“A tropical paradise is racked with bankruptcy then smashed by a killer hurricane. In rides a cavalry of digital evangelists selling hi-tech revolution. Will they save the day?”
Monthly Archives: July 2018
23andMe Is Sharing 5 Million Clients’ Genetic Data with GlaxoSmithKline
“Though 23andMe gets the consent of its customers to use their genetic data, it’s unlikely that most people are aware of this.”
Read more: https://www.livescience.com/63173-23andme-partnership-glaxosmithkline.html
Fear of Lawsuits Actually Does Result in Unnecessary Medical Procedures
“The possibility of a lawsuit increased the intensity of health care that patients received in the hospital by about 5 percent — and those patients who got the extra care were no better off.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/upshot/malpractice-lawsuits-medical-costs.html
Meet the Anarchists Making Their Own Medicine
“By freely distributing plans for medical devices and pharmaceuticals, a loose collective of anarchists and hackers is threatening to pull the rug out from under one of the most regulated and profitable industries in the world. And they’re just getting started.”
US bans generic form of opioid treatment drug Suboxone
“The UK based pharma company Indivior PLC had got the restraining orders against Dr Reddy’s just a day after the US FDA granted the final approval last month.”
Whirlpool profits strangled by the tariffs it once supported
“The U.S. company was a major advocate for legislation to protect against what Bitzer last year called a ‘long story of dumping’ by foreign competitors LG and Samsung in the washing machine business. Now the company cites U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium as contributing to the increased cost in Whirpool’s raw materials.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/24/whirlpool-stock-plunges-as-tariffs-hit-suppliers-steel-costs.html
Amid exploding wait times, California DMV operator slept 2,200 hours on the job
“A California DMV employee went to sleep at her desk for three or more hours every day for nearly four years, according to a new state audit.”
Missouri senator’s husband reaped $131 million in federal subsidies over 10 years
“Shepard’s personal income from the investments grew considerably since McCaskill took office in 2007. He reportedly made between $1,608 and $16,731 in 2006. But in 2017, Shepard reportedly earned between $365,374 and $1.1 million ‘from investments in housing projects that received federal subsidies.'”
More and More of What We Do Depends on Government Permission
“That permission, unsurprisingly, is contingent on keeping government officials happy. Rub those officials the wrong way and they’ll strip you of permission to travel the roads, leave the country, or even make a living. That’s not a recipe for a free country.”
Read more: https://reason.com/archives/2018/07/24/permitted-lives/print
“Why does Anyone in this City Need a Gun?”
“[Mayor John Tory] did not mean that the cops who protect him do not need guns. He meant that ordinary citizens should be totally disarmed, hoping that thugs will also disarm, which would (inexplicably?) leave only the cops armed.”
Read more: https://www.econlib.org/why-does-anyone-in-this-city-need-a-gun/