Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

MUST VIEWING: JOHN BOEHNER'S SPEECH AGAINST THE HISTORIC HEALTH CARE VOTE

Just before the historic vote on the Obama/Pelosi health care bill Republican leader John Boehner delivered an historic MUST VIEW speech that will be referred to for weeks, months and years to come.  Ed Morrissey quotes Boehner and comments:

“In this economy, with this unemployment, with our desperate need for jobs and economic growth, is this really the time to raise taxes, to create bureaucracies, and burden every job creator in our land?” So began the final effort by House Minority Leader John Boehner to turn the tide on ObamaCare, mainly by answering a series of difficult questions. Boehner really caught fire in the middle of the speech when he asked Democrats if they had even bothered to read the bill or any of its sidebars or amendments, ending with a “Hell no, you haven’t!” Not surprisingly, this was one of the most popular moments for Hot Air commenters on the live thread. Most of it, however, was somber and sad, as Boehner said, “Shame on us, shame on this body, shame on each and every one of you who substitutes your will and your desires above those of your fellow countrymen.” Full speech is below:

PHYLLIS SCHAFLEY RESPONDS TO BART STUPAK'S CAVE-IN ON ABORTION

From the Newswires: (HT: Drudge)

WASHINGTON, March 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Phyllis Schlafly, president and founder of the conservative grassroots public policy organization Eagle Forum, made the following remarks after the public announcement that formerly pro-life Democrat Bart Stupak (D-MI) will cast a "yes" vote for the Senate health care bill today in the House:

"It is naive for any elected official, especially one who describes himself as 'pro-life,' to expect that a promise to issue an Executive Order that reasserts the intentions of the Hyde Amendment will be fulfilled by the most pro-abortion president to ever sit in the White House. Perhaps Mr. Stupak and his fellow pro-life Democrats forget that President Obama's first Executive Order was the repeal of the Mexico City Policy to allow for international funding of abortion."

"Not only would an Executive Order be rendered meaningless in the face of Congress passing legislation which actively provides

THOMAS SOWELL - HEALTH CARE SENSE AND NONSENSE

Thomas Sowell - Alice in Health Care

One of the biggest reasons for higher medical costs is that somebody else is paying those costs, whether an insurance company or the government. What is the politicians' answer?  To have more costs paid by insurance companies and the government.

Me: What a terrific article.  Read the whole thing.

COUNT THE LIES: OBAMA VOWED 8X TO TELEVISE HEALTHCARE NEGOTIATIONS

That's the flaming red headline Drudge put on his blog this morning.  It's truly shocking.  Go to Breitbart TV to see the 8 videos in succession. 

Is there a reason why people are becoming cynical, and particularly about the man occupying the White House?  For sure.

A COMMON-SENSE QUESTION

PELOSI CARE - ICHABOD!

  Tony Perkins at the Family Research Council comments:

In a tightly controlled press conference yesterday afternoon, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released her 1,990 page version of health care overhaul. What does it cost, you ask? That depends on who you talk to. Speaker Pelosi would like us to believe that the bill is cheap--but in truth, the plan clocks in at over $1.5 trillion dollars when you include the companion "Doc Fix" bill also introduced yesterday. Instead of truly reforming the health care system, the Speaker's bill is more about social engineering than helping those in need. The new legislation, H.R. 3962, guarantees that the government would use tax dollars to fund abortions by using the marketing gimmicks that were prevalent in the Capps amendment.

And the rewards for abortionists don't end there. The Speaker also added a separate bill, the Indian Health legislation, into her overall reform. The move is crafty, because Speaker Pelosi has

SWINE FLU IS A MASSIVELY OVERRATED THREAT

So says Michael Fumento who writes:   (HT: The Corner )

News flash: Swine flu is a massively overrated threat -- overrated not only in the media but by the World Health Organization, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and others who have a duty to know better.

The presidential science council warned in late August that, "in a plausible scenario," swine flu might kill 90,000 Americans with the epidemic peaking in "mid-October." But it's now obvious that this won't happen.

