Coronavirus

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August 18, 2020 Coronavirus

PRI's Dr. Wayne Winegarden joins the Pegasus Institute to discuss the danger of price controls in health care including hurting rural health care providers and threatening the already thin margins many hospitals operate on. Winegarden also talks about the impact of the coronavirus and COVID-19. Pegasus Institute · The Problem With Price Controls in Healthcare with Wayne Winegarden of Pacific Research Institute...

August 17, 2020 Coronavirus

Last August, Chris Walcroft, a 50-year old Canadian father of two, was told that he would be dead within a year without dialysis, according to reporting from CTV News. His kidneys were failing. His doctor scheduled a surgery for mid-March to implant a fistula, which is necessary for dialysis. Modern medical technology would afford Walcroft a chance to see his kids graduate from high school. Then the pandemic came. The Canadian government mandated across-the-board delays of "elective" surgeries to shore up personnel...

August 16, 2020 Coronavirus

Here’s a thought experiment: after the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg, it became necessary to allocate seats on the lifeboats; there were only about 700 places for the 2208 passengers. What if seats had been auctioned, with the price determined by supply and demand—i.e., by market forces? Clearly, the wealthiest would have crowded out the others. Instead, the Captain decided that women and children should take precedence. Of course, children had the most life to lose, but why women...

August 14, 2020 Coronavirus

The value of innovative medicines has absolutely nothing to do with its cost of production. Yet, not only does this myth persist, it appears to be growing. In the latest example, an article in the Journal of Virus Eradication claims that drugs being repurposed in the hopes they might be effective treatments for Covid-19, such as remdesivir and sofosbuvir, could be profitable at very low costs. How do the authors come up with this conclusion? They claim that the costs of production range between...

August 12, 2020 Coronavirus

here is widespread anticipation of publicly available vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infections, so that we can “get back to normal.” Some three dozen, made with a variety of technology platforms, are in clinical trials. Several of the more promising vaccine development programs have been assisted by a White House crash program, “Operation Warp Speed,” which was launched in May. At the announcement, President Donald Trump said the goal would be to have 300 million doses of a vaccine available by the end of this year. Unfortunately, but inevitably,...

August 12, 2020 Coronavirus

Dr. Henry Miller joins the nationally-syndicated Lars Larson Show to get an update on everything COVID-19. Miller and Larson discuss the status of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump Administration's initiative to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Miller explains that the FDA said they will be very transparent as data and testing becomes finalized and he thinks there is reason to be optimistic about rapid development of a virus that is thoroughly reviewed. Miller also talks about the lack of data in international...

August 10, 2020 Coronavirus

Last week, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci urged states with rising COVID-19 rates to consider a new round of lockdown restrictions. "You may need to pause, you may need to drop back a little bit," Fauci said. "I don't think you necessarily have to revert to go all the way back to reclosing." As they try to get the coronavirus' spread under control, states must resist the urge to impose blanket stay-at-home orders. Such draconian measures can cause people to postpone important medical care...

August 5, 2020 Coronavirus

By: Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D., Kathleen L. Hefferon, Justin R. St. Juliana Like most institutions in American society, academia has been badly shaken by Covid-19. Many universities in the Northeast abruptly closed as the pandemic accelerated. Students were sent home, which in some cases involved returning to the other side of the globe. Faculty and staff at many institutions were offered emergency training workshops on everything from supporting student mental health to how to use video-conferencing platforms. Even before the pandemic,...

August 3, 2020 Coronavirus

As Americans eagerly anticipate a COVID-19 vaccine, there's troubling new evidence that they're failing to get inoculated against other infectious diseases. To get vaccination rates back where they need to be, policymakers must remind the public of the importance of routine immunizations and remove the regulatory barriers that make it difficult for people to get their shots. A recent study of patients in Michigan found a significant reduction in vaccinations among all age groups. As of late May, fewer than half of...

July 31, 2020 Coronavirus

There is widespread anticipation of vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infections so life can “get back to normal.” Some three dozen vaccines, made with a variety of technology platforms, or approaches (naked RNA, weakened or killed viruses, hybrid viruses, subunit vaccines, etc.), are now in clinical trials. Many of these vaccine development programs have been assisted by a White House crash program, “Operation Warp Speed,” which was launched in May. At the announcement, President Trump said the goal would be to have 300 million doses of a...

