Free Republic

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has been in the hospital since Monday, after complications from a recent elective medical procedure, the Pentagon said on Friday. Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, declined to elaborate on the source of Mr. Austin’s medical issues, citing patient privacy. …

UPMC said Tuesday the predicted surge of COVID-19 patients hasn’t arrived and cases are on the decline in central and western Pennsylvania. In light of that, UPMC plans to resume some of the elective surgeries that were canceled as the result of government directives to conserve beds and supplies for COVID-19 patients. “The very high surge we prepared for simply hasn’t happened,” said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chair of emergency medicine. However, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Tuesday that while the state has begun talking to hospitals about resuming some surgeries, “we’re not there yet.” RELATED: Read...

Merriam-Webster Definition of life-sustaining: helping someone or something to stay alive: supporting or extending life Michigan’s Governor Whitmer, explaining why abortions are deemed essential under her house arrest rules but hip/knee replacements are not: “You know, we stopped elective surgeries here in Michigan, and some people have tried to say that that type of a procedure is considered the same, and that’s ridiculous,” Whitmer responded. “You know, a woman’s health care, her whole future, her ability to decide if and when she starts a family is not an election, it is a fundamental to her life.” Whitmer continued, “It...

German hospitals and doctors are potentially endangering their patients’ health by talking them into expensive treatments and unnecessary operations, according to a new study by the SOCIUM research center at Bremen University. The study, based on around 60 interviews with doctors and hospital directors across the country, found that Germany was struggling to cope with the more complex illnesses that come with an aging population. The researchers found that while the number of patients is increasing in the country, the length of hospital stays are shortening, as doctors have a financial incentive to admit more people to hospital, and staff...

Move over abortion. Here comes sex-change operations. Republicans may call for a vote on an amendment that would keep Obamacare (Pelosicare) from covering sex-change operations.

The Times Colonist, a newspaper in British Columbia, is reporting bad news from the Victorian Island Health Authority for residents seeking an MRI. Though already overwhelmed with demand, the health authority is looking to reduce usage of the expensive diagnostic device to make up a $45 million deficit: The cuts likely mean patients will wait in pain even longer for treatment and surgery -- and already they are waiting twice as long as last year. VIHA spokeswoman Shannon Marshall said patients are being booked for March, six months away, for elective MRI scans. Last year, wait times for MRI scans...

The national news media is abuzz with a story about the possible link between the tragic death of an infant Jewish boy from herpes and his circumcision. At the same time, the media has not fully reported on the fact that circumcision could save millions of lives from the scourge of AIDS. The problem is that circumcision is in the Bible, which makes it a serious violation of the religion practiced by the majority in academia and the mainstream media - secular fundamentalism. They have stood by while millions died and continue to die. How differently they value human life...