Total deaths since Aug. 30 from "Influenza and Pneumonia-Associated" illness are 1,397, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site FluView (cdc.gov/flu/weekly/). But only 192 of those have been laboratory-confirmed as flu of any type. (And yes, people die of pneumonia from many causes other than flu.) In fact, FluView reports that deaths from influenza and pneumonia are well within the normal bounds for this time of year -- or, as the CDC puts it, "below the epidemic threshold."

Repeat, there is no flu epidemic. There will be, but only because we have one every year. [more . . .]

WHY DOES THE AARP SUPPORT OBAMACARE? IS THERE SOMETHING ROTTEN IN DENMARK?

Michelle Malkin uncovers something smelly.  Read Michelle's post: "Hmmm:  Is the AARP getting "kickbacks" from Obamacare?

QUICK TAKES

I see the Wintery Knight Blog has once again linked to some of my blog posts.  I can easily reciprocate.  As I have repeatedly said, I regard WKB a daily must read.  Here are some of his latest posts together with required links:

Sen. Tom Coburn [R-OK] takes a hostile question (video) at a town hall  [Me: And gives a smashingly good answer]

New CDC study says that gay/bisexual men 50 times more likely to be HIV-positive  [Me:  That can only be news because of prior politically correct brainwashing]

Six prominent Jews explain why most Jews are so liberal  [Me: I always find it sad that so many Jews don't understand that evangelical Christians are their best friends.]

REP. SUE MYRICK'S (R-NC) HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL MEETING - ANYTHING BUT ASTROTURF!

Read the following entertaining and enlightening report submitted by Frank Turek.  You will consider it time well spent.

When I learned that my Representative, Sue Myrick, would hold a health-care town hall meeting at our local high school, I decided to attend to see firsthand how much of the passion against socialized medicine was the result of real grass roots or just “Astroturf” (as Nancy Pelosi put it). Sue is a strong conservative who came to office as part of the 1994 Republican revolution. Since she’s against the current house bill (HR 3200), I didn’t think all that many would turnout. Wow, was I wrong!

Let me set the context for you. I live in a half-rural half-residential town about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Our population is about 8,000 (not counting cows and horses). There’s one small

CHRISTINE O'BRIEN - "DOCTORS MAY NOT BE AWARE OF LETHAL DRUG COMBINATIONS"

Here's the beginning of Christine O'Brien's article:  (HT: Cancer-Free)

It should be headline news. That's the degree to which your safety is at stake.

But, of course, it isn't—it's buried in science news sites, with nary a mention in the mainstream medicine. Recent research out of the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy found that medication prescribers correctly identified fewer than half of drug pairs with potentially dangerous interactions.

Researchers sent a questionnaire to 12,500 prescribers (physicians, physician's assistants, and nurse practitioners) in the United States. They were asked to classify 14 drug pairs according to whether or not dangerous interactions were possible.

The 950 respondents correctly classified only 42.7% of the combinations. Out of the 14 pairs, four of them were potentially dangerous—the majority of prescribers correctly identified only ONE of those four pairs. . .    [more . . .]

The drug interaction website can be found here.  (Very useful... check out how your drugs interact!)

ABC, NBC WON'T AIR AD CRITICAL OF OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE PLAN

A comment is hardly necessary.  Television networks have thrown out any pretense of being objective and non-partisan.  They deserve the scorn and neglect they will inevitably reap.  Story here.    The 33-second ad by the League of American Voters can be seen here.  Dick Morris:

"It's the ultimate act of chutzpah because ABC is the network that turned itself over completely to Obama for a daylong propaganda fest about health care reform," he said. "For them to be pious and say they will not accept advertising on health care shuts their viewers out from any possible understanding of both sides of this issue."

Allahpundit over at "HotAir" wonders about NBC's alleged "facts in dispute" saying:

I’m curious to know which facts NBC thinks are in dispute. Cuts to Medicare, which even some Democrats are now hinting at? Rationing in Britain, on the heels of yesterday’s report about pregnant women being turned away from maternity wards? A crisis in Canadian health care, whose own administrators are calling for massive reforms even while they’re busy shipping patients across the border to the United States for treatment?

