Universal Health Care, Pluses and Minuses

by watson 347 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  BurnTheShips

  It's a shame America's undoubted heavyweight contribution to R&D has largely ignored stem cell research.

  That is absolute bogus. Biotime founded by Mike West--the former founder of Geron.--that had the world's first genetically enabled treatment for a human cancer, on the HER2 gene in breast cancers. Roche owns them now.

  Also, ISCO.

  I am only touching on these two presently. The climate here in the States led to the development of alternatives to embryonic stem cells. You get the same thing, but with no ethical dilemmas or ambiguity. Cheaper too, and no risk of rejection. They can now take a skin cell from your own body and make a pluripotent stem cell out of it.

  No one in Europe can touch these two. They have the core IP on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Parthenogenic stem cells. You guys in Europe are still having to destroy human embryos to get your pluripotent stem cells. These small American startups are able to MAKE them out of any adult tissue. Buy them while their share prices are still cheap. There are many other fields. The first privately sequenced human genome? Craig Venter's Celera Genomics: US. Human monoclonal antibodies? Medarex--just bought last month by Bristol Myers Squibb: US. Bioinformatics and computational biology? US (and Israel). Nanotechnology applied to biotech? US. Revolutionary advanced nanotech enabled point of use diagnostics? Nanosphere, Luminex, Millipore: US. The list goes on and on. Per capita, only S Korea and Israel come close to the United States. Wake up Besty. Europe is far behind on a per capita basis. Only it's actual overall size makes it as prominent as it is. That said, I am aware of one UK firm in the venture capital phase that has re-engineered HSV1 to "eat cancer." Re-engineered herpes simplex that only attacks certain cancers. That is quite astonishing, and it is in stage 1-3 clinical trials for melanoma and head and neck cancers. This company will be a huge breakout, unless it gets leapt over by something better----but guess where they are getting their major private funding from?

  USA.

  BTS
• 

  purplesofa

  You benefit from everything you just shot down, whether you personally use them or not
• 

  VIII

  If we don't have enough General Practioners (doctors), all the Universal Care, all the *Preventative* care, etc. won't mean a thing.

  And, we won't have enough GP's.

  Here, hopefully some of you can read the article as USA Today put it on their web page yesterday.

  http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-17-doctor-gp-shortage_N.htm

  When I go to the GP, who is an Internal Medicine doctor, it takes 2-3 weeks for a non-emergency appointment. Who is there? People over the age of 65. They take priority. For everything. If they have a sniffle, they get in first. It could be pneunomia.

  Tort reform is critical. Why won't the Congress start with Tort reform? Because most of them are lawyers and medical malpractice suits cost big dollars.

  It is sickening the amount of tests the doctors will admit to having you go through, if you ask, because they don't want you to sue them. Try it next time you go.
• 

  Priest73

  You benefit from everything you just shot down, whether you personally use them or not

  Oh Christ. I'll bite. How do I benefit from service I don't use?

  Raise your hand if you believe in evolution? or maybe that deserves a separate thread.

  Survial of the fittest? Ding Ding Ding. We have a winner... and America's Biggest Loser!
• 

  purplesofa

  Oh Christ, I won't bite.
• 

  SixofNine

  Tort reform is critical.

  Tort reform is not critical. It's a miniscule portion of overall cost, and when you're done, well guess what, you still have to be able to sue a doctor for malpractice when indeed there is malpractice.

  Tort reform may be needed, so long as it will actually benefit consumers and not just be a giveaway, but it isn't a big enough part of America's healthcare cost to even think about putting it in front of real cost containment and insurance reform.
• 

  VIII

  Here is a link to doctors debating the pros and cons:

  http://familydoctormag.com/doctors-office/194-doctors-debate-universal-health-care-pros-and-cons-from-the-experts.html

  Here is a website called BalancedPolitics.org debating it:

  http://www.balancedpolitics.org/universal_health_care.htm

  Try to look at the opinions
• 

  BurnTheShips

  Tort reform is not critical.

  Tort reform is necessary. It is one of many pieces in the puzzle. You just want simple answers to steamroller the crap out of every alternative so you can pass your top down authoritarian decrees. Stupider than hammered shit. And evil as fuck.

  BTS
• 

  besty

  sorry. Don't get the bang for my buck that I'm paying for

  And that's exactly why Dawkins does not want to live in a Darwinian society.

  The rich and successful not_getting_value_for_their_money would leave the rest to wither. They do not see the benefit of someone else getting services at their expense.
• 

  besty

  So has America largely ignored stem cell research or has it developed alternatives, or both, or neither?