RFK flunks orals, passed anyway "Do Not Resuscitate" #380 Feb 7 2025

On “Do Not Resuscitate" this week, there’s more on RFK Jr's lame performance, the immigration raids and their impact on healthcare, and the usual litany of system collapse indicators. I’m encouraged by how much the dysfunction is becoming clearer to anyone paying attention.

Here are links to all the articles mentioned: 

Rachel Cohrs Zhang, Sarah Owermohle & Isabella Cueto, “The 7 big topics RFK Jr. addressed during a fiery confirmation hearing,” STAT, Jan 29, 2025

Isabella Cueto, “Analysis: In confirmation hearing, RFK Jr. diagnoses a nation’s health ills but fails to prescribe remedies,” STAT, Jan 29, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EqbTfE

Jessie Hellmann, “Trump’s immigration plans could imperil long-term care workforce,” Roll Call, Jan 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/4gpAuhZ

Anushka Bhaskar, Aaron S. Kesselheim & Daniel Carpenter, “How to protect HHS, FDA, NIH, and other health agencies from political interference,” STAT, Jan 31, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EAg7kI

Sara Gorman, Heather Lanthorn, Kenneth H. Rabin & Scott C. Ratzan, “‘Safe and effective’ is FDA-speak. It’s time to put it to bed,” MedPage Today, Jan 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Q3dkTO

Jeanne Lenzer & Shannon Brownlee, “Big Pharma is pushing potentially deadly Alzheimer’s drugs,” Jacobin, Feb 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/40Zurw2

Katie Dangerfield, “From hearing aids to pacemakers, tariffs may drive up medical device costs,” Global News, Jan 31, 2025 https://bit.ly/4aKo4Qk

Daniel Zingale, “What I learned about health insurance rage as the nation’s first ‘HMO czar,’” STAT, Jan 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/4aKYiLO

Jakob Emerson, “‘We’re going to have to fix this ourselves’: 5 CFOs on navigating Medicare Advantage,” Becker’s Hospital Review, Nov 13, 2024 https://bit.ly/3EAbvLn

Samantha Liss, “Indiana governor appoints business leader to shake up health care,” KFF Health News/Governing, Feb 4, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Q6qAHh

Paige Minemyer, “Moody’s downgrades insurers’ credit outlook to negative amid ongoing cost pressures,” Fierce Healthcare, Feb 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/4114NXO

Christopher McGowan, “I no longer think GLP-1s are the answer,” MedPage Today, Jan 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/3CBsZXd

Kristen Monaco, “Most ditch GLP-1 drugs for weight loss within a year,” MedPage Today, Jan 31, 2025 https://bit.ly/3WKUYKW

Andrea Mazzarino, “American the unwell: The corporate greed threatening our stability,” Informed Comment, Aug 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3EnryMx

Lauren Sausser, “Across the South, rural health care has become ‘trendy.’ Medicaid expansion has not,” KFF Health News/Daily Yonder, Feb 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/412wmQA

Paige Minemyer, “Express Scripts takes new steps to improve transparency, address affordability,” Fierce Healthcare, Jan 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/4gwjnLt

Bruce Japsen, “Amazon’s One Medical partners with New York’s Montefiore health system,” Forbes, Jan 29, 2025 https://bit.ly/3WNC9qH

Robert Kuttner, “Mass General’s growth comes at expense of affordable health care,” Boston Globe, Jan 11, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jJQdeC

Jonah Valdez, “She exposed a prestigious medical journal’s silence on the holocaust. Now she’s asking about Gaza,” The Intercept, Oct 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/4hnqKpv

IM Doc, [comment to its Water Cooler column], Naked Capitalism, Feb 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hOkhDR

My entire archive going back 7 years resides at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news 

You can get my full written digest weekly by writing me at tfrasca@yahoo.com