WHY SARAH PALIN'S "DEATH PANELS" FLUMMOXED LIBERALS & THE MSM

Scott Ott sheds light on how to discern who has common sense and who doesn't.  (HT: HotAir.com)  True, the House bill doesn't specifically provide for the development of "death panels," but as Ott says, Palin and the public understand certain truths far better than "elite" opinion in this culture.   He contends Sarah Palin's charge has legs because:

1.) The only way to save money in a government-run health system is to ration care.

2.) The majority of health care expenditures for most people come near the end of life, and thus the elderly present the greatest opportunity for cost savings.

3.) Special-needs people, like Palin’s son Trig, who has Down’s Syndrome, also require spending — another opportunity for economizing.

4.) The government, and too many in our society, believe …

a) infants in the womb to be less worthy of protection than Michael Vick’s dogs,

b) Trig Palin’s life to be Sarah’s foolish choice, and

c) the elderly to be a burden on society.

5.) Other governments which run health care operations have a track record of delaying and denying coverage based on the limited supply of medical professionals and equipment, as well as cost-containment considerations.

6.) The end-of-life counseling language appeared in a section of a bill on cost-containment.

7.) The American people don’t trust politicians, and would rise up in unified opposition if the federal government had a plan to take over and run little league athletics, let alone health care, which does involve life and death decisions.

8.) Americans love freedom.  [more . . .]

CAN HEALTH CARE RULES THREATEN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM? YES!

Chuck Colson tells the story of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic college that won’t allow abortion, sterilization, and contraception to be covered by its employees’ health care plan.  Colson writes:

[The Catholic Church] teaches that abortion, sterilization, and contraception are immoral. So it makes sense that a conservative Catholic college would make sure that its health plan doesn’t cover such practices.

Well, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a different word for Belmont Abbey College: “sexist.”

Using reasoning that could only be concocted by a consummate bureaucrat, the director of the agency’s Charlotte office has said that denying contraception is sexist “because only females take oral prescription contraceptives. By denying coverage, men are not affected, only women.”

The EEOC stepped in because eight college employees complained about the lack of coverage. The EEOC has now ordered the college to find a resolution. Even though North Carolina law protects religious institutions from having to cover contraception, abortion, and voluntary sterilization, the case could end up in the federal courts.

But as the president of the college, William Thierfelder, stated, “Belmont Abbey College is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that

Welcome,  visitors from Pugnacious Irishman!  Please have a look around and come back often!  Thank you, Pugnacious Irishman for the link and for adding me to your blogroll. 

CANADIAN HEALTH CARE STORIES . . .

Hugh Hewitt gives the "mic" (so to speak) to his anonymous ad executive friend "Bear in the Woods" whose experience living in Vancouver, plus the experience of other family members, is well worth reading.  Click here.

PALIN WARNS OF OBAMA "DEATH PANEL"

Update 8/9/09 - Gingrich defends Palin on "death panels" remarks. So does Ann Althouse.  Michelle Malkin offers a major roundup of comments and articles, including British examples.  A MUST-READ.   Update 8/10/09 - FLASHBACK:  Death Drugs Cause Uproar in Oregon  (HT: Drudge)

(Original post) - Joseph Russo posts Palin's statement on the Conservatives4Palin website.  Her statement originally appeared on Palin's Facebook site:

As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love

WHO WE ARE - i.e. Those Opposing Big Gov't, Socialism, "Obamacare," Leftism," "Anti-Americanism," "Global Warming"

- Update 8/9/09: C-Span Caller Blasts Media

- (Original Post) Dr. Zero says it best.  I urge you to read the entire piece:

There seems to be a bit of confusion among Democrats about the nature of the opposition to their plans. Maybe I can help clear things up, by telling them a few things about us.

We’re not paid minions of any corporate interest or lobby. Most bloggers working to stop the Obama health-care disaster are like me, writing when they can find the time, because we care about the future of our country. The same is true of the people showing up at town hall meetings, and organizing rallies. Some of us are well-dressed in tailored suits. Others wear jeans and T-shirts. Most of us are dressed in what we wore to work.

Our support for a massive government program does not increase when you tell us we’re not allowed to ask questions about it.

We’re not racists. We’re also not racialists. We don’t think a wise Latina is inherently more qualified to do anything than a wise Asian woman, a wise white woman, or a wise white man. We’re tired of being fed excuses for high government offices staffed by anything but the best people for the job. There are too many high government offices, so we’d like some of

OBAMACARE

Hugh Hewitt - 10 Questions to Ask Congressman on Health Care

From Hewitt's column in the Washington Examiner:

Members of the House are back in their districts, and senators will join them in their states after next week.  If they are doing their jobs - a big if - they will be meeting with constituents over the next month, and this is your chance to impact the debate on the radical proposals to restructure American medicine.

These proposals are now making their way towards a final debate and vote in the fall.  Here are 10 questions for any meeting you might have or e-mail you might send. (And 10 answers any honest representative or senator would give you.)

 

1.  Do you guarantee that I get to keep the plan I have and the doctor I have?  ("I know you have heard the president say this repeatedly, but expert after expert has confirmed this is simply not true.  Employers pick health plans, not employees, and if the new law puts forward a cheap 'government option/public plan,' employers will dump employees into it and pocket the savings as smart business people will do when given such a choice.")

 

2.  Will the law require Members of Congress and federal employees to be enrolled in the "government option/public plan," and if not, why not?  ("No, it won't.  Of course not. Because the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) is a gold-plated, great

REBELLION AGAINST OBAMACARE BREWING . . . .

MUST READ post from Michelle Malkin with embedded video reports from Austin and Philadelphia.

Incidentally, have you discovered the important video website, Naked Emperor News?

OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE PROPOSALS ANSWERED

 - Check out Keith Hennesy's response to Obama's e-mail on health reform. 

- Scott W. Atlas - "10 Reasons Why America's health care system is in better condition than you might suppose."  (HT: Jonah Goldberg at the Corner)  UPDATE: Same material but with footnotes.

1. Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the United Kingdom and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.

2. Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality in Canada is 9 percent higher than in the United States, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher, and colon cancer among men is about 10 percent higher.

WHAT'S IN THE OBAMA HEALTHCARE BILL (HR3200)?

Click here for an overview with specific references to the full text of the bill itself.  Do visit the overview and be aghast.  It's even worse than conservative news outlets have explained.  And don't forget:

Members of Congress will be exempt from being forced into this plan. They will have their own. The liberals, Democrats and some Republicans - while forcing you to join the plan - refuse to include themselves. Members of Congress will have a better plan which gives them freedom you will be denied.

DENNIS PRAGER - "10 QUESTIONS FOR SUPPORTERS OF OBAMACARE"

Update 7/29/09: The Acton Institute has produced a short video worth seeing: "The Problems with Socialized Government Healthcare."  (HT: Hugh Hewitt)

- Prager demonstrates his usual clear-headed insightfulness. Click here.

Update:  The Family Research Council has begun airing a TV commercial.  View it here.  FRC issued the following press release:

OBAMACARE

Courtesy of Michelle Malkin:

For details:

Keith Hennessy: Diving into the Kennedy-Dodd health care takeover bill.  Plus Hennessy update 6/9/09

Michael Tanner: The Obamacare to come. 7 bad ideas for health care reform.

See also Hugh Hewitt - here and here.

Update: Wintery Knight offers good coverage plus video interviews. 

DR. OZ VISITS "ECHO HEALTH CLINIC" FOUNDED BY DR. DAN & SUZIE BELL

What a wonderful idea!  Here is a faith-based free medical clinic for uninsured, low income individuals.  Dr. Oz visited the Eureka Christian Health Outreach (ECHO) clinic (short video here) and was greatly impressed.  Maybe the publicity generated by Dr. Oz will inspire similar programs around the country.  This is an example of self-giving faith in action. More about ECHO can be found at their website here.

SHOULD CHEMOTHERAPY BE FORCED ON A 13 YEAR OLD AGAINST THE PARENT'S WISHES?

