Missouri State of Mind

The baby formula shortage is discussed in The Atlantic in a way that teases out the implications of Covid, manufacturing plants closed by bacterial infection, the effects of a concentrated market almost impervious to competition from imports, as well as the shifting sole source contracts for the WIC program.

But, what of the throwaway line noting that the 2022 baby boom has been accompanied by strikingly decreased rates of breast feeding by American women. Why is that? A place where lack of in-person health care has taken its toll?

Recently, it became quite heated at the California legislature’s hearing on AB 2098’s proposed changes to the definition of unprofessional conduct by a physician to include spreading of COVID vaccine disinformation. Professional licensure disputes can become quite heated, particularly when free speech rights are implicated.

What I want to know is what the Nuremberg Code has to do with all this? How would the Nuremberg Code be violated by the passage of AB 2098 into law?

Missouri’s Medicaid Expansion is proceeding, albeit at a slow rate. It is little solace for many, but still important to know that eligibility may be retroactive. Apply now.

How would you know?

A.J. Loiacono, CEO of Capital Rx, speaks truth about U.S. drug pricing:

“But you get to the last hop in the supply chain and something magical happens. All the prices in the United States disappear, not because the prices don’t exist, but because the entity that controls the last hop in the supply chain — carriers and PBMs — wish it to be so.”

Who will test the proposition whether prescription drugs should be bought and sold like popsicles, or whether the consumer benefits from all this secrecy in pricing?

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

“Then they peered into the genome to predict the embryo’s susceptibility for common diseases that may develop decades later: breast cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, lupus, vitiligo, and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.”

IVF today, in utero tomorrow?

Our current saline shortage echoes earlier saline shortages, in that supply is often tight following natural disasters (2017 hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico taking out Baxter’s manufacturing plant, etc.). There is nothing like a pandemic being fought with multiple vaccination injections to highlight this, as well. The war in Ukraine’s reduction in availability of petroleum products to make plastics has also played quite a role. But, our saline supply (meaning not only the bags and saline solution itself, but including the vials and syringes for administration) has often been precarious. This most recent shortage may have been entirely predictable once it became clear all the stars were in alignment for another shortage. And, yet, we are completely reactive in the face of the acknowledgement that some U.S. hospitals are receiving less than half of the saline and saline administration equipment needed — children’s hospitals even less because production is even lower for the very smallest size saline bags and saline administration equipment. Those same saline and saline product producers remain largely non-responsive to the Cares Act requirement of reporting of potential pipeline problems.

There it is again, the bad penny that always turns up, we are distressed that some people grieve differently and longer than others. Almost like a ten year cycle cicada, this issue about pathologizing grief rises again, during COVID of course. This time, wearing black mourning for “too long” is cited as a marker of the disorder. And what of those Americans who come from communities where it is customary to wear black as a widow for all the days of your life. An entire culture diagnosed in one fell swoop.

Would Bloomberg Law have called Robert Bork an “antitrust crusader”? What is with calling Lina Kahn one? Sexist much?

Why is Missouri’s Medicaid expansion so slow to expand? Endless repetitive re-determinations might be a big part of the answer.