(2020-05-16). [Perspectives] Computer vision's potential to improve health care. thelancet.com Artificial intelligence (AI) research for medical applications has largely focused on image pattern recognition or electronic health record (EHR) data. EHR data inputs include what clinicians order and what they document that they did. But the physical actions that comprise what clinicians actually did for patients can differ: one study showed almost half of physician medical record entries documenting the extent of their physical examinations of emergency room patients were not substantiated by an independent physician observer.
(2020-05-16). [World Report] In the aftermath: the legacy of measles in Samoa. thelancet.com As Samoa recovers from a devastating measles outbreak, Jacqui Thornton reports on how the epidemic is having long-lasting effects on the country's health system.
(2020-05-16). [Editorial] Reviving the US CDC. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen in the USA with 1 ∑3 million cases and an estimated death toll of 80‚Äà684 as of May 12. States that were initially the hardest hit, such as New York and New Jersey, have decelerated the rate of infections and deaths after the implementation of 2 months of lockdown. However, the emergence of new outbreaks in Minnesota, where the stay-at-home order is set to lift in mid-May, and Iowa, which did not enact any restrictions on movement or commerce, has prompted pointed new questions about the inconsistent and incoherent national response to the COVID-19…
(2020-05-16). [Articles] Adjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab monotherapy versus placebo in patients with resected stage IV melanoma with no evidence of disease (IMMUNED): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial. thelancet.com Adjuvant therapy with nivolumab alone or in combination with ipilimumab increased recurrence-free survival significantly compared with placebo in patients with stage IV melanoma with no evidence of disease. The rates of grade 3—4 treatment-related adverse events in both active treatment groups were higher than the rates reported in previous pivotal trials done in advanced melanoma with measurable disease.
(2020-05-16). [Comment] Offline: Don't let COVID-19 divert us completely. thelancet.com Dr Robert Spencer, a trustee of Dr Edward Jenner's House, Garden and Museum in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK, wrote to me last week on the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox (May 8). He was polite but disappointed: "On this day in 1980 the WHO announced the eradication of smallpox from the world. This infection, which probably caused more deaths than any other disease, was finally condemned to the history books. Sorry to see you had no space in this week's edition of The Lancet to commemorate this milestone, especially at a time of COVID-19 pandemic." Dr Spencer was right to admonish me.
(2020-05-15). Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" for Mass Vaxxing. "Big Bucks for Big Pharma" globalresearch.ca Big Pharma is poised to cash in big from mass COVID-19 vaxxing — at the expense of human health and welfare. | Author of "Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America" Gerald Posner explained that drug companies "view Covid-19 …
(2020-05-15). Video: Coronavirus: Economic and Social Collapse: Mass Unemployment, Bankruptcy, Poverty and Despair. globalresearch.ca First published on April 16, 2020 | There is a serious health crisis which must be duly resolved. But there is another important dimension which has to be addressed. | Millions of people have lost their jobs, and their lifelong savings. In …
(2020-05-15). Dark Winter? Honey Badger Trump Don't Care. counterpunch.org 
"This coalition of the business elite, right-wing Christian evangelicals, and white nationalists and other white supremacists is very dangerous. Fascism is ultimately a death cult." — Jason Stanley , May 11, 2020 From the Annals of "The Most Dangerous Criminal in Human History" Despite timely alerts given by senior public health experts and warnings from
(2020-05-15). Czech Republic to allow gatherings of up to 300 people. rt.com 
The Czech Republic will take major steps to relax its coronavirus lockdown measures from May 25, as the government seeks to jump-start the economy, health officials said on Friday. | The central European country of 10.7 million people has reported fewer than 100 new cases a day throughout May. As of Friday morning, it had recorded a total of 8,352 cases of which 5,249 have recovered. It has reported 293 deaths, Reuters said. | Indoor dining and hotel stays could resume on May 25 under strict hygiene rules, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said. "After May 25, there won't be establishments in retail which would be…
(2020-05-15). Foreign Policy Sees 'Repression' in Vietnam's Fight Against Coronavirus – In the US, government may surveill you, but at least it doesn't protect your health. fair.org 
Foreign Policy ( A recent piece in Foreign Policy (
(2020-05-15). Seeking justice for Breonna Taylor: Essential health worker killed by police. peoplesworld.org 
The actual suspect was already in police custody, but that didn't stop officers from allegedly opening fire and shooting Breonna Taylor eight times. It was March 13 in Louisville, Kentucky when the young Black woman Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician (EMT), was shot and killed. The police who raided her home were executing a …
(2020-05-15). MILLIONS of Americans dead from Covid-19? 85k jobs lost? What? Joe Biden commits gaffe after gaffe in confusing broadcast. rt.com 
Joe Biden has once again caught flak for his creative and often confusing oratory, this time after the former VP and presumptive Democratic nominee struggled to relay how many Americans have died from coronavirus. | Speaking during a "virtual round table," Biden argued that playing the "blame game" during the ongoing health crisis would be counterproductive. But when it came time to relaying exactly what politicians might blame each other for, the presidential candidate faltered. | "We're in the middle of a pandemic that has cost us more than 85,000 jobs as of today. Lives of millions of people, millions of pe…
(2020-05-15). One week after promising health supplies to southeast Colombia, government vows aid to bury the dead. colombiareports.com 
Colombia's government vowed to send cement to build repositories of Covid-19 deaths in the southeastern Amazonas province after promised health supplies never arrived. The situation in Colombia's most remote province…
(2020-05-15). Brazilian Health Minister Teich resigns after just weeks in job. rt.com 
Brazilian Health Minister Nelson Teich resigned on Friday after just weeks in the job. President Jair Bolsonaro had criticized Teich as being too timid in the push to reopen the economy and to advocate the use of anti-malarial drugs. | Military members of the Brazilian cabinet are pushing for deputy health minister Eduardo Pazuello, an army general on active duty, to become the new health minister, making permanent his interim role, Reuters reported, citing a government source. | Teich is the second health minister to resign amid the pandemic in Brazil. He replaced Nelson Mandetta, who was fired on April 16 fo…
(2020-05-15). Massachusetts Contact Tracing Program Handed to Clinton-Linked NGO with Questionable Past. mintpressnews.com 
A new contact tracing program was recently unveiled in Massachusetts in partnership with Partners in Health, an NGO with links to US regime change operations, big pharma and the Clinton Foundation.
(2020-05-15). Whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright testifies winter could be 'darkest in modern history'. peoplesworld.org 
Dr. Rick Bright, the top Health and Human Services official dumped by Trump for blowing the whistle on the administration's disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic, testified to Congress Thursday that essentially everything the president is saying about his administration's response to the pandemic is a lie. One of the most damaging of those lies, …
(2020-05-15). War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic. counterpunch.org 
Welcome to the world of the hypersonic weapons, devices that are not only superfluous, but which will almost certainly not work, They will, however, cost enormous amounts of money. At a time when countries across the globe are facing economic chaos, financial deficits and unemployment at Great Depression levels, arms manufacturers are set to cash in big.
(2020-05-15). Define 'distribute'! Trump mobilizing MILITARY to deliver Covid-19 vaccine 'assuming we get it,' sparks conspiracy frenzy. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump said the military is gearing up to distribute a coronavirus vaccine when one is ready, unleashing a torrent of takes from conspiracy-minded netizens, many sounding alarms over mandatory inoculations. | American GIs are already being mobilized to parcel out a future vaccine to "most of the population," Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo in an interview on Thursday, giving a highly optimistic end-of-the-year time frame even as many experts suggest a remedy won't be ready for mass distribution for another 12 to 18 months. | "We're mobilizing our military on the basis that we do hav…
(2020-05-15). Trump says govt will work at 'WARP SPEED' to deliver vaccine BEFORE year's end. rt.com 
President Donald Trump has promised to deliver a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year or earlier, saying that the government will invest in potential candidates. He added that, vaccine or no vaccine, America will reopen. | Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Trump unveiled "Operation Warp Speed," a public-private partnership aimed at accelerating the development of a vaccine for Covid-19, the deadly virus that has infected more than 4.5 million people worldwide and killed more than 300,000. | "This is an endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project…
(2020-05-15). Do the Most Severe Lockdowns Coincide to the Highest COVID-19 Death Rates? counterpunch.org 
The organization Our World in Data is running an article on the severity of government lockdown policies used to deal with the Covid-19 disease, "How Are Governments Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic?". It is shows rankings of the severity ("stringency") on nine measures of lockdown policies throughout the world; it also addresses testing and tracking.
