Bragging On My Grandson

So it's time to brag on my grandson.   He's in kindergarten and we're all interested in how he's adapting and learning new things.   One of the adaptations is he, like all the other kids, have been taking standardized tests throughout the year to gauge his progress.  Some of these tests adjust to how well the student is doing; if the kid is doing well, the questions get harder.  My daughter discovered he was taking some of these tests this week and has more next week, so she asked him how it was going.   After previous tests, he told her he was concerned because he was pretty sure he'd gotten some of the answers wrong.  His mother assured him that it was OK if he didn't know all the answers and just did his best on the test.   He did very well, but she figures, quite correctly, that at age 6 he doesn't need details about the results.  

Anyway, this time he told her that some of the reading test was hard and he again wasn't sure he got them all right.   In fact, he said, he had to alphabetize some words and he was pretty sure one of them was wrong, because all the words started with S.   As my daughter was contemplating how to respond about more complex alphabetizing, my grandson continued on with something like "I wasn't sure what to do, so I just guessed and went with the second letters..."

As his mother has pointed out on numerous occasions, her eldest son is a problem solver!  And that's another reason, since he's been in kindergarten, that I miss hanging out with him.  It's fascinating watching a young mind develop and grow!

And while I'm reflecting on schools and students, congratulations to Teacher of the Year Rebecca Mieliwocki, who was honored in Washington, D.C. today.   Her work is our future.

What's Wrong With Free Market Healthcare?

Epinephrine is a medicine used to treat severe allergic reactions, which may be life-threatening.   Analphylactic shock is an allergic reaction which can cause death within minutes.  People with allergies to certain substances, such as wasp venom, are supposed to carry an epinephrine pen with them whenever they are in environments in which they might be exposed to the substance.   These pens enable you to administer an emergency dose of the drug to counteract the allergen, after which you're supposed to get to an emergency room as quickly as possible.  The pens come with an expiration date, so if you haven't used them in a year, you have to throw the pen away and get a new one.   That's not so unusual with medicines and medical devices.  

A few years ago, I had a severe allergic response to two wasp stings within a couple weeks, and as a result, I have been getting allergy shots to desensitize me to the venom, and I'm supposed to carry an epinephrine pen with me when I might be exposed to wasps (like being outside anywhere). 

Having to carry an epinephrine pen around is bad enough, but I recently discovered that these pens (sold under the name Epipen) are made by one company (Dey Pharma) which apparently has found an effective way to pad their bottom line at consumer expense.  Sometime in the past 6 months or so, the company decided to only package these pens in two packs (at twice the cost, of course).  So now, patients who need to carry an Epipen have to buy a two-pack, both of which have the same expiration date.  If all goes well and I avoid any wasp stings, I have to throw away two Epipens, not just one.   Since I try to avoid sharing space with wasps, the odds of me having two severe allergic reactions within the next year are extremely slim.

The packaging/marketing of these devices by Dey Pharma results in waste of both consumer and health insurance resources.   I don't know if the FDA has the authority or even considers trying to halt horrible marketing decisions like this, but it would be nice if the Federal government and/or the insurance industry could do something productive.  I resent being forced to waste limited resources on guaranteed waste. 

This strikes me as an excellent example of what's wrong with our "free market" approach to health care and why we need a good single-payer insurance system (which could conceivably control skyrocketing costs).  

If you know someone who needs an Epipen, I'd be happy to sell him/her one of mine.

What's that smell?

Getting old is tough.   Lots of things you thought you knew turn out to be not quite true anymore and even your senses start misleading you...

Barbara Brotman writes for the Chicago Tribune and her columns are always engaging.  This one is engaging, humorous, and even educational.   Seems that baby boomers can't even trust their sense of smell these days...  That's not a skunk you smell, it's....a doobie?

Don't Want To Pay For Certain Government Spending? Too Bad.

Jon Stewart says it all so well it doesn't need elaboration.   Don't like paying for some part of government spending?   Quit whining and get used to it.

On his 3/5/2012 Daily Show, Stewart commented on "conservatives' reaction to Rush Limbaugh's incendiary remarks about Sandra Fluke and her congressional testimony on birth control coverage."  Another example of why Stewart's considered our "greatest public intellectual" by a Loyola University bioethicist.

It's about an insurance mandate from the government covering contraceptive medications as part of overall health care.  It's not your tax money that pays for it.  I'm not even going to get into your round-about argument about how somehow money is taken out of your pocket to pay for Georgetown's private insurance plan...

I'm just saying to the people who are upset about their hard-earned tax money going to things they don't like: Welcome to the $%&#* club.  Everyone pays for $%&#* they don't want to all the time.   You know what?  Reimburse me for the Iraq War and oil subsidies, and guess what, then diaphragms are on me.  Prophylactics are on the house.

Indeed.   We're not talking about tax dollars here, we're talking about health insurance.  Let me know when we all get to exclude various government activities and spending from our personal tax dollars.  I can put my list together pretty quickly, how about you?