Click here for the story.  Should mother and son be hunted down?  What do you think?  I feel uncomfortable about that, to say the least.

A SKEPTICAL RESPONSE TO THE SO-CALLED "SWINE FLU EPIDEMIC"

 Read Dr. Mercola's analysis.

Obama Proposes Eliminating Medicare Advantage

Bad idea. As this article notes, Medicare Advantage allows seniors to choose a private health plan rather than get their health coverage from the traditional Medicare program.  Some of my family members will be very disappointed when they hear this news.  [HT: the Corner]

Thomas Sowell: The Reality of Government-Controlled Medical Treatment

Sowell begins his article saying:

Before you do anything else, make a note to read The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care by Sally C. Pipes. It might literally save your life, by checking the political stampede toward a government-controlled medical profession — usually presented politically as “universal health care.”

It is one of the painful signs of our times that millions of people are so easily swayed by rhetoric that they show virtually no interest at all in finding out the hard facts. Any number of other countries already have government-controlled medical professions. Yet few Americans show any interest in what actually happens to medical care in those countries.   [more . . .]

ADULT STEM CELL ADVANCES

The Family Research Council suggests more causes for Thanksgiving:

 As we count our blessings this week, consider what one field - adult stem cell research and therapy - is accomplishing for human healing:

Liver Repair. Doctors at Imperial College, London, have shown treatment benefits from using adult stem cells collected from the patients' own blood to treat cirrhosis of the liver. Three of the nine patients treated showed almost complete repair after 12 weeks.

Cerebral Palsy. Duke University scientists have treated a young girl for cerebral palsy using her umbilical cord blood, which the parents had saved. Two months after receiving her own stem cells, the girl is reported to have made a 50 percent recovery.

Windpipe Reconstruction. A Colombian woman whose windpipe was destroyed by tuberculosis received a transplant using donated tissue and her own adult stem cells to form the replacement organ. The international team that conducted the work included scientists in Italy and the United Kingdom and surgeons in Spain. The surgery occurred in June, there is still no rejection of the new tissue, and she can now walk flights of stairs and go dancing.

McCain's Health-Care Plan Explained

Yuval Levin of National Review's Corner blog writes:

My colleague James Capretta, one of the great conservative health care mavens, offers on his superb health policy blog Diagnosis a very helpful example to illustrate the logic of the McCain health care proposal, and to help explain why Biden’s criticism of it last night makes no sense. If you want a clear sense of how the plan would work in practice, read this.

Me:  The Obama/Biden ticket seems committed to dissemble and foist deceptions on a gullible public.

DOCTORS DEBATE WHEN TO DECLARE ORGAN DONORS DEAD

Here's the AP story.  It cites other cases on an issue I have posted on before here and here.  The Family Research Council comments on this latest story involving three infants as follows:

We've all debated the question of when life begins, but how about death? That's the latest issue plaguing the medical community as the need for organ donors continues to grow. The latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine reports on three controversial cases in which infants died, and physicians harvested the hearts before the babies met the criteria of "complete, irreversible cessation of brain function or of heart and lung function." The Denver doctors who performed the procedure, which some claim is "tantamount to murder," are at the center of a growing moral debate. George Annas, a Boston University bioethicist told the Washington Post, "This practice cannot be ethically justified . . . . I understand that they would like us to change the definition of death, but they can't do that by themselves."

AMISH-TYPE HEALTH CARE COST SHARING KEEPS INDIVIDUAL COSTS WAY DOWN

Christians helping Christians, and by-passing health insurance costs, is a practice whose time has come.  For many years I myself  have belonged to "Samaritan Ministries," a Christian health care cost-sharing group.  (For more information, click the upper right area of my blog where it says "Save on Health Care...")

John LaPlante, editor of the valuable StateHouseCall.org pens the following article titled "Beyond Politics, Beyond Policy, Beyond Profits: A different model of meeting health care needs":

Getting public policy right is one way of improving human life. Another may be to avoid, as best as one can, policy altogether.