(2020-05-15). No Lockdowns: The Terrifying Polio Pandemic of 1949-52. anti-empire.com 
World War II had ended four years earlier and the U.S. was trying to return to peace and prosperity. Price controls and rationing were ended. Trade was opening. People were returning to normal life. The economy started humming again. Optimism for the future was growing. Harry Truman became the symbol of a new normacy. From Depression and war, society was on the mend. | As if to serve as a reminder that there were still threats to life and liberty present, an old enemy made its appearance: polio. It's a disease with ancient origins, with its most terrifying effect, the paralysis of the lower extremities. It mai…
(2020-05-15). First child dies in France from rare Kawasaki-like disease unwisely linked to Covid-19. rt.com 
A nine-year-old boy in France has died from the mysterious Kawasaki-like disease, which some medics link to Covid-19. It's the first such case in that country, but similar child fatalities were earlier recorded in the US and UK. | The cause of the boy's death was "neurological injury related to a cardiac arrest," Fabrice Michel, head of the pediatric intensive care unit at La Timone hospital in Marseille, said. | The child was rushed to hospital with heart problems in early May. Doctors have been fighting for his life for a whole week, but the young patient passed away on Saturday. | While in hospital, the bo…
(2020-05-15). The Covid-19 Testing Fiasco. counterpunch.org 
From the start, testing for Covid-19 in the U.S. has been abysmal. Experts agree that without adequate testing, the disease cannot be stopped. Poor testing means no idea how many are infected or how to trace and quarantine their contacts or how to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. There has been speculation that the Trump
(2020-05-15). Starving Bolivian workers clash with troops deployed by coup regime. wsws.org Amid the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in Bolivia, Jeanine àÅñez's self-proclaimed "interim government" is escalating state repression.
(2020-05-15). Puebla Group Discusses Peace in Colombia and Pandemic Crisis. telesurenglish.net The Puebla Group today is discussing the peace process in Colombia, the health crisis, and the regional economy, during a new virtual meeting that brings together progressive leaders from Latin America. | RELATED: | Colombia is the host of the new virtual meeting, in the voices of former President Ernesto Samper and former Minister of Labor Clara Lopez Obregon. | "Peace measures are the level of civilization of a country," sa…
(2020-05-15). Massive protests in El Salvador against President Nayib Bukele. peoplesdispatch.org Salvadorans are protesting over the lack of food and economic aid to poor and unemployed people, the shortage of personal protection equipment for health workers, and the delay in the return of people stranded abroad…
(2020-05-15). Ecuador: Human Rights Organizations Denounce Police Brutality. telesurenglish.net Ecuador's Human Rights organizations Thursday denounced that police force abuse against pacific protesters in Guayaquil. Claimers denounced the negligence of health authorities in corpses counting and handling. | RELATED: | Protesters gathered at Centenary Park for a sit-in demonstration against both President Lenin Moreno's budget cuts and lack of economic aid for those in need. | "We are mourning and resisting," was their protest's maxim. Cit…
(2020-05-15). Still in the Dark in Wisconsin. progressive.org Health officials don't have an up-to-date count of people who got COVID-19 after attending a 'large gathering.'
