Antibiotics were hailed as the end of infections. There efficacy even prompted some in the medical field to say that no new medicines would be needed as we have triumphed over the Bacteria. Well, sadly this is not the case. Overuse where these antibiotics are not effective, like the common cold and incomplete use where the patient feels better so he quits taking them have created these resistant strains. Some Bacterias have evolved and ‘figured out’ how to defeat the anti-biotic by thwarting the very chemical structures that made antibiotics deadly to Bacteria. Most antibiotics work by disrupting the protein synthesis in the wall of the bacteria causing a physical breach of the cell or by disrupting the DNA replication and causing cell death. Some ‘Super Bugs are unaffected by the antibiotic. It happens like this: there are a thousand bacteria and in comes the antibiotic, 995 of them die. 5 live because they mutated to be unaffected by the medication and live and multiply lending their resistance to the next generation of bacteria. Most of these Multi Drug Resistant strains live in hospitals where they are picked up by the already weakened patient population. Then the medical staff is forced to use a drug of last resort like Vancomycin which is very hard on the body and must be administered by IV.
Best way to prevent the infections? Wash your hands often and try not to end up in the hospital.
Here are two very well written articles form Der Speigel on the above topic. So, wash your hands and have a read.
Part 1 Antibiotics Prove Powerless as Super-Germs Spread
This large-scale use inevitably leads to the spread of resistant bugs. Indeed, antibiotics offer ideal growth conditions to individual bacteria that have naturally become resistant through a small change in their genetic makeup. Simply put, they benefit from the fact that the antibiotics still kill off their competitors, the non-resistant bacteria.
In many cases, a genetic mutation isn’t even necessary to allow a resistant bacterium to develop. Bacteria can incorporate bits of genetic material from other pathogens. For example, for millions of years, the gene for ESBL resistance lay dormant in the ground, where it was part of a complicated ecosystem of bacteria, penicillin-producing fungi and plant roots. Again and again, the gene was incorporated by human intestinal bacteria — as useless ballast. It was only the large-scale use of antibiotics that provided the ESBL-forming bacteria with the opportunity to proliferate.
Recent studies show that quantities of antibiotics much smaller than previously thought can lead to the development of resistance. In retrospect, the uncontrolled dispensing of antibiotics has proven to be a huge mistake. “In the last 30 years, we have contaminated our entire environment with antibiotics and resistant bacteria,” says Jan Kluytmans, a microbiologist at Amphia Hospital, in the southern Dutch city of Breda. “The question is whether this is even reversible anymore. Perhaps we can prevent only the worst things from happening now.”…
Abandoned by Big Pharma
In reality, the search for new drugs should be getting easier rather than more difficult. In the 1990s, the large pharmaceutical companies spent several million euros searching for weaknesses in the genetic makeup of bacteria. But although the researchers were actually successful, the subsequently developed drugs never made the final leap into clinical use.
“In the end, the risks of antibiotic research were simply too great for companies,” says pharmacist Julia Bandow, who went into academia to continue studying antibiotics after working for the US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for six years.
But without the large pharmaceutical companies, there can be little hope of progress. After all, testing a drug in human subjects takes years and costs millions. And, as Bandow says of her fellow academics, “We can’t do it alone.”
If pharmaceutical companies refuse to invest in the necessary studies, it’s critical for the government to step in. At the least, politicians could make the development of antibiotics more attractive, for example, by extending the time before patents expire so as to allow companies to earn returns on their investments for longer. But, so far, these are all nothing but ideas.
“At some point in the coming years,” says microbiologist Kluytmans, “there will be a disaster involving resistant pathogens with many casualties. Only then will something change.”
Remember When Candidate Obama promised that under his Administration 95% of Americans would not experience an increase of one dime in the amount of taxes they paid? Having trouble remembering that? Well here it is, in his own words:
Well, as it turns out, that was a complete lie. As you might have guessed from Nancy Pelosi’s arrogant remarks leading off this post, it has to do with Obamacare. You see, this sink hole of a new law is in fact also the single largest tax increase in American history. And, as you might expect, it is not just being levied on the, “rich.” We all get to share in this joy. Here is the list of tax hikes which resulted from Obamacare.
Individual Mandate Excise Tax(Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following.”
1 Adult
2 Adults
3+ Adults
2014
1% AGI/$95
1% AGI/$190
1% AGI/$285
2015
2% AGI/$325
2% AGI/$650
2% AGI/$975
2016 +
2.5% AGI/$695
2.5% AGI/$1390
2.5% AGI/$2085
Employer Mandate Tax(Jan 2014): If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees. This provision applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).
Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years
Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013): This increase involves the creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income
Capital Gains
Dividends
Other*
2010-2012
15%
15%
35%
2013+ (current law)
23.8%
43.4%
43.4%
2013+ (Obama budget)
23.8%
23.8%
43.4%
*Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations. It does not include municipal bond interest or life insurance proceeds, since those do not add to gross income. It does not include active trade or business income, fair market value sales of ownership in pass-through entities, or distributions from retirement plans. The 3.8% surtax does not apply to non-resident aliens.
Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family). For early retirees and high-risk professions exists a higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family). CPI +1 percentage point indexed. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax($86.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:
First $200,000
($250,000 Married)
Employer/Employee
All Remaining Wages
Employer/Employee
Current Law
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
Obamacare Tax Hike
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
1.45%/2.35%
3.8% self-employed
Medicine Cabinet Tax($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin) HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka“Special Needs Kids Tax”($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap of $2500 (Indexed to inflation after 2013) on FSAs (now unlimited). . There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax. Exemptions include items retailing for less than $100. Raise “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI($15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI; it is waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D($4.5 bil/Jan 2013) Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals(Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new “community health assessment needs,” “financial assistance,” and “billing and collection” rules set by HHS Tax on Innovator Drug Companies($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Tax on Health Insurers($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. The stipulation phases in gradually until 2018, and is fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives($0.6 bil/Jan 2013) Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2(Min$/Jan 2011): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting($17.1 bil/Jan 2012): Requires businesses to send 1099-MISC information tax forms to corporations (currently limited to individuals), a huge compliance burden for small employers “Black liquor” tax hike(Tax hike of $23.6 billion). This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine”(Tax hike of $4.5 billion). This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed
In a completely dishonest and by the way discredited effort to make this disaster, “budget neutral,” raising money in the form of taxation became necessary. Dishonest, in that we were promised and told repeatedly that there were no new taxes in it. As a matter of fact, even as Obama’s lawyers were in court claiming that the government has unbridled authority to tax the living snot out of us, he was on T.V. and radio telling us that there were no taxes in it for us non rich folk to be paying. A Federal Judge threw this argument out last month. Discredited, in that in every instance where we have raised the rates of taxation in this country, revenues to the federal coffers have declined. I have argued with leftists on this point often, showed them the statistics, all to no avail. It has to do with the multiplier effect, which is also included in the Keynesian theory they hold so dear.
What this shows of course, is that Obamacare is less about health care, and those poor folks who can’t afford medical treatment than it is about wealth redistribution and government control. We have the best health care system in the world. We are now in the process of wrecking it, or trying to save it, depending on which side of this you are on. When foreigners get truly sick, they come to the U.S.A. in order to get better. We are now putting ourselves into the third world on purpose with this new law. Perhaps, our Representatives should have read it prior to passing it.
Another discussion about budget neutrality. This is a term our President bandies about and the media blindly follows suit with designed to make people believe that they won’t have to foot the bill, (at least not in terms of paying more for something.) All it means is that for every penny the government plans on spending, they plan on taxing us, in order to keep it a zero sum game. So, when they pass a $1Trillion entitlement, in order to keep it budget neutral, they need to raise $1Trillion in new taxes. Do you see the problem? On the one hand, they told us that wrecking the best health care system in the world would save us money. On the other hand, they had to use smoke and mirrors to make us believe we would not be paying more for it while they are preparing to bleed us dry for it.
The real answer to our budget problems is not, as a former co-worker put it, Rocket Surgery. It is simply a matter of not spending money. The entitlement programs we already have are not sustainable. We certainly can not afford new ones. I would say that an irresponsible congress spends money like drunken sailors, but that is not fair to drunken sailors. When they go on a bender, at least they are spending their own money. Congress is spending ours.
Interesting that the New York Times thought to publish a piece of inconvenient truth on Christmas Day. The article addresses the known concerns about Obamacare and euthanasia of the elderly, yet has one more little tidbit thrown in:
Proponents asked that the truth not be forwarded.
It’s not necessary to repost the entire NYT flying pig moment here (it’s linked below) but check out the opening paragraphs:
When a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning touched off a political storm over “death panels,” Democrats dropped it from legislation to overhaul the health care system. But the Obama administration will achieve the same goal by regulation, starting Jan. 1.
Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.
Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill.
Several Democratic [sic] members of Congress, led by Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, had urged the administration to cover end-of-life planning as a service offered under the Medicare wellness benefit. A national organization of hospice care providers made the same recommendation.
Mr. Blumenauer, the author of the original end-of-life proposal, praised the rule as “a step in the right direction.”
“It will give people more control over the care they receive,” Mr. Blumenauer said in an interview. “It means that doctors and patients can have these conversations in the normal course of business, as part of our health care routine, not as something put off until we are forced to do it.”
After learning of the administration’s decision, Mr. Blumenauer’s office celebrated “a quiet victory,” but urged supporters not to crow about it.
“While we are very happy with the result, we won’t be shouting it from the rooftops because we aren’t out of the woods yet,” Mr. Blumenauer’s office said in an e-mail in early November to people working with him on the issue. “This regulation could be modified or reversed, especially if Republican leaders try to use this small provision to perpetuate the ‘death panel’ myth.”
Moreover, the e-mail said: “We would ask that you not broadcast this accomplishment out to any of your lists, even if they are ‘supporters’ — e-mails can too easily be forwarded.”
The e-mail continued: “Thus far, it seems that no press or blogs have discovered it, but we will be keeping a close watch and may be calling on you if we need a rapid, targeted response. The longer this goes unnoticed, the better our chances of keeping it.”
The details of Obamacare include nothing less than a slightly modified resurrection of the eugenics movement of the 1930s, and it’s still pure evil.
Top IRS officials have been working with Democrats on Capitol Hill to determine how the agency will enforce President Obama’s new health care law. Republican lawmakers estimate the legislation will require the hiring of many thousands of new tax enforcement agents.
While it’s still not known exactly how many will be hired, here’s what’s clear: Under the new law, the IRS is required to fine taxpayers thousands of dollars if they do not purchase health insurance. In order for the government to enforce compliance, tax authorities will need information, for the first time, about people’s health care. Collecting that data will require more IRS personnel.
(Captain, Doctor, do you both concur?)
A March 18 report from House Ways & Means Committee Republicans estimates the IRS will need to hire between 11,800 and 16,500 new agents to enforce the bill.
The report slams the bill’s “plans to grant massive new powers to the IRS, backed up by billions of dollars in additional taxpayer funding for the hiring of thousands of new IRS agents, examiners, and other personnel.”
(First Officer Spock, your opinion?)
Read the full story (one of many) here. And guess what? This is an open thread.
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