Spoon-Balls

Preliminary results from a vaccine human trial could here by mid June. Huge news. This is the best chance at a "silver bullet" that we've got. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/30/uk/oxford-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-astrazeneca-gbr-intl/index.html

A joke that anyone considers this a-hole anything but the absolute antithesis of a medical professional.

Lot of good fact checking here.

https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/coronavirus/protesters-gather-at-the-missouri-capitol-downtown-clayton-to-demand-state-reopen/article_a9da78ea-07f2-58b7-a33b-4815fd63558c.html

Some good news for everyone this morning: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-kroenke-rams-and-nfl-appeal-in-relocation-lawsuit/article_0d4614e1-b871-530f-b5e7-3514c2ffdba0.html#tracking-source=home-breaking

I can't even fathom the pain of having a loved one die alone... https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/19/coronavirus-deaths-daughter-listens-hours-father-dies-alone/2986665001/

Also won't have to worry about foul trouble nearly as much

Super excited to see what Strickland can bring to the table, he and Hargrove rotating at the 3 will be electric.

Linssen after posterizing some A10 players next year:

It would also be super helpful to see exactly what percentage of the population has acquired Covid-19, remained completely asymptomatic, and already developed an immunity. Especially if we're talking about gradually getting people back to work over time.

Also, Fauci's plan for bringing sports back is essentially a small scale version of what would be required on a larger, national level in order to re-open certain sectors of the economy. Namely, consistent, widespread testing. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/04/15/coronavirus-dr-fauci-sees-path-sports-comeback-without-fans/5136306002/ "Nobody comes to the stadiums. Put (athletes) in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well-surveilled, but have them tested like every week and make sure they don't wind up infecting each other or their families and just let them play the season out."

Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever get anywhere near being able to replicate what countries like South Korea have done. Our healthcare system is a mess and Covid-19 exposed it for what it is. U.S. healthcare needs to undergo a dramatic transformation in order to be better prepared in the future. Not to mention, the pandemic is going to force us as a nation to address some really tough questions about just how unhealthy we are collectively. Obesity, widespread hypertension, stress levels, co-morbid conditions, etc. are all significantly higher than our international counterparts, and we need to address this in a drastic way to mitigate the damage of future pandemics. Maybe this is a wake up call. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-obesity-top-factor-after-age-driving-nyc-hospitalization-2020-4 Future pandemics are going to happen, that is not a question. But preventative measures are things that we as a nation can actually control, if we have the collective will to make the necessary changes. Profit can no longer be the sole driving force in the healthcare system, since prevention usually has no business/profit model.

I never even brought up hydroxychloroquine in my post, and I never even said anything about the two being the same. Not sure how you inferred that. Similar drugs of the same class, but clearly not the same. I simply said I wasn't surprised that a study looking at the use of high chloroquine doses significantly increased the risk for fatal arrhythmias. Nothing I've stated here has ever suggested that I'm "not positive" about possible treatments. This has never been about "not being positive." Dr. Fauci isn't just some random troll trying to tear down everyone's optimism. He's a scientist, and expresses healthy skepticism towards treatments that are not only unproven, but ones that may also cause more harm than good for patients. "First, do no harm." My point is, we don't know how effective hydroxycloroquine or chloroquine are in treating Covid-19. I never said they may not be effective treatments. But there are definitely real concerns, as indicated in the article by the NYTimes.

"Roughly half the study participants were given a dose of 450 milligrams of chloroquine twice daily for five days, while the rest were prescribed a higher dose of 600 milligrams for 10 days. Within three days, researchers started noticing heart arrhythmias in patients taking the higher dose. By the sixth day of treatment, 11 patients had died, leading to an immediate end to the high-dose segment of the trial. “To me, this study conveys one useful piece of information, which is that chloroquine causes a dose-dependent increase in an abnormality in the ECG that could predispose people to sudden cardiac death,” said Dr. David Juurlink, an internist and the head of the division of clinical pharmacology at the University of Toronto, referring to an electrocardiogram, which reads the heart’s electrical activity.""

Can't say I'm surprised... Small Chloroquine Study Halted Over Risk of Fatal Heart Complications

Westworld

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/06/i-dont-have-coronavirus-it-might-kill-me-anyway-163101

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/if-they-call-me-im-coming-former-cardinals-first-baseman-mark-hamilton-set-to-graduate/article_067ef05a-c919-5695-a92f-fc091a1e7c78.html Awesome article. Mark Hamilton has the right attitude. While not being able to take part in the traditional medical school commencement festivities certainly sucks, it's important to remember why we're going into this profession in the first place, and to appreciate the opportunity we'll have to make a difference when we start residency.

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-white-house-01306286-0bbc-4042-9bfe-890413c6220d.html

To be honest, I think a number of other posters on the board have better medical knowledge than this guy. At first the whole credentials thing seemed like a big joke but now I'm genuinely questioning them. A lot of the stuff he has been posting is either inaccurate, misleading, or just complete word salad. And he's narcissistic enough to be deeply, personally offended when someone questions his unbending opinions, or frankly, may be a better source of information than him. Anyways I'm done with his schtick.

First off, this has nothing to do with my above post. Second, what an absolutely embarrassing, sickening insult to some of the best and brightest students graduating from our SLU medical school this year, who are matching into a specialty which has quickly become one of the most competitive in the entire match process over the past five years. You consider yourself a Billikens fan? Be proud of our SLU graduates, no matter what their specialty is. God knows, we need more mental healthcare providers in this country, especially after this pandemic is all said and done. You sicken me, especially if you indeed are an MD. I don't need your validation, nor do any of the other professionals on this board. Blocked.

The right doesn't want to give nearly enough, the left wants to be overly reliant on slow, inefficient bureaucratic systems (i.e. means testing the cash payments). We the people all lose as a result.

It would have been so much better to universalize the payments to every citizen (a true UBI), rather than to means test. It would have been faster and way more efficient, and you can always tax money back from high income earners later on if that is a big concern. Unfortunately this was a colossal failure on both sides of the aisle. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/25/direct-cash-payments-senate-bill/

Unfortunately, when the lungs are filled with fluid, significant positive pressure ventilation is required to keep the alveoli from collapsing on themselves. This inevitably results in a significant amount of barotrauma, especially in older patients whose lungs are more frail. Its a cost/reward thing, but with nasty viral infections like Covid-19, people will require ventilation or they will perish. A large number will experience irreversible lung damage in the process, but what other choice do providers have at this point? A lot of difficult decisions will need to be made about who gets a ventilator, and who stands the best chance of surviving the grind that PPV puts the lungs through...