“I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand,

Walkin' through the streets of Soho in the rain,

He was lookin' for the place called Lee Ho Fooks,

Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein.”

Aaahoo! …."

Warren Zevon, 1978

In the July 24th New York Times, there is a featured article about a new, thorny issue—what to do about the millions of Americans who are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). What makes this particular issue especially tricky is that it involves rationing— about as close to a dirty word in the discussion of modern medicine as you'll ever come across. Rationing of medical care is cruel, inherently wrong, arbitrary, and unacceptable in any fair-minded society. Or is it? 

In the July 24th New York Times, there is a featured article about a new, thorny issue—what to do about the millions of Americans who are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). 
This article is a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences. Until recently, there was exactly one treatment for hepatitis C infection, and it was terrible: Interferon (IFN), an immune booster and ribavirin (RBV), a non-specific antiviral which operates by an unknown mechanism. The IFN-RBV therapy is deeply flawed for two main reasons. 

And I thought *these* were bad products:

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution (1787) "[T]he Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

If you're going to break the law, you might as well do it in style. Why bother speeding, shoplifting, or stealing cable service, when the sky's the limit? Aim high.

It must be nice to have a job with so much free time on your hands that you can do just about anything, regardless of merit, and not only get away with it, but, rather, be rewarded for it.

Our dear friends, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), perhaps the most scientifically flawed organization out there (and this is no small accomplishment) have decided to take on the (all of a sudden) life and death issue of children drawing with crayons.

Hope you were sitting down when you heard about this.

This non-issue arises from a report, entitled “EWG Tests Find Asbestos in Kids’ crayons, Crime Scene Kits— Even trace exposures to lethal asbestos fibers can cause cancer, other diseases.”