have come to grief in less congenial surroundings.
In the summer of 1950, parents kept their children indoors for fear of a devastating and contagious virus: polio. That year alone, more than 33,000 Americans fell victim to the disease—half of them under the age of ten. But tireless advocates, teams of scientists, and everyday Americans donating their dimes led to the development and rollout of a life-saving vaccine, one of the most important medical breakthroughs in U.S. history.
Free-market individuals believe industries should be allowed to do whatever an unregulated market allows. Most would object to Therapeutics Initiative (TI). But many of us recognize its value. TI is part of the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. It aims to provide health professionals and the public with evidence-based information on healthcare interventions. TI is independent and separate from the government, the pharmaceutical industry, and other vested interest groups.
A few days ago, fifty-year-old Brian Thompson was gunned down on a street in midtown Manhattan. Thompson was not an unimportant man. He was a senior executive of United Health Group, a company valued by the stock market at about three-quarters of a trillion Canadian dollars. The company expects profits of almost C$40 billion in 2024.
After more than seven years of responsibility for the sector, Adrian Dix is blamed for healthcare inadequacies. Indeed, real challenges abound. Yet solutions to apparent problems can take much time and the four Liberal Health Ministers that served during Christy Clark’s six years are not blameless…
Last week, the British Columbia Coroners Service reported unregulated drug toxicity deaths of at least 192 people in July 2024. The leader of the BC Conservatives believes this is largely a matter of criminality. He wants to imprison chronic drug users. People who actually know something about substance use disorders know there are better ways…
I searched Google to see if Postmedia’s Vancouver Sun had reported on this outrageous story. A friend thinks Tyler Olsen is probably BC’s hardest working journalist. His tiny team at Fraser Valley Current keeps delivering news that larger organizations miss or ignore. Perhaps it is because FVC doesn’t simply rewrite talking points issued by politicians and corporations.
My encounter with British Columbia’s brilliant medical practitioners, people who operate with urgent demand for services from young and old, helped by countless support workers who make lives better for us all.
New research shows that the brain is more like a muscle – it changes and gets stronger when you use it. Scientists have been able to show how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn. Most people don’t know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger just like muscles. This is true even for adults. So, it’s not true that some people “just can’t learn”. You can improve your abilities as long as you practice and use good strategies.
We dined recently at an “upscale casual” restaurant in Port Coquitlam. The service and the food were fine, but I was troubled by the noise level. My iPhone decibel meter calculated an average of 86 decibels with a peak level of 95 dB reached often. While the noise level I experienced may do little harm to a diner exposed for only 90 minutes, the risk is quite different for servers working hours-long shifts…
In the 1960s, Gabor Mate was a brave young man standing up to bullies and stating unpopular ideas. Now Dr. Mate, he is still a man of conscience not afraid to speak hard truths.
The Economist, a 180-year-old newspaper published in Britain, has been tracking deaths from COVID-19. They examine fatalities reported by official sources, but also look for how many people have actually died because of the covid-19 pandemic. A lot depends on how “because” is defined…
My experience leads me to strongly recommend Shingrix to anyone 50 years and older and to all adults with weakened immune systems. Anyone who does experience the symptoms of shingles should see a doctor immediately so antiviral medicine can be started. These are most effective in the earliest stage.hea
David Fisman is a tenured professor in the University of Toronto’s Division of Epidemiology. On Twitter a day ago, Dr. Fisman accused British Columbia health officials of employing “decision-based-evidence-making.”
BC Government’s COVID panic began in March 2020, but was turning to neglect in the following year. It can be argued that neglect shifted to overtly harmful management of the pandemic…
Moderating risks of viral illnesses depends on greater understanding of submicroscopic infectious agents. Political Leaders guided by business loyalties, myths and unfounded expectations will not support scientific resources needed for real solutions. Unfortunately, that description fits the people governing western Canadian provinces.
The trouble is that "longest undefended border." We can't change geography, so will always have to have some sort of…
I very much appreciate your writing with IN SIGHTS Norm. I get too much to read on my computer and…
Milestones usually provoke self reflection, and the closer we get to the ultimate milestone, the more there is to reflect…
Regular reader of insights here. I seldom comment but will try to do that more in the future. I'm glad…
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Why keep going? To better inform a public being lobotomized by media. That said you're in very good company. On…