Mithrandir, MD

A functional insomniac. Migrant. Public Health specialist. Todo es relativo, lo simple es lo que importa. Views are my own; not employer’s, not medical advice.

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

The healers are always taught to move on.

[Raghu Venugopal MD @raghu_venugopal]

Thanks Premier Kenney. I am impressed by your unwavering patriotism and collaboration with Premier Notley. Allow me to correct you on some much-debunked fallacies. 👇👇👇

1) You can't queue jump to see me if you're wealthy. That's essentially what Alberta Conservatives have enacted. If you're homeless, intoxicated and with unstable vital signs I attend to you before a housed patient, with stable vitals and abdominal pain. That's the Canadian way. We put acuity and medical need over ability to pay. That's what we consider fair. That's what most Canadians want. That's the opposite direction of the Smith Conservative government.

Would you tell a farm hand they are less important than an oil executive, Premier Kenney?

2) Profiteering is different than profit. I apologize for nothing that I work and I profit.

Profiteering is taking undue advantage of people in need, and gouging them for additional fees. That's not what I do. You can't bribe me $500 extra in the ER to be seen faster when the waiting room is packed. That would be unprofessional, immoral and stupid. That's what the Smith Conservative government is doing.

3) Queue-jumping solves zero. Doctors are a fixed resource in Canada, as you know Premier. If you pull us doctors out of the public system for people willing to slip in extra money, you reduce the capability of the public system. That's not how I operate but that's what Alberta Conservatives are doing.

You're right that profit (also called a job) is fine. You do it, I do it, anyone with a mortgage or pays rent does it.

The difference is profiteering, queue-jumping and prioritizing those who can essentially bribe the doctors. I would hope you would agree those are fundamentally un-Canadian values.

Let me explain a medical corporation to you. It's legal. It was put in place by your Conservative Premier colleague Mike Harris in 2000.

The government put this in place in lieu of increasing physician compensation. It violates no Canadian or provincial laws. Most doctors in Ontario do it. It defers taxes to when you are earning nothing. I'm not apologizing for it because it's how most Ontario doctors are compensated for their services.

Unlike you Premier Kenney, I'm not getting a federal government generous pension when I grow old.

My savings are all I have for my family and I. A medical corporation doesn't violate in any way the Canada Health Act which is what the Alberta Conservative government is doing.

Let's now shift to Europe which I'm glad you raised. I agree with you, let's be more like Europe. Europe invests far, far more than we do in publicly funded healthcare and related social services. That's why multi-payer systems there is fine. Because they take care of the basics first, better than us. You negate to mention this crucial difference. I'm not against white-glove profiteering healthcare if we take care of the basics first.

I hope this clears this up. There's no hypocrisy. It's one thing to attend to patients based on need, not gouge them at their time of need, not pick favourites based on essentially a bribe, knee-cap the publicly funded system and bill the government for services rendered through a law-abiding corporation.

I'm ashamed of nothing Premier Kenney. Alberta Conservatives, on the other hand, have enacted policies that are frankly disgraceful to the average Albertan who make about $52,000/year after taxes. @jkenney

[Ricardo Hausmann @ricardo_hausman]

Secretary Marco Rubio: You have just lost any trust Venezuelans ever had on you, and it will come to haunt you. You opted to use US power, not to free Venezuelans, but to go to bed with our oppressors. You opted to push an asset grab, an unconstitutional deal with an illegitimate oppressive government, instead of using US leadership to re-establish constitutional rule and democracy first, and then deal with a legitimate government that could have made credible long-term commitments, in due course. This announced deal will not stand. Delcy, contrary to what you boss just stated [see below] is not "highly respected" by any Venezuelan I know, or by any American outside of the Mar-a-lago kleptocracy. She has no legitimacy or constitutional power to commit Venezuela to any such deal. Venezuelans will not respect this illegitimate deal and no major US oil company will take it seriously because they know it will not last. No wonder you are using wanted criminals - like Alejandro Betancourt - to make this shameful deal. You are also preventing our leader - Maria Corina Machado - from returning to Venezuela, and you have conspired to delay elections and the return to democracy. Shameful.

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

Gender dysphoria is not “a condition that often resolves itself”, and decades of longitudinal data support this finding. Curtailing access to gender-affirming care will potentially impact nearly every social determinant of health for the abandoned patients.

[HHS @HHSGov]

Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System has decided to ignore the reality of sex-rejecting procedures. Administering irreversible treatment for a condition that often resolves itself is harmful to minors and does not meet recognized standards of health care.

At HHS, protecting America’s children is a top priority.

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

Keep going, you’ve almost almost grasped it.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

"Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???" - PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP🇺🇸

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

Spoken like a proper philistine.

[Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC]

I am an enthusiastic supporter of providing the United States legal title to Greenland through a lawful and fair process.

@POTUS has rightly removed the option of taking Greenland by force. He has convinced me that title to Greenland would allow America to do so much more. Greenland is in our hemisphere after all. This is a historic moment. President Trump believes he needs title to advance the common defense by fortifying Greenland to protect the United States and NATO allies.

To my NATO friends: Don’t let this moment pass. This is a great deal for everyone. We’re on the verge of having President Trump fortify the arctic like no one could have ever imagined.

To my friends in Denmark: This is your moment to advance a stronger NATO.

To my European friends: You repeatedly tell me that President Trump makes you uncomfortable. So, I want be frank, out of respect for the relationship, you make me uncomfortable. Weak and humorless is no way to go through life. The European model of giving great speeches then sipping schnapps, all while failing to stand up to evil doesn’t work. Our European allies should take this moment in history to work with President Trump to legally and fairly provide the U.S. title to Greenland so that he can build up our arctic defenses in a way that benefits everyone. