KOLAHUN

Where have you gone, Willie Horton? (Part 2 of Many)

Right on, New Yorker!!!

Hey,Barack...call me (wink)

Contrasting Anonymous Sources

The Washington Post article referenced in the previous post uses multiple anonymous source.  Here's why according to byline author, Craig Timberg:

"The Washington Post was given access to the written record by a participant of several private meetings attended by Mugabe in the period between the first round of voting and the runoff election. The notes were corroborated by witnesses to the internal debates. Many of the people interviewed, including members of Mugabe's inner circle, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of government retribution. Much of the reporting for this article was conducted by a Zimbabwean reporter for The Post whose name is being withheld for security reasons."

Implicit in Mr. Timberg's wording is that these sources feared for their lives.  Mugabe's henchman would likely kill them if they were 'outed' and granting anonymity was the only way to get the story out to the rest of the world.  Now compare that to the recently-departed and celebrated way Tim Russert granted anonymity to his sources (via an excellent tribute to David Halberstam's work right after his death by Glen Greenwald):

"But when I talk to senior government officials on the phone, it's my own policy our conversations are confidential.  If I want to use anything from that conversation, then I will ask permission."

Mr. Timberg granted his sources anonymity so he could get out an important story while maintaining their security.  Mr. Russert, on the other hand, granted his sources anonymity so he can maintain his role as power-broker. 

An Unlikely Source - Zimbabwe and Joe Trippi

In scouring the various sources for the updates on Zimbabwe to understand more the situation on the ground, I stumbled on Joe Trippi's personal blog.  I remember Mr. Trippi for the incredible promise of the 2004 Howard Dean campaign and then some work on John Edwards 2008 campaign.  But in each, I remember him more as a guru of internet, grass-roots building than of international relevance.  Now however, his website seems devoted almost exclusively to covering the disaster and corruption of Mugabe, which the Washington Post details in a lengthy and relevant post here. 

Good for him (and us interested parties). 

First Do No Harm - Urinary Tract Infections

Women, unfortunately, get urinary tract infections (UTIs) all the time.  The usual complaints are pain with peeing, frequent urination and pain below the belly button.  In otherwise healthy women, a simple three day antibiotic course of Bactrim or Ciprofloxin (both $4 for all the pills at most pharmacies these days), easily treats the UTI.

Now, occasionally clinicians find bacteria in women's urine during routine screening while the women may have no symptoms.  In fact, there can be upwards of 100,000 cfu/ml (colony forming units per milliliter of urine) without symptoms.  We, as a field of medicine, used to assume that given the high bacterial load and the risks associated with UTIs, these asymptomatic bacteruria episodes should be treated.

GO TO JAIL-DO NOT PASS GO-COLLECT YOUR RIGHT TO HEALTH CARE

While you and I pay for the privilege of health care, prisoners in the US are the only group in this country with health care as a right protected by the US Constitution.

We replaced the word "inmates" with "Americans" in the ACLU's discription of rights of LA County jail prisoners. Has a better sound to it...

■ Medical/Dental/Pharmacy : Americans have the right to have medical and dental visits available 5 days a week, and pharmacy visits available 7 days a week.

■ Emergencies : Emergency medical and dental are available 24 hours a day. Americans who request emergency attention must have a face to face meeting with medical personnel as soon as possible. Americans who request a dental exam should receive treatment within 3 weeks. Americans may be prescribed dentures if necessary.

■ Cost: When a billing policy prevents Americans from receiving adequate health care because they cannot pay, courts will be more likely to conclude that the policy is unconstitutional.

W.H.O - Guidelines even for here in the US

When an article or discussion focuses on the World Health Organization (WHO), one normally thinks of medicine in underdeveloped countries, responses to Avian Flu, HIV, malnutrition, or some other such 'foreign' thing.  Working here in the US, the WHO really has an 'other-worldy' quality to it.  And, I admit, I fall prey to this characterization myself, noting that much of the US medical care is governed by organizations like the AMA, FDA, CMS and other similar acronyms of various repute.  And so, reading this latest dispatch from the WHO regarding simple pre-operative check-lists to reduce preventable errors, I assumed they meant in resource-poor studies. 

And yet...the major US surgical and anesthetic societies are currently evaluating the WHO proposal and say they are in favor of adopting them - meaning...they don't already have such check-lists in place!  Excellent.  We'll now pre-operatively ensure the identity of the patient, mark the site of surgery, and ask about allergies, amongst other standard check-list questions. 

More Isn't Better - the tale of CT angiography

In a lengthy piece for the New York Times, Alex Berenson and Reed Abelson detail a fundamental flaw of the US health-care system - our misconception that newer is better and more is safer.  A hundred years ago, the health field proved much more adept at preventing than treating.  For example, researchers produced vaccines before finding antibiotics for infectious diseases.  But over the past century, the exponential growth in technology led to profound and marvelous improvements in diagnosing and treating health problems  

Especially, here in the US, the nexus of industry, public research, and the capitalist system produced unbelievable advances in our delivery of health care.  We can see inside the body with high-tech imaging (CTs, MRIs, PET scans, etc.), treat complex diseases with simple pills (HIV, some cancers like CML, etc.), and perform deep surgeries with minimal invasion (laparoscopic and endovascular procedures).