July 30, 2020 Coronavirus

Title: Trump's proposed executive orders on drug pricing may hinder R&D and drug development Jeff Lagasse, Associate Editor, Health Care Finance Recently, President Trump proposed four different executive orders aimed at lowering drug prices in a move that some see as calculated to secure votes from seniors in the run-up to November's presidential election. There's no doubt that drug prices have become a challenge for many Americans, but as finer details of the executive orders have yet to emerge, it's unclear whether...

July 23, 2020 Coronavirus, Issues

Despite the surge of new cases of COVID-19, increases in the percentage of positive tests, and scores of ICUs at or near capacity, some commentators are still saying things like, “The so-called surge in cases is more fake news pushed by media cheerleaders eager to destroy the U.S. economy and culture if it makes Trump a one-term president,” and “in fact, our pandemic nightmare might well be coming to an end.” They and others emphasize that the daily number of Covid-19...

July 22, 2020 Coronavirus

Dr. Henry Miller talks about new symptoms showing up in those infected with COVID-19, some of which are different than the initial ones noticed at the start of the pandemic. Miller explains the findings come from different studies, including an Italian study that showed many continuing symptoms after the coronavirus pandemic passed. Lars Larson National Podcast · Lars Larson National Podcast 07-21-20...

July 22, 2020 Coronavirus

The John Batchelor Show interviews Dr. Henry Miller to talk about the latest debate around wearing masks, social distancing, and when we can expect testing to peak and decline. Miller and Batchelor also talk about those who may have the coronavirus who are undetected, and how many Americans are truly undetected in relation to testing. ...

July 20, 2020 Coronavirus

It’s good news that the death rate from Covid-19 has trended dramatically downward since April, even as the number of new cases is surging. But it’s far from the whole story. Unlike common colds caused by other coronaviruses, Covid-19 is more than a transient, self-limited respiratory infection. There have been numerous reports of nonrespiratory manifestations, including loss of smell or taste, confusion and cognitive impairments, fainting, sudden muscle weakness or paralysis, seizures, ischemic strokes, kidney damage, abnormal blood-coagulation tests, transmission to...

July 14, 2020 Blog, Coronavirus

Miller talks with Lars Larson on the stategy to quarantine travelers from other states. New York recently moved to quarantine anyone visiting for at least two weeks. Miller points out that the logistics are difficult as the guidelines are different for those arriving by plane, train, or car, which could be as many as 120,000 people. Dr. Miller's segment begins at the 47-minute mark. Lars Larson National Podcast · Lars Larson National Podcast 07-14-20...

July 14, 2020 Coronavirus

The COVID-19 trends in the United States are moving in the wrong direction. More than 4,200 deaths occurred during the week of July 5th, and the highest number of new infections in a single day—more than 66,000—was reported on July 10th. As the numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths surge to record levels in multiple epicenters, local and state officials are struggling with whether and how much to reverse the rollback of restrictions on individuals and businesses. For example, following a gradual reopening...

July 14, 2020 Coronavirus, Coronavirus Multimedia

Sally C. Pipes joined JT Nysewamder on Alabama Morning News in Birmingham to talk about the latest developments with the drug remdisivir. The drug, produced by Gilead, is being studied for potential use against COVID-19. Pipes and JT also discuss the cost of the drug, and how expensive it is to bring drugs to market in the United States. Listen to the interview here. ...

July 14, 2020 Coronavirus

More than eight in 10 Americans fear a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, according to recent polling from Ipsos. Some cities and states have halted efforts to reopen their economies, in response to rising case counts. But there’s no reason to be fearful. We now have enough information about the coronavirus and its impact to continue reopening safely. If we put this knowledge to good use, we can craft policies that protect the most vulnerable while allowing those for whom the virus poses...

July 13, 2020 Coronavirus

It's clear from what people are posting on social media, and the questions they've submitted to Town Hall Q&As, that many are still unclear as to how the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is transmitted, and what can be done to avoid it. The operative concept can be summarized in a single phrase: minimize the probability. Let's take a weather-related example as an analogy. Say it's sleeting, the temperature is 30 degrees, and the precipitation is forming a solid ice sheet as it...