Saturday, February 15, 2025

Politics, Physician Senators, and the Hippocratic Oath (regarding the confirmation of RFK Jr. as HHS secretary)

 Here's an opinion piece from MedpageToday

Physician Senators, What Have You Done?— They have betrayed the Hippocratic Oath in voting to confirm RFK Jr.   by Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, and Samuel Okum, February 14, 2025 

"When Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.) -- a physician, longtime advocate for healthcare policy, and potential swing vote on the Finance Committee -- voted to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of HHS, he didn't just make a political choice. He made a choice that undermines science, public health, and the very Hippocratic Oath he once swore to uphold.

"While Cassidy claims to have taken this decision "very seriously," he must know it is wrong. As a legislator, he understands that the HHS secretary oversees critical health institutions like the CDC, FDA, and CMS. As a doctor, he has firsthand knowledge of how these agencies impact patient care, from ensuring access to safe medications to shaping life-saving public health policies. Entrusting this role to Kennedy -- a man with no qualifications beyond his fame as a purveyor of medical disinformation -- isn't just reckless. It endangers us all. 

...

"Through his organization, Children's Health Defense, Kennedy has falsely linked vaccines to autismopens in a new tab or window, opposed COVID-19 safety measuresopens in a new tab or window, and promoted debunked medical treatmentsopens in a new tab or window. In 2021, the Center for Countering Digital Hate identified him as one of the "Disinformation Dozenopens in a new tab or window" -- a small group responsible for nearly two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating online. All of this suggests this promotion of falsehoods has eroded public trust in vaccines, contributing to preventable disease outbreaks and declining immunization ratesopens in a new tab or window.

"The consequences of his rhetoric have been deadly. In 2019, Kennedy traveled to Samoa to support an investigationopens in a new tab or window into routine childhood vaccinations. His visit coincided with a devastating measles outbreak that infected thousands and killed dozens of unvaccinated children. When confronted by the country's prime minister, Kennedy expressed no remorse. Instead, he baselessly suggested that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccineopens in a new tab or window itself may have been responsible for the deaths.

...

"

We believe Cassidy prioritized political expediency over medical integrity. He arguably chose to align himself with President Donald Trump and conspiracy rather than the national interest and public health.

Meanwhile, Cassidy set the stage for his physician colleagues -- Republican senators Roger Marshall, MD (Kan.), John Barrasso, MD (Wyo.), and Rand Paul, MD (Ky.) -- to follow suit. They have all betrayed their oath as doctors."


Friday, February 14, 2025

Matchmaking on campus with Marriage Pact

 Happy Valentine's Day:)

Here's a story from the Amherst Student (the student newspaper), about an annual event on many campuses that started at Stanford.

True Love or True Disappointment? Students Reflect on the 2024 Marriage Pact by Savita Jani and Erin Sullivan

"With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, love is on the brain for many Amherst students. But Cupid isn’t just around on Feb. 14 — back in September, over 1,200 Mammoths sought romance through the Marriage Pact, an online questionnaire that matches students with their most statistically compatible partner on campus.

"At Amherst, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) contracts with the Marriage Pact company, a sizable operation available at 100 schools across the country. Marriage Pact has served over 570,000 participants and made over 285,000 matches since its founding. It uses its own algorithm that takes psychology, “market design,” and linear algebra into account in order to find students their ideal match: a perfectly compatible other half whom they can one day marry (if they don’t find someone else).

"Marriage Pact also claims to address the nuances of romance by recognizing when similar values are necessary for a good match and when they aren’t. According to their website, 3-4% of Marriage Pact matches date for a year or longer. But how well has the Marriage Pact worked for Amherst students?

"To answer this question, we interviewed several Mammoths and collected responses from 54 respondents through an anonymous Google Form survey.


 

Here are my previous posts on the Marriage Pact.