Let's go forward, not backward or sideways, in medicine!

The Japanese raccoon dog was once thought to be capable of shape-shifting, even to human form. Suspicious!

Covid-19 really destroyed trust in the medical field

I remember seeing clips of meetings, before Covid-19 was invented, suggesting that some emergency would be necessary in order to kick-start progress into new ways of, say, making vaccines. One concern was that people would want to wait for safety data.

Having once been part of medium-sized pharma (as opposed to "Big Pharma", I am familiar with some of the political changes that contributed to our current vaccine situation. One problem was our legal system, which allowed for big punitive damages to be awarded to people injured by vaccines in the USA. Vaccine manufacturers were leaving the business. Congress panicked and passed legislation which limited liability for manufacturers and set up a fund to reimburse people who were injured by vaccines. This system didn't work very well. Other parts of the law discouraged development of non-vaccine treatments where vaccines were considered the only viable treatments.

Our company held big meetings concerning this legislation, even though we did not make vaccines. It was a big deal.

Meanwhile, we had a healthy respect for the FDA, and surprise visits were occasions of anxiety. FDA agents sometimes wore sidearms. People had to sign in and out of meeting rooms. Not that there had never been ethical concerns. There had been a "generic drug scandal" in which favors consisted of changing the order in which inspections of facilities were done and so forth, to give an edge to certain companies.

But no one expected to be allowed 75 years to turn in raw data from clinical trials, as in the first Covid-19 trials.

On June 21, CBD wrote a short, lucid commentary on the pending approval of an mRNA vaccine for influenza: Another mRNA Vaccine? Really?

They created a disease, they lied about its origins, they used it to destroy our civil liberties and manipulate the country to be more compliant, and perhaps worst of all, they sabotaged possible treatments to favor their dangerous and expensive vaccine and treatments.

So why should the American people think that all of those failings have magically disappeared, and the new and improved FDA/Pharma/Deep State is any more invested in the health and well being of America?

The same mRNA technology that is implicated in some serious side effects? The same mRNA technology that was used to create the COVID vaccine that was famously awful? And all for a disease that has shifting antigens that are very difficult to identify quickly enough to create an effective vaccine? The flu vaccine works adequately, but it is by no means impressive, and the mRNA vaccine won't change that, so why risk the documented side effects of an mRNA vaccine when the traditional vaccine is safe?

Oh. Look! Money!

More at the link.

What will we do as Artificial Intelligence starts to make its presence known in medicine? Will people get over-excited and head off in wild directions? We can be more rational if we try, I think.

On the other hand, medical progress is being made. I, for one, am grateful for much of it. Perhaps some physicians and other health care professionals could learn more about nutrition, etc. And some respect for the observations of people on the front lines is sometimes more valuable than waiting for results of a double-blind trial of a single drug agent.

But recently, a friend's teenage son received a kidney transplant and a relative's baby was born with cystic fibrosis. I have learned a lot about medical advances both in drugs and in team treatment of conditions like this. Did you know that salt was important for newborns with cystic fibrosis? Bet no double-blind study was involved in that clinical change.

Anyway, it's easy to lose trust in EVERYONE involve in the system. But maybe we don't have to go this far:

Via Powerline, October 2022:

Medical students at the University of Minnesota must now take an oath to "honor all Indigenous ways of healing that have been historically marginalized by Western medicine" and fight "white supremacy, colonialism, [and] the gender binary."

And we don't have to reject all advances. Interesting thread in response to this statement. You have probably seen other statements like it.

One topic mentioned in the thread is cystic fibrosis, where advances mean that my newborn relative can now look forward to a long life - not possible in the fairly recent past:

I find it curious that the modern medical community has cured exactly zero diseases in the last several decades.

The medical community has cured a mountain of diseases in the past several decades.

Diseases cured thread🧵

In 2013, hepatitis C was cured by direct-acting antivirals. https://t.co/st8WFoKSBi pic.twitter.com/15hLFYrr3v

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) June 26, 2026

Is there a medical advance that you particularly appreciate?

The Founding Father who was a physician

Benjamin Rush: A Founding Father Devoted to Education, Public Health, and Civic Virtue

A Versatile and Influential Founder

Benjamin Rush is sometimes called “the forgotten Founder,” but his influence on early America was anything but small. Born in 1746 in Pennsylvania, Rush became a leading physician, a civic reformer, and one of the most intellectually energetic voices of the young republic. He signed the Declaration of Independence at just thirty years old, advised presidents, and helped shape the nation’s emerging institutions in medicine, public education, and moral reform.

Rush worked during a moment when the United States was trying to define not only its governing structures but also the habits and character needed for a self-governing people. His life’s work reflected a single belief: a republic depends on educated, healthy, and virtuous citizens.

As one of America’s most prominent doctors, Rush helped establish medical training in the United States and served as Surgeon General for the Continental Army. His medical practices reflected the theories of his era—some of which are now obsolete—but his commitment to scientific inquiry and public health was pioneering.

During the Revolutionary War, Rush treated soldiers, wrote medical guides, and pushed for improved sanitation in military camps. He also advocated for the humane treatment of people with mental illness, arguing that compassion—not confinement—should shape care. His 1812 writings on mental health are considered foundational in the history of American psychiatry.

Rush applied the same reforming energy to civic life. He opposed slavery, supported women’s education, fought for expanded access to schooling, and urged the young nation to cultivate civic virtue among its citizens.

More at the link.

Weekend

The Week in Pictures: Party Like It’s October, 1917 Edition

So my site access has been restored but my WiFi access continues to be spotty as my ocean-going continues, but it did prompt the first graphic in this week’s gallery by the producers of the Ricochet podcast, where I ended up being a mostly silent spectator this week between 10-second bursts of connection, which was about all I needed for my very few five-second bursts of lucidity.

Meanwhile, I still haven’t been able to restore my old hijacked Twitter account, so I have launched a new one: @RealStevenHayward. Follow if you’re into the whole social media thing. I think I’ll be more like that RealOtherGuy and do more polemic entries than my old account, which I used mostly to tell jokes.

Speaking of jokes, I’m so old I can recall the 1970s when we embraced the proposition: “That government is best which McGoverns least.” What the hell do we say now about the DSA takeover of the Democratic Party? These guys make McGovern look like a Truman Democrat. (Recall that McGovern had supported Henry Wallace in 1948.)

Music

Stars and Stripes Forever

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Last week's thread, June 20, Father's Day Weekend, 2026

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.