- ADA lawsuit abuse: A wheelchair bound disabled man filed more than 800 lawsuits alleging violations of disability access laws, including mom-and-pop shops in Salinas, Ca.
- Lab rats have rights under US law. So do monkeys, fish and finches. Octopuses, however, have no rights. (NYT: gated)
- NYC has banned the sale of whipped cream canisters to people under age 21. Teens can use them to get high on nitrous oxide.
- Increasing obesity is an international problem, but the US comes in first.
- Inadequate sleep has been connected to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, mental disorders and cancer—between the hours of 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., our cognitive abilities are worse than if we were legally drunk. (WSJ: gated)
Category: News and Events
European Health Care is Falling Behind the US
A newly restarted coal plant in Germany. Photographer: Friso Gentsch/picture alliance via Getty Images Many Americans used to admire the UK’s National Health Service, but right now the whole system is ailing. There has been a labor and capital shortage, and a collapse of emergency health care services, which may be costing up to 500 excess (non-Covid) deaths…
Dazed and Confused: Teens Overmedicated with Psychiatric Drugs
Covid has been rough on America’s mental health, with job losses, uncertainty and being cooped up at home. Covid lockdowns, social isolation and online Zoom classes while stuck at home have undoubtedly made teenage angst worse as well. An article in The New York Times discusses how teens are being overmedicated with powerful psychiatric drugs with little concern for the long term side effects. Indeed, the trend for prescribing psychiatric drugs to adolescents began to rise long before Covid.
Monday Links
- Should vending machines be available to dispense medication for opioid overdoses?
- Why are people having less sex?
- Study: Native Americans, once among the tallest people in the world, lost their height advantage after the demise of the bison.
- How university research → startup companies → commercial innovation led to the Moderna Covid vaccine.
- How colleges and students scam the student loan program and why Biden’s new executive order will make things much worse.
- Euthanasia is the sixth leading cause of death in Canada.