According to an article in Science, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a “global megatrial of the four most promising coronavirus treatments,” called SOLIDARITY. It will not be the gold-standard randomized double-blind control trial (RCT) because doctors and patients will know what treatment was received. But patients will be randomly assigned to one […]
Draconian directives by some state and municipal authorities are so absurd that one wonders: Do the officials have a clue, or is something else going on? The craziest things I have heard: Closing an entire shopping mall because a presumptively infected person walked through it, and forbidding people to go outside—the least likely place to […]
It is risky to talk about what might work for an illness, because people might try to self-treat in a dangerous way. So here are some things not to do. Don’t Drink Things Meant to Go in a Fish Tank: When President Trump stated that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine offer great promise in treating COVID-19, and […]
In a letter to President Donald Trump, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) thanked him for taking actions to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic by travel restrictions, border security, and regulatory relief. But American patients may not be promptly receiving the treatments that are being used successfully in France and China. In […]
Government agencies are warning about misinformation, and Big Tech is patrolling the internet to protect us all. But how do they know what is misinformation? What is the Gold Standard? Artificial Intelligence Chatbots: A reporter tried asking several chatbots about a common set of symptoms that he claimed to have. He queried reliable sources, including […]
These practical pointers may be of interests: Masks: These are in short supply and of limited use. The best use for a surgical mask is to put on a sick person to reduce spraying of droplets. To protect a healthy person you need a well-fitting N95 mask to filter out tiny particles, including those that […]
A new group called US Healthcare Providers for Federal Action Against COVID-19 has launched a petition on change.org calling for an immediate national quarantine. At its March 20 board of directors meeting, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) recommended rational consideration of the risks and benefits of responses to this pandemic. Critically important […]
Freedom Needed to Combat Coronavirus, States Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) The coronavirus pandemic shows the effect of government interference with free-market solutions, states the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Testing is widely available in South Korea, which has more of a free market, while testing remains mostly unavailable in the […]
The House Ways and Means Committee is trying to pass the Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, which it claims will “better shield patients from bankrupting surprise medical bills.” It states that its “approach recognizes the importance of the private market dynamics between insurance plans and providers.” “But there are no private market dynamics […]
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has reached 17,489, with 362 deaths, as of the morning of Feb 3, according to the interactive map provided by Johns Hopkins CSSE (Center for Systems Science and Engineering). But Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), asks: “Would China […]