Odds and Ends

Gambling - I listened to a debate on a news show this week - probably NBC Nightly News or maybe it was Sixty Minutes last week.  Either way, a politician who had brought gambling to his city was defending his decision even in the face of the reporter/host accusing him of triggering gambling addictions in his citizens.  His defense was that the people who were losing all their money and compulsively gambling even when they had no money left, would have done so whether he legalized the activity or not.  At the same time, an addictions specialist was making the case that gambling could not be considered an addiction - that addictions were related to ingested things, like alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.  I do not know enough about either side to make an informed statement.  I do know that I wrote a note about this when I was listening and it says, "would do it anyway" to which I wrote, "would they?.. people might have a gene that predisposes them to smoking related lung cancer, but if they do not smoke they do not get it "anyway."

Birth Control and More (f/u) - I hardly want to write anything after listening to Stephen Colbert spoof this benefit for women.  He was so very funny.  I did mention a few weeks ago that the Affordable Care Act had provisions to make birth control free (no copay) and that it made sense to me because women were solely responsible for the cost.  (I still advocate condoms!)  The bill also allows for HPV and other sexually transmitted disease testing as well as counseling for domestic violence victims.  I think that it is a very good thing.  Though I am not convinced of the safety or efficacy of the HPV vaccine- Gardasil, I wonder why it is not included as a freebie  - because it is super expensive and should be, but then the drug company would lose its investment dollars.

and I must say, this spoof that Colbert did  had me laughing out loud -

Genetically Obese - Someone who attended a meeting with me this week wanted to separate herself and those like her in the following manner.  The genetically obese and the behaviorally obese.  To me, that is saying "because I have a predisposition for gaining weight, I should not have to take responsibility for eating more calories than I need."  Remember, having an obesity "gene" means that one needs to be particularly careful of over consumption. There are very few cases in which a person is obese without regard for caloric intake - though this rare condition does exist.

Ice Cream is Affordable - I mentioned that there was ice cream at our little farmer's market. Overall - the people who attended were fantastic and only this one example of what everyone talks about occurred.  Two women came up - looking rather disheveled actually - I think one said, "that's too expensive" regarding some produce and the other said, "I'm not buying anything."  The produce that they were referring to was $1.25 a pound.  I immediately felt regret at hearing these words.  I am very aware of the high cost of healthy food and hope to advocate for policy that can reduce those prices - perhaps by suspending the general sales tax.  Anyway - when I turned around and saw the women buying the $1.50 ice cream cups I was truly frustrated.

Merck - In regards to the commercial they keep playing where people say that they are not statistics, or target markets or patients, etc -  are you freaking kidding me - Merck (and co) are the KINGS of direct to consumer marketing of expensive and often unnecessary medication - give me a break - partnership?  Big Pharma makes me nauseous and no, thanks I do not Need a Pill for THAT.