Make America Healthy Again - Trump populism comes to health regulation (3 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

This is going to need a thread as we move forward - there are now clear signs that Trump supports a new, critical if not dubious approach on vaccination, and his HHS nominee RFK Jr. regularly espouses eating raw milk and raw meat . . . dietary components most experts agree are more dangerous than their heated counterparts.

Health is certainly one of those areas were anti-institutionalism and turning to popular influencers over medical science comes with genuine risk of harm.

Today Trump provided his most clear indication that he is a vaccine skeptic - claiming (falsely of course) that the USA doesn't "do as well" as other nations that use no vaccines at all.

 

[fooferdoggie]

 

[MT15]

 

[zztop]

The GOP senators who voted to confirm this guy should be asked about this stuff at every opportunity

They chose party over country

FDA Guts Food Safety Testing in Latest Move to 'Make America Healthy Again'

The FDA also refused to publicize an outbreak of E. coli, according to a new report.

gizmodo.com

 

[fooferdoggie]

They chose party over country

FDA Guts Food Safety Testing in Latest Move to 'Make America Healthy Again'

The FDA also refused to publicize an outbreak of E. coli, according to a new report.

gizmodo.com

Yep, move it to the States. So food in the red states is going to get a lot worse.

 

[Optimus Prime]

RFK’s statements prove autistic people and their families everywhere should fear Trump and his allies | John Harris

The idea that autism is some aberration that can be cured is typical of a movement that celebrates simplistic thinking and loathes human difference, says Guardian columnist John Harris

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

They chose party over country

FDA Guts Food Safety Testing in Latest Move to 'Make America Healthy Again'

The FDA also refused to publicize an outbreak of E. coli, according to a new report.

gizmodo.com

 

[faceman]

RFK’s statements prove autistic people and their families everywhere should fear Trump and his allies | John Harris

The idea that autism is some aberration that can be cured is typical of a movement that celebrates simplistic thinking and loathes human difference, says Guardian columnist John Harris

www.theguardian.com

everyone should fear Trump as far as I'm concerned

 

[Optimus Prime]

The US supreme court is hearing arguments today in a case that could threaten Americans’ access to free preventive healthcare services under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

At issue is the constitutionality of the US preventive services taskforce, which plays a critical role in determining which preventive services health insurers must cover without cost to patients.

The 16-member panel of medical experts, appointed by the health secretary without Senate confirmation, has designated dozens of life-saving screenings and treatments as essential preventive care.

If the justices uphold the lower court’s ruling, health associations said in a filing, life-saving tests and treatments that have been cost-free would become subject to co-pays and deductibles, deterring many Americans from obtaining them.

The case represents the latest in a long series of legal challenges to Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation to reach the nation’s highest court since its passage in 2010.

A big critic of the program during his first term, Trump and his administration have now taken over the case after the Biden administration initially filed the appeal.

In Monday’s oral arguments, Jonathan Mitchell, the conservative lawyer representing the plaintiffs who previously represented Trump in ballot access litigation, insisted that taskforce members are “principal officers” because “their preventive care coverage mandates are neither directed nor supervised by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Mitchell’s argument hinges on interpreting statutory language requiring the task force to be “independent” and “protected from political pressure”, which he argues is incompatible with secretary oversight: “We don’t see any way that statutory language can be squared with the regime envisioned by the government,” he told the justices.

Several justices appeared skeptical of Mitchell’s reading of the statute, with Justice Elena Kagan questioning whether Congress would create a board without specifying who appoints its members: “I mean, it would be an odd statute. I doubt you could find another where Congress has set up a board and … just not said who should appoint.”

The taskforce is made up of medical experts who serve four-year terms on a volunteer basis. It reviews medical evidence and public feedback and issues recommendations about which preventive services would be most effective for detecting illnesses earlier or addressing ailments before a patient’s condition worsens.

The taskforce has identified dozens of preventive services as having a high or moderate net benefit to patients including screenings to detect diabetes and various types of cancer, statin medications to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, and interventions to help patients quit smoking or unhealthy alcohol use.……..

US supreme court hears challenge to Obamacare free preventive healthcare

At issue is constitutionality of taskforce that decides which services insurers must cover without cost to patients

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Trump administration’s cuts to a sexually transmitted infection lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes as some states, such as Wisconsin, announce enormous increases in syphilis.

Syphilis mitigation is just the latest example of work in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that will be affected by the lab’s closure, as the Trump administration discards expert leadership and programs that surveil, test and research STIs amid chaotic government cuts.

“This is the Cultural Revolution 2.0,” said Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor of epidemiology at Yale University’s school of public health, about the mid-20th-century political upheaval in China. Gonsalves is an expert in modeling the impact of public policy on infectious disease.


Trump White House replaces Covid website with treatise on ‘lab leak’ theory
Read more
“The 30,000-ft view is this is not necessarily about HIV and STIs – although it is because they have a particular animus against it – they are looking to gut the ability of federal institutions to do their jobs,” he said.


