Romney Social Justice: Every (MS Patient) for Himself 

or, as a Black Sea beach sign informs Russians, 

"Saving the drowning is in the hands of the drowning themselves."

Romney, MS, and the Stakes of the Campaign

Pre-existing condition: wealth. No insurance coverage needed. 

Ann Romney: Shock of MS diagnosis

Rare Earths Revisited

   

Dangerous Dependence: US Beholden to Imported Raw Material

 Gadolinium 

Yes, folks, bastnäsite, that mellifluous-sounding element and source of MRI contrast gadolinium, 

is imported too.

Awake, arise,

pull out your eyes

and hear the time of day!

And when you've done,

pull out your tongue

and see what you can say!

Par Pharmaceutical Begins Shipment of Generic Provigil®

Echoes of  REJie's very first post on this blog:

Mitt Romney's healthcare philosophy channels 

Marie Antoinette - let them eat cake!

Ann Romney Wouldn't Find Free-Market Health Care Without 

Mitt Romney's Millions

Monkeys and medication: The key to MS cure?

The Good: maybe there will finally be an accurate experimental model of MS, not the mouse EAE.

The Bad: Some of those poor animals are suffering. Herpes, for goodness' sake?!?

The Ugly: Soon enough someone will start testing drugs on them, knowing that the subjects can be dissected at will.

This macabre bit of news was enough to jolt me out of sullen silence. But I also wonder if the macaques' northern habitat, sunlight-poor, contributes to their disease.

Possible MS Culprit Virus Steals in Through the Nose

Image: Patrick McDonogh/Getty Images

Smelly business reported in Scientific American as well:

"(Neuroscientist Steven Jacobson) points out that olfactory neurons and their OECs are among the few brain cells known to regenerate throughout our life. This neurogenesis may keep our sense of smell sharp, but at the cost of providing the virus the opportunity to spread."