You know about the tradition of community barn-raisings that are common among some Amish orders. A barn burns down? Neighbors come from around to rebuilt: No insurance claims, no insurance hassles, and

BJORN LOMBORG - HOW TO DO THE MOST GOOD IN THE WORLD

The actual title of his Wall Street Journal article is "How to Think About the World's Problems."  He argues that the fortune spent on reducing carbon emisions "could achieve an astounding amount of good in areas that we hear a lot less about."

He writes, for example,

. . . just $60 million spent on providing Vitamin A capsules and therapeutic Zinc supplements for under-2-year-olds would reach 80% of the infants in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with annual economic benefits (from lower mortality and improved health) of more than $1 billion. That means doing $17 worth of good for each dollar spent. Spending $1 billion on tuberculosis would avert an astonishing one million deaths, with annual benefits adding up to $30 billion. This gives $30 back on the dollar.

Heart disease represents more than a quarter of the death toll in poor countries. Developed nations treat acute heart attacks with inexpensive drugs. Spending $200 million getting these cheap drugs to poor countries would avert 300,000 deaths in a year. . . .

WHY I AM SKITTISH ABOUT HUMAN ORGAN DONATING

I wrote on this subject before, a post I titled "Why You May Not Want to Check the 'Organ Donor' Box On Your Driver's License."

Now  David Fredosso writes more:

This story, written up in BioEdge, raises an important question. Is there some reason why medical professionals should consider themselves qualified to decide when a living human being's life is no longer valuable? Or should they limit themselves to what they actually studied in school — the practice of medicine?

[O]ver the last few months, the reputation of the American system for gathering organs has been tarnished. In the most dramatic story, an Oklahoma man recovered four hours after doctors had pronounced him "brain-dead" and were preparing to harvest his organs. Zach Dunlap, 21, sustained severe head injuries after a car accident last November. Since

USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT EGGS - ESPECIALLY GROCERY STORE EGGS

Click here.

QUICK TAKES ON HEALTH SUBJECTS

From Dr. Mercola:

Why vaccines aren't safe

Guide to a Good Night's Sleep

Tips for Avoiding Colds and Flu

This is an article from Reader's Digest.  Some tips are quite interesting.  Some verge close to the nutty.  Your thoughts?

I write this with a Niagara Falls-type runny nose.  I caught my cold via a chill.  One could add warm clothes and a hat to the Reader's Digest tips!

STUDY: Regular Cellphone Use Increases Tumor Risk...

AFP reports:

Regular use of mobile telephones increases the risk of developing tumours, a new scientific study by Israeli researchers and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology revealed on Friday.

An extract of the report seen by Israel's Yedoit Aharonot newspaper put the risk of developing a parotid gland tumour nearly 50 percent higher for frequent mobile phone users -- more than 22 hours a month.  (more)

(HT:Drudge)

Prescription Abuse Seen in U.S. Nursing Homes

The Wall Street Journal carries the front page article.

Did You Drink Water Out of that Glass by the Sink in Your Hotel Room?

So you think those glasses have been washed in soap and water?  Think again.  A shocking undercover video shows how those glasses are "cleaned" by housecleaning workers at three major hotels in the Atlanta area.  Better bring your own paper cups next time!  As Dana Fowle notes, when was the last time you saw racks of clean or dirty glasses on housekeeping carts?

Autism and Cell Phones

This is a major article that not only discusses  the relationship of autism to cell phones but the safety of cell phones in general.   

Update 3/10/08 - Growing Concern Over Safety of Cell Phones for Children

Ramesh Ponnuru Contrasts Republican and Democratic Health Care Proposals

Click here.  In a related post, John Hood refers to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll that asked the following question:

"When it comes to the issue of health care, which of the following two options would you prefer to help cover those without health insurance?

Option A: Requiring all Americans to have health insurance, with the federal government helping pay for health insurance for low-income families.

Option B: Providing health savings accounts and tax credits to help individuals and employers purchase health insurance."

Hood reports:  "Respondents preferred Option B, but by a relatively narrow 49-40 margin. This debate has only just begun."

