Syphilis. You rarely hear about syphilis any more. Once a huge problem, the discovery of Penicillin basically made it a minor issue. But not in Texas, which is one of the 10 worst state healthcare systems in the United States. This is yet another proof that Republican governance is always inferior to Democratic governance. When one deals in facts and not political bloviation the inferiority of the Republican worldview and their priorities becomes glaringly obvious.
An HIV/STI testing and treatment van in Philadelphia, PA, on Dec. 14, 2022. Credit: Cory Clark / NurPhoto
About twice a week, a pregnant patient turns up in Dr. Irene Stafford’s obstetrics office in Houston with syphilis, a sexually transmittable disease that affects more newborns in Texas than anywhere else in the country.
For a seasoned professional like Stafford, the sheer numbers are startling. She’s been treating congenital syphilis with increasing frequency in recent years in a city that has the state’s highest newborn infection rates.
“People think that syphilis is gone,” said Stafford, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and associate professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. “Syphilis has become an epidemic.”
Last year, syphilis cases across Texas rose by 22%, according to preliminary numbers, from 21,476 in 2020 to 25,991 in 2022, the most recent statewide data available. That’s more than double the number of cases reported in Texas five years ago.
While nearly every case is easily treatable with penicillin, untreated syphilis can be passed from an infected pregnant patient to the newborn and can result in the child’s death. Officials […]
I am increasingly concerned about the number of obese middle-aged women I am seeing. Longevity in the United States is declining, and one of the causes is obesity. This report lays out the issues.
A woman talking to her doctor Credit: Alexander Raths / stock.adobe
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA — Women who either gain or lose weight after the age of 60 are less likely to live into their 90s compared to those who maintain a stable weight, according to a new study. This finding contradicts general health recommendations that advocate for weight loss in older women to prolong their lifespan.
Conducted by the University of California San Diego, the study analyzed data from 54,437 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). Established to explore the causes of chronic diseases among postmenopausal women, the WHI found that 56% of its participants, or 30,647 women, survived to the age of 90 or older.
The study demonstrated that women over 60 who maintained a stable weight were 1.2 to 2 times more likely to achieve exceptional longevity, defined as living past 90, compared to those who lost 5% or more of their weight. Women who lost weight unintentionally were 51% less likely to live to 90. Interestingly, […]
Robert Reich, Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California - Robert Reich Substack
Stephan:
I think this is an excellent exegetic essay by Robert Reich, and I think he is highly accurate. This is how profit became the American social priority, ending an age of fostering wellbeing. He also brings back, correctly in my opinion, the historical importance of Robert Bork, and his appallingly bad influence.
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Today, the Justice Department’s case against Google goes to trial. The Department alleges that Google illegally abused its power over online search to throttle competition. It is the government’s first monopoly trial of the modern internet era.
Later this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will file its lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that Amazon favors its own products over competitors’ on its platforms and uses predatory tactics with outside sellers on Amazon.com.
Whether it’s Ticketmaster and Live Nation consolidating control over live performances, Kroger and Albertsons dominating the grocery market, or Amazon and Google scooping up every operation in sight, corporate concentration is on the rise.
Over the past several decades, giant corporations have come to dominate most American industries, as this chart shows:
The social costs of corporate concentration are growing.
— The typical American household is paying more than $5,000 a year because corporations can raise their prices without fear that competitors will draw away consumers.
— Such corporate market power has also been a major force driving inflation.
— Huge corporations also suppress wages, because workers have fewer employers from whom to get better jobs.
— And corporate giants are also fueling massive flows of big money into […]
“Joe Manchin’s legacy includes artificially manufacturing child poverty for no reason other than his callous disregard for human beings,” said the Debt Collective following the release of new Census data.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and congressional Republicans faced fresh backlash on Tuesday after the U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that the nation’s child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year, thanks in large part to the expiration of the boosted Child Tax Credit.
The expanded CTC, an American Rescue Plan (ARP) policy that sent eligible families up to $300 per month for each child and eliminated the original CTC’s regressive phase-in, helped push the U.S. child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2% in 2021.
But the program expired at the end of that year after Manchin (D-W.Va.), who supported the ARP, opposed an extension, baselessly claiming that some parents would use the money on drugs instead of their children. (Survey data showed that most families, including those in West […]
In contrast to what Manchin and the Republicans are doing this is what the Democrats + Sanders are doing. On the basis of objectively verifiable social outcome data the Republicans, as described in the previous report, degrade well being, the Democrats, except for a few like Manchin, foster wellbeing. I don’t know how the Red Blue difference could be made clearer.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are among lawmakers who will seek billions for child care. Credit: Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call
A group of Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., are planning on introducing legislation this week that would provide $16 billion in funding for child care, sources familiar with the effort say.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and House Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark, D-Mass., are also leading the longshot stand-alone effort to secure the funding, which House appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., is also pushing.
With $24 billion in funding for child care providers from the 2021 pandemic relief law set to expire in September, 3.2 million children could lose their care, according to a projection from the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.
The White House did not include child care funding in its supplemental request in August, which would have been a potential vehicle for the money.
The administration has asked for $44 billion in supplemental funding: $24.1 billion in […]