(2020-05-15). Roaming Charges: Unmasked and Anonymous. counterpunch.org 
I'm hyped for some ObamaGate action, as long as its about things that matter: health care plan designed by Heritage Foundation, bailing out Wall Street, failing to close Gitmo, droning US citizens, Afghan surge, the jailing of whistleblowers and legal harassment of journalists, the Libyan and Honduran coups, mass surveillance, the funding and arming of proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, record deportations, Deepwater Horizon, new nukes (both power plants and weapons), etc…
(2020-05-15). Quarantined & lonely? Find a 'SEX BUDDY,' Dutch government advises. rt.com 
Dutch authorities have decided that sex is a necessity, even in times of lockdown. Ever the pragmatists, they suggest that quarantined singletons "make arrangements" with a willing partner. | With more than 43,000 people infected with the coronavirus and a death toll of 5,600, the Netherlands has been on lockdown since late March. Citizens are allowed to have up to three visitors in their homes, provided they keep a distance of 1.5 meters from each other. Naturally, this precludes most sexual activity. | However, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has admitted that two se…
(2020-05-15). WHO special envoy sets out what's wrong with Johnson's timetable to end lockdown. thecanary.co The World Health Organisation's coronavirus special envoy has warned the government against releasing lockdown measures until a comprehensive testing, tracking and isolating system is in place. | Dr David Nabarro said rather than giving specific dates for individual measures to be lifted, the government should say they will release the lockdown "when we know that we've got the defence mechanisms in place". | Nabarro added that the test, track and isolate strategy has "been shown in other countries to be the key to living with the virus". | He also stressed that a test, tracking and isolating defence system must b…
(2020-05-15). Socialism and Collective Responses: Attacking Venezuela in a Pandemic. counterpunch.org That feeling of international solidarity. This pandemic has brought terror in daily life to many, including this home where a 79 year old with COPD resides. Global calls of "we are all in this together" have served to blunt the bleakness in the face of unprecedented threats to our collective health. However, the initial rush
(2020-05-15). The 2003 SARS epidemic: How Canada's elite squandered the chance to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Canada's disastrous response to the pandemic is all the more criminal given the impact of SARS and the repeated government vows that the country's health system would be well-prepared for any future novel virus.
(2020-05-15). Rally At Tesla: Jail Musk! Workers Health & Safety First & Lives Over Profit. indybay.org Tesla North Gate | Industrial Dr & Fremont Blvd, Fremont, CA 94538 | www.google.com/maps/place/Tesla+factory/…: 0x86cfbef39088e346!8m2!3d37.5039468!4d-121.9622337?hl=en…
(2020-05-15). Essential Sanitary Workers Strike for Hazard Pay and PPE in New Orleans. truthout.org The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in southern Louisiana was the last straw for a group of sanitation workers who pick up trash in eastern New Orleans. Last week, they walked off the job and went on strike, demanding hazard pay and a $15 living wage. | Without "hoppers," as the workers are known, garbage would pile up on the streets and contribute to the spread of disease and other public health problems. However, the group of hoppers in New Orleans say their employers did not provide them with hazar…
(2020-05-15). China: 5 Five Vaccines to Go Into Large-Scale Testing by July. telesurenglish.net China's National Health Commission (NHC) predicts that five coronavirus vaccines that have entered the second phase of clinical trials will pass that phase in July. | RELATED: | "We have registered none serious adverse effects on the volunteers during the tests. If everything goes as planned, the projects would finish the second part of their tests in July," the NHC deputy director Zeng Yixin said. | China has five…
(2020-05-15). Covid-19 changes to NHS services may lead to worsening health inequalities. imperial.ac.uk The decision to suspend non-urgent services at NHS hospitals in response to the Covid-19 pandemic will lead to worsening health inequalities.