Authorities in Wisconsin announced that syphilis cases had risen 1,450% in the state since 2019, the public health director said in a statement on Thursday. The trend mirrors a nationwide increase that officials at the CDC described only two years ago as a “heartbreaking” epidemic.

Congenital syphilis is also on the rise. The secondary infection occurs when a fetus is infected with syphilis in the womb. The condition is both highly preventable and devastating. Experts consider even one case a sign of failing health infrastructure, because it is easily treatedwith a single-dose antibiotic.

“We have a raging congenital syphilis epidemic in this country,” said David C Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. “CDC’s STI lab provides an important backup to confirm results and to tackle difficult diagnosis. We know this is going to negatively impact on our ability to prevent babies being born with syphilis and to prevent stillborns from syphilis.”…..

Trump administration axes key STI lab amid dramatic rise in US syphilis cases

Chaotic cuts to CDC hit expert leadership and programs that surveil, test and research sexually transmitted diseases

www.theguardian.com

 

[bird]

The Trump administration’s cuts to a sexually transmitted infection lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes as some states, such as Wisconsin, announce enormous increases in syphilis.

Syphilis mitigation is just the latest example of work in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that will be affected by the lab’s closure, as the Trump administration discards expert leadership and programs that surveil, test and research STIs amid chaotic government cuts.

“This is the Cultural Revolution 2.0,” said Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor of epidemiology at Yale University’s school of public health, about the mid-20th-century political upheaval in China. Gonsalves is an expert in modeling the impact of public policy on infectious disease.

Trump White House replaces Covid website with treatise on ‘lab leak’ theory
Read more
“The 30,000-ft view is this is not necessarily about HIV and STIs – although it is because they have a particular animus against it – they are looking to gut the ability of federal institutions to do their jobs,” he said.


Authorities in Wisconsin announced that syphilis cases had risen 1,450% in the state since 2019, the public health director said in a statement on Thursday. The trend mirrors a nationwide increase that officials at the CDC described only two years ago as a “heartbreaking” epidemic.

Congenital syphilis is also on the rise. The secondary infection occurs when a fetus is infected with syphilis in the womb. The condition is both highly preventable and devastating. Experts consider even one case a sign of failing health infrastructure, because it is easily treatedwith a single-dose antibiotic.

“We have a raging congenital syphilis epidemic in this country,” said David C Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. “CDC’s STI lab provides an important backup to confirm results and to tackle difficult diagnosis. We know this is going to negatively impact on our ability to prevent babies being born with syphilis and to prevent stillborns from syphilis.”…..

Trump administration axes key STI lab amid dramatic rise in US syphilis cases

Chaotic cuts to CDC hit expert leadership and programs that surveil, test and research sexually transmitted diseases

www.theguardian.com

The forker known as RFK, Jr. doesn’t give a schlitz about congenital syphilis.

 

[longtime lurker]

Welp, I didn’t agree for my sons medical records to be used, but it looks like they will access them anyway:

RFK Jr.'s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans

The autism study is planning to link confidential data "with broad coverage in the U.S. population" in one place for the first time.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Lapaz]

The US supreme court is hearing arguments today in a case that could threaten Americans’ access to free preventive healthcare services under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

At issue is the constitutionality of the US preventive services taskforce, which plays a critical role in determining which preventive services health insurers must cover without cost to patients.

The 16-member panel of medical experts, appointed by the health secretary without Senate confirmation, has designated dozens of life-saving screenings and treatments as essential preventive care.

If the justices uphold the lower court’s ruling, health associations said in a filing, life-saving tests and treatments that have been cost-free would become subject to co-pays and deductibles, deterring many Americans from obtaining them.

The case represents the latest in a long series of legal challenges to Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation to reach the nation’s highest court since its passage in 2010.

A big critic of the program during his first term, Trump and his administration have now taken over the case after the Biden administration initially filed the appeal.

In Monday’s oral arguments, Jonathan Mitchell, the conservative lawyer representing the plaintiffs who previously represented Trump in ballot access litigation, insisted that taskforce members are “principal officers” because “their preventive care coverage mandates are neither directed nor supervised by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Mitchell’s argument hinges on interpreting statutory language requiring the task force to be “independent” and “protected from political pressure”, which he argues is incompatible with secretary oversight: “We don’t see any way that statutory language can be squared with the regime envisioned by the government,” he told the justices.

Several justices appeared skeptical of Mitchell’s reading of the statute, with Justice Elena Kagan questioning whether Congress would create a board without specifying who appoints its members: “I mean, it would be an odd statute. I doubt you could find another where Congress has set up a board and … just not said who should appoint.”

The taskforce is made up of medical experts who serve four-year terms on a volunteer basis. It reviews medical evidence and public feedback and issues recommendations about which preventive services would be most effective for detecting illnesses earlier or addressing ailments before a patient’s condition worsens.

