Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Wednesday Medical News

Partly in honor of the premiere of “Sicko” last night at the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan, I now bring you two stories courtesy of Signs On San Diego:

- Republican governor of Connecticut M. Jodi Rell, a cancer survivor herself as noted here, vetoed a bill allowing some patients suffering with serious illness to use marijuana for medical purposes because she thought it would send “a mixed message” to kids.

I think this is another case where adults underestimate the intelligence of children in matters like this. If they witness a parent or loved one suffering and see them taking a drug that would otherwise be illegal, I think many of them would know (with the proper warning) not to take it themselves. That to me isn’t a “mixed message”; it’s called good parenting.

Also, as noted here, it’s not as if drug companies themselves haven’t used addictive ingredients in their medicines already. Bayer (as noted in the story) came up with a wonder drug they used in concern with aspirin, another drug used as a painkiller to help with respiratory diseases and other ailments prevalent in 1899. It was called heroin.

- And just look who ended up back in “blue state” territory after a run as Senate Majority Leader, where he feathered his nest through Hospital Corporation of America (as noted here).

That would be the one and only Bill Frist, who, as noted here, is returning to Princeton University to teach a course in government health policy. No further information was provided concerning whether or not he would be dissecting cats in the school laboratory or rendering T.V. diagnoses of terminally ill cancer patients.

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