(2020-05-15). Finland: Schools Reopen Despite Health Situation. telesurenglish.net Finland's Education Ministry reopened Thursday schools after a two-month closure period due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Pre-school and elementary school children were the first to return their activities. | RELATED: | "Experts affirm schools reopening would have a minimal impact on the pandemic, but grand benefits for children," Education Minister Li Andersson said, adding that her office instructed municipality authorities to enforce p…
(2020-05-15). In less than a month, Brazil sees two health ministers leave office. peoplesdispatch.org Oncologist Nelson Teich asked to step down from his position as Minister of Health on Friday morning May 15, according to the government. A press conference will be held in the afternoon. | Teich took over the position as Health Minister on April 17, after Luiz Henrique Mandetta was fired from the position. In Teich's speech when assuming the position, he affirmed that he would work to ease social isolation measures, but in a "technical and scientific" way. | As of now, the individual expected to take over the position is General Eduardo Pazuello, the current number two in the ministry. | History: | While…
(2020-05-15). Malnutrition is leading cause of death and ill-health worldwide. wsws.org A recent report confirms that various forms of malnutrition are the result of inequities in food distribution and health care systems but only hints at the criminal indifference of all national governments to these issues…
(2020-05-15). My Birth Control Experience Is Why I'm Fighting to Ensure Access for Everyone. truthout.org The issue of birth control is particularly important to me as a woman of color from an immigrant community in Pennsylvania. Beyond my own experience, I also understand the difficulties other marginalized communities face in obtaining this essential health care. | The first time I sought birth control, the provider lectured me based on stereotypes she had of people from my "culture." She also insisted repeatedly that I choose a birth control method which I was not comfortable with because it w…
(2020-05-15). Is Universal Basic Income the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis? globalresearch.ca Philip's third interview with Ellen Brown focused on the Universal Basic Income, which Philip believes is the ONLY way out of the current economic crisis. The social distancing forced by the COVID-19 epidemic has shut down the country, and one-time …
(2020-05-15). War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic. strategic-culture.org Conn HALLINAN"There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet plagues and wars take people equally by surprise" | — Albert Camus, "The Plague" | Camus' novel of a lethal contagion in the North African city of Oran is filled with characters all too recognizable today: indifferent or incompetent officials, short sighted and selfish citizens, and lots of great courage. What not even Camus could imagine, however, is a society in the midst of a deadly epidemic pouring vast amounts of wealth into instruments of death. | Welcome to the world of the hypersonic weapons, devices that are not only superfluous,…
(2020-05-15). Why Capitalism Can't Cure Global Pandemics. counterpunch.org We frequently hear that COVID-19 is the worst pandemic since the influenza of 1918. It is forgotten that another pandemic known as "the third plague" (because it was "the third major bubonic plague outbreak to affect European society") killed millions from the 1890s to the 1950s in Asia's southern, southeastern, and eastern regions, continuing well
(2020-05-15). Plan Now for Vaccination Decisions to Come. progressive.org Who should be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine once it is available?
(2020-05-15). Trump Unveils Plan That Would See Big Pharma Reap Massive Profits from COVID-19 Vaccine. mintpressnews.com President Trump has revealed a plan to mobilize the US military to deliver mass vaccinations across the country, coupled with Operation Warp Speed, a "Manhattan project-style" race to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.
(2020-05-14). Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Global Mental Health Crisis as Millions Feel Alone, Anxious & Depressed. democracynow.org 
Is the coronavirus pandemic generating a mental illness crisis? Millions face isolation, poverty and anxiety. We speak with psychology professor and author Andrew Solomon, as the United Nations calls on governments to put mental health "front and center" in their response to the crisis.
(2020-05-14). Headlines for May 14, 2020. democracynow.org World Health Organization Says Novel Coronavirus "May Never Go Away", Whistleblower Warns U.S. Faces "Darkest Winter" Without Urgent Action on COVID-19, Trump Calls Dr. Anthony Fauci's Warning on COVID-19 and Schools "Not an Acceptable Answer", Wisconsin Stay-at-Home Orders Struck Down, Threatening New Wave of COVID-19 Deaths, Fed Reserve Chair Warns of Long Recession as Unemployment Claims Hit 36 Million, Trump Calls Democrats' Coronavirus Relief Bill "Dead on Arrival", Native Americans Make Up Half of New Mexico Coronavirus Deaths; New Orleans Sanitation Workers Strike, China to Test 11 Million Wuhan Residents…
(2020-05-14). When Patients Die Alone, How Do Families and Health Workers Cope, Relieve Suffering? democracynow.org 
We look at the tremendous emotional toll the coronavirus is taking on families when loved ones are forced to battle COVID alone in hospitals or at home, with Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care and a professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She helped start a 24-hour palliative care hotline for COVID-19 patients in New York City that served nearly 900 people in a four-week period.
(2020-05-14). Head of the Hydra: Ther Rise of Robert Kadlec. thealtworld.com 
A powerful network of political operatives, a global vaccine mafia and their man in Washington, and how it all ties back to what is taking place today. | BY Last Friday, a group of Democratic Senators "