The taskforce has identified dozens of preventive services as having a high or moderate net benefit to patients including screenings to detect diabetes and various types of cancer, statin medications to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, and interventions to help patients quit smoking or unhealthy alcohol use.……..

US supreme court hears challenge to Obamacare free preventive healthcare

At issue is constitutionality of taskforce that decides which services insurers must cover without cost to patients

www.theguardian.com

I’m okay with eliminating coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, which I heard cost $30k, since people can either wear condoms or get tests for their partners, which is much more cost effective, but in general, preventative medicine is much more cost effective, and humane.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Welp, I didn’t agree for my sons medical records to be used, but it looks like they will access them anyway:

RFK Jr.'s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans

The autism study is planning to link confidential data "with broad coverage in the U.S. population" in one place for the first time.

www.cbsnews.com

well thats not scary who the fork is going to see them??? some QAnon nut job?

 

[Dragon]

I’m okay with eliminating coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, which I heard cost $30k, since people can either wear condoms or get tests for their partners, which is much more cost effective, but in general, preventative medicine is much more cost effective, and humane.

I respectfully disagree. Not everyone is in a position to simply "choose" safe circumstances. For example, a woman married to a man who is secretly having sex with others may have no idea she's at risk—and she certainly isn’t going to get tested before every intimate moment. Should she be denied protection or treatment because of someone else’s deception? Or what about survivors of sexual assault?

Why should a disease—especially a life-threatening one—be treated differently just because it’s sexually transmitted? We don’t question people’s “morality” before treating them for exposure to toxic chemicals or other preventable conditions.

This kind of thinking seems rooted more in judgment and outdated moral beliefs than in compassion or public health. Medicine should be about preventing suffering and saving lives—not deciding who is “deserving” based on how they got sick.

 

[Lapaz]

I respectfully disagree. Not everyone is in a position to simply "choose" safe circumstances. For example, a woman married to a man who is secretly having sex with others may have no idea she's at risk—and she certainly isn’t going to get tested before every intimate moment. Should she be denied protection or treatment because of someone else’s deception? Or what about survivors of sexual assault?

Why should a disease—especially a life-threatening one—be treated differently just because it’s sexually transmitted? We don’t question people’s “morality” before treating them for exposure to toxic chemicals or other preventable conditions.

This kind of thinking seems rooted more in judgment and outdated moral beliefs than in compassion or public health. Medicine should be about preventing suffering and saving lives—not deciding who is “deserving” based on how they got sick.

A month's supply of PrEP costs over $2k.

How Much Does Truvada for PrEP Cost?

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, with Truvada could lower your risk of getting HIV. If you can't afford the high cost of this drug, there are programs to help you pay for it.

www.webmd.com

This isn't about morality for me. I'm not judging anyone for their sexual preferences. I have supported sexual preference all of my life. The issue is that it is not financially tenable to provide every sexually active man and woman, married or otherwise, a supply of this PrEP medicine every month. The generic may be tenable, but I don't think it is justified to subsidize them either, since there are much more cost effective ways to prevent the disease. Also, I think married women is a poor example, because I can't believe that married women would even take this in the event that their husband is cheating, since the medicine has some side effects in the short term, and unknown long term effects.

Don't get me wrong, I do oppose eliminating free preventative cuts of medicines required by Obamacare, but only for meds that prevent diseases that can't be prevented through reasonable means.

 

[MT15]

This:

 

[MT15]

 

[coldseat]

A month's supply of PrEP costs over $2k.

How Much Does Truvada for PrEP Cost?

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, with Truvada could lower your risk of getting HIV. If you can't afford the high cost of this drug, there are programs to help you pay for it.

www.webmd.com

This isn't about morality for me. I'm not judging anyone for their sexual preferences. I have supported sexual preference all of my life. The issue is that it is not financially tenable to provide every sexually active man and woman, married or otherwise, a supply of this PrEP medicine every month. The generic may be tenable, but I don't think it is justified to subsidize them either, since there are much more cost effective ways to prevent the disease. Also, I think married women is a poor example, because I can't believe that married women would even take this in the event that their husband is cheating, since the medicine has some side effects in the short term, and unknown long term effects.

Don't get me wrong, I do oppose eliminating free preventative cuts of medicines required by Obamacare, but only for meds that prevent diseases that can't be prevented through reasonable means.

I take PrEP and so do most of my gay friends. The benefits of providing generic PrEP far outway the cost and negatives of not providing it. I get my PrEP through my private health insurance, but if it is not legally mandatory that it be covered, then private insurance will not cover it either. You will be affecting millions of people in this country and it will no doubt lead to an AIDS epidemic. That's just the plain truth. I mean, if you want to kill off gay people, that's a way to do it.

I wish I understood why the underlying intent of every health initiative of this administration was to bring back every epidemic we've ever had.