And now he's dead. Not quite 50 years old. An accomplished nuclear QA professional. Leaving behind two young daughters and a wife beset by MS.
My wife's now-late former colleague and friend of more than twenty years. Cheryl told me she'd seen a missed call from him logged in her iPhone. She was very happy; they'd not spoken in a while. She was eager to catch up.
She tried calling back, unsuccessfully. Left a message.
Last night I came downstairs into the kitchen. She was standing at the stove, preparing supper. We'd had such a great day together.
Her burning red eyes were overflowing with painful tears.
She'd just gotten a call back. It wasn't her friend, it was his wife (also a long-time friend), now his widow.
He died of a heart attack without warning on Saturday.
Cheryl said they'd all long fussed at him over his crappy diet. The Triple Meat Pizza Man.
Now he's dead, leaving behind a shockwave of anguished cell phone calls pulsing out all around the world by a huge network of inconsolable friends.
Services will be Wednesday in Chicago. The day before Thanksgiving Day, amid acutely crappy holiday travel weather. A lot of people will not be able to make it.
__
Our 33rd wedding anniversary falls this year on Thanksgiving Day. There will be a damper on our celebration.
Maybe Stage 3 Certified EHRs should have a sub-template for "nutrition" under the Social Hx panel, with checkboxes for Triple Meat Pizza and Routine Consumption of Nuts.
(I know it's way more complicated than that. Still, "The Social / Behavioral / Nutritional Components of Health..." )
Dunno. It's a sad day in my house.
JUST IN: ON THE TOPIC OF HEATH DIAGNOSTICS
Stop selling those DNA tests, FDA tells 23andMe__
Maggie Fox NBC News, Nov, 25th, 2013
The Food and Drug Administration has ordered DNA testing company 23andMe to stop marketing its over-the-counter genetic test, saying it’s being sold illegally to diagnose diseases, and with no proof it actually works.
The heavily marketed test includes a kit for sampling saliva, and the company promises to offer specific health advice. “Based on your DNA, we’ll provide specific health recommendations for you,” the company says on its website. "Get personalized recommendations."
In an unusually scathing letter dated Friday, the FDA says it’s been trying to work with the company to get some sort of evidence that the test can do that with any accuracy.
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is sending you this letter because you are marketing the 23andMe Saliva Collection Kit and Personal Genome Service (PGS) without marketing clearance or approval in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,” the agency says in a letter addressed to Ann Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe.
“Therefore, 23andMe must immediately discontinue marketing the PGS until such time as it receives FDA marketing authorization for the device.”...
MONDAY NOV 25TH CALENDAR
We'll see.
“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, your will keep your health plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what. My view is that health care reform should be guided by a simple principle: fix what’s broken and build on what works.” - President Obama, verbatim, speaking to the AMA in July 2009UPDATE
HealthCare.gov contractor had high confidence but low successStay tuned.
...The Obama administration has set a Nov. 30 deadline — next Saturday — by which officials have promised that HealthCare.gov will work smoothly for about four out of five consumers who attempt to use it to sign up for health plans. Even now, the official familiar with the project said, CGI’s work on the repairs is not always going well; roughly one-third to half the new computer code the company is writing cannot be used because it is revealing flaws when it is fully examined by a group of outside testers, including some insurance companies....
More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment