Shines a spotlight on some of the glaring failures of the US approach to healthcare. And for those who seek to profit from the inefficiencies of American healthcare capitalism, they should fill the jails alongside Holmes.

http://newrepublic.com/article...-theranos-health-care



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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Edited: 09/09/2021 at 09:34 AM by RustyTruck

Her Defense is doomed. She's portraying herself and her fraud as the coerced acquiescence of battered girlfriend syndrome. I don't think anyone envies this attorney with the mountain of fraud evidence but his strategy seems to be to admit it but claim it was the product of domestic violence, which was never reported officially.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

As far as bat shit crazy CEOs go, she isn't unattractive.

I don't know about that. She's a prog. So, I'd say it spotlights the innate perfidy of progs.

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I :heart; Q

Twrong blaming anything & everything on progs in full on Turretts-mode?

That never happens! Go TBlamez! hahahaha

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Hi. I'm Mike.

I'm not questioning whether Holmes & Balwani are guilty or deserve jail time. They probably are and probably do.

I can't say that Holmes started the whole thing intent on getting rich fraudulently. She was probably so naive at the outset that she didn't know how much she didn't know, and the fraud grew as she learned, to protect the snowball she was rolling.

A lot of fault does lie on the tech industry and stupid investors, for not doing due diligence research on a company founded by a 19-year old.

But The New Republic's article is half a pile of donkey dung, based on the socialist mantra of, "Don't try to keep up with the Joneses; drag them down to your level."

People should be free to buy whatever medical test or procedure they want.

Edited: 09/09/2021 at 11:47 AM by CurtisEflush

That leaves people free to buy whatever medical test they want from fraudsters and charlatans. Like in this case. There is no freedom to be conned and your focus is not on the consumer and the blame you can heap on them under caveat emptor. The focus is the seller. Therein lies the fraud, the grift and addressing that solves that problem.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

Medical tests should be regulated, as in graded for accuracy, so buyers know what they're getting. Rusty's TNR article pushes the position that patients/consumers shouldn't be able to get such tests:



"Not much" is still greater than "nothing."

It may not do "much" in terms of large-scale statistics, but if you're the one person who finds a condition that way, it can do a hell of a lot for you. Insurers treat statistics. Doctors treat patients.



Any medical professional can pull his head out of his ass and make rational judgments without automatic, knee-jerk overtreatment. A half-educated consumer can still research the meaning of results intelligently.



Not a bad motive if your tests are accurate. Innovation and competition have huge roles to play in making health care more affordable and accessible. Bad product doesn't necessarily denigrate a good motive, nor does a good motive justify fraud. It would have been awesome if their technology had actually worked as advertised. That's where I want government regulation. Hell, look at all the chaos caused by bad Covid tests.



Red herring. Some people (like myself) have great insurance, but 1) it's a high-deductible plan, so I'm still paying out of pocket for a lot of shit; and 2) my insurance won't pay for tests they don't think are necessary, so I pay for a lot of them myself; and 3) I can afford the treatment, but if I don't find the condition, I won't seek the treatment.

In the last 5 years, I have uncovered 4 serious conditions, all asymptomatic, that were best treated by being found early. Three of them would not have been justified by insurance per their criteria, but once my doctor was alerted and confirmed them, insurance had to kiss my ass and pay for treatment. Similar recently with a serious condition for my wife, but they were dragging her out for months. We self-paid for an MRI, confirmed the condition, and had a treatment plan underway the next day.

So I call bullshit on pooh-poohing preventive screening.

If anyone is interested, in Central/South Brevard, you can walk into a number of the Steward (formerly Wuesthoff) Reference Lab blood draw stations and order a surprising number of useful tests without a prescription, often cheaper than your copay at Quest or LabCorp.

Finally, the article concludes with this tripe:



and




The highlighted/underlined portions of the 2 quote blocks above convey the real socialist bullshit ("Don't try to keep up with the Joneses; drag them down to your level.") that I was talking about. Their position is that if capitalism can't help everyone the same amount then it shouldn't be available to anyone. And for that, I salute the author with both middle fingers.

"Some people (like myself) have great insurance, but 1) it's a high-deductible plan, so I'm still paying out of pocket for a lot of shit"

Doesn't sound like great insurance to me.

Wealth tends to be inversely proportional to morbidity, and concentration of wealth contributes to a sicker population. The culture of consumption is a big part of that. Unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food.

As far as healthcare consumerism, hell, why not just make all available medications OTC? Go take whatever test you think you need, Google your own diagnosis, and treat away! You'll save a fortune in doctor bills.

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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti