A SECOND AWARD JUST ANNOUNCED — WINNER, BOOK OF THE YEAR (Bronze) in Business and Economics for 2008 – for my book “Pension Dumping: The Reasons, the Wreckage, the Stakes for Wall Street” (Bloomberg Press, 2008), awarded by ForeWord Magazine,
ALSO: WINNER, EXCELLENCE IN FINANCIAL JOURNALISM – also awarded to my book “Pension Dumping: The Reasons, the Wreckage, the Stakes for Wall Street.” by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
STORY OF THE WEEK:
Swine Flu, Scare Talk, and Vaccines
from “The Atlantic,” November 2009
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1
When it comes to health care ( and most things in life), it’s hard to know where to draw the line between panic and precaution. Polio vaccine? Of course. Chicken pox vaccine? I suppose. Swine flu vaccine? …. The newest issue of “The Atlantic” magazine has a troubling article about all sorts of reasons why NO MEDICATION works against swine flu, neither preventive vaccines nor anti-virals after you get sick. (Among the reasons: demographics, the changing nature of the flu virus, and a lack of placebo-controlled randomized tests.) I know that people are skeptical of vaccines on principal, but no treatment? The Atlantic authors seem to think the anti-viral treatment is not just useless but dangerous, because overuse could lead to stronger flu strains and actually spread the disease as people jam into ERs. Well, I’m not the type to pop a pill for every pain, but I hate to feel that there’s nothing I can do against a possibly fatal disease except wash my hands. So. for a second opinion, I contacted several friends who work in emergency health care. Their unanimous advice: Vaccinate and take the meds if you get sick. The side effects are minimal, we really can’t count on our fellow citizens washing their hands and using a tissue (the preventives that the article recommends), and you just can’t live your life wondering if the drug you’re taking now will turn out to be no good next year. I would just add: If spreading the disease is a concern, at least try to go to your doctor or the ER in less-busy hours.
I have over 20 years of experience specializing in health care, retirement issues, and the nexus between business and public policy.
I am a former editor and/writer at Fortune, Business Week, the Bergen Record, Crain’s New York Business, and Institutional Investor.
I now write for The New York Times, Newsday, Scientific American, Institutional Investor, Worth, Crain’s New York Business, The Scientist, and more.