Are Flu Shots (and Other Vaccines) Good for You? Dr. Mercola Advises Against Them

Click here. 

Heart-Rending Tales of Dirty Hospitals in Britain

Melanie Phillips recounts the sad and infuriating stories here. 

(HT: Ian Murray at The Corner who titles his post "The Reality of Socialized Medicine.") 

Charlotte Allen - "Back Off! I'm Not Dead Yet" (Why You Should Think Twice Before Signing a "Living Will")

Charlotte Allen gives good reasons to be wary of a "living will."  I totally agree with her.  She subtitles her article, "I Don't Want a Living Will. Why Should I?"  Click here. 

In fact, when I contemplate the concept of "dying well," I can't avoid the uneasy feeling that it actually means "dying when we, the intellectual elite, think it is appropriate for you to die."  . . .   People facing end-of-life decisions may well feel subtle pressure from the medical and bioethical establishments to make the choice that will save the most money, as well as spare their relatives and society at large the burden of their continued existence. A "good death" -- that's the English translation of the Greek word that begins with an "e." You know, euthanasia.

There's a whole lot more in this article, even warnings about the practices of some hospices. 

I agree with Charlotte Allen's opinion of bioethicists: "As far as I can tell, bioethicists exist for the most part to do some moral chin-pulling before giving the green light to whatever consensus the rest of the elite have reached."  Exactly so. 

She is in agreement with those who suggest "that instead of filling out a living will, people execute a durable power of attorney, a simple document that entrusts decisions about end-of-life care to a relative or friend who shares the signer's moral beliefs about death and dying."

I consider this an important article and urge you to click through.

Why You May Not Want to Check the "Organ Donor Box" On Your Driver's License

David Freddoso posts the following:

Organ donations save lives, of course. But transplant organizations also troll hospitals like "vultures," as one bioethicist tells today's WaPo, front page below the fold.

The story centers around a doctor accused of hastening a patient's death so that his organs would still be useful by the time he died — the first time a surgeon has been thus charged in a transplant case.

After a long fight with a degenerative disease, Ruben Navarro appeared close to death. So the hospital caring for him alerted the

Adult Stem Cells Rebuild a 58-year-old Woman's Heart

I found this story of the way adult stem cells healed Carron Morrow's serious heart condition thrilling and worth posting.   Chuck Colson tells the story  this way:

An event planner named Carron Morrow says she had two choices when it came to treating a serious heart condition: Sign liability papers for an unusual new treatment—or drop dead.

Not surprisingly, she chose to sign the papers—and became another stem-cell miracle. An adult stem-cell miracle, that is.

Carron, a 58-year-old Alabama mother, was in bad shape last year after suffering four heart attacks. The right side of her heart was functioning at less than 50 percent. Carron needed a new heart—but

Wacko: Michael Moore's Depiction of Cuban Health Care in "Sicko"

I have written before about Michael Moore's socialist health care documentary Sicko.  Michelle Malkin responded with a "Hot Air Vent" here. Now a Cuban American doctor, Dr. Leonel Cordova, (via Michelle Malkin  and Claudia 4 Libertad) vigorously disputes Michael More's depiction of health care in Cuba.  In a Miami CBS4-TV news video,  Dr. Cordova explains that Cuba has a two-tier health system in which only 5% of the population enjoy an excellent health system.  Claudia 4 Libertad adds:

Ask any Cuban who has recently left the island (because they can’t talk freely about this inside of Cuba) about their health care system and they will tell you that it is often a challenge just to get aspirin and they often have to get it on the black market. The run-down, dilapidated and unsanitary conditions in the facilities that the average Cuban must go to for care are a far cry from the hospitals and clinics reserved for high-ranking members of the communist party or the military. There are actually special facilities in Cuba that serve foreigners who can pay in foreign currency.

If the lauded Cuban healthcare system is so wonderful, perhaps someone can explain to me the following:

* Why some patients are taken to the hospital in wheelbarrows instead of ambulances?

* Why patients must bring their own linens for the hospital bed and often, a fan, to combat the stifling heat and lack of air-conditioning?

* Why cockroaches and other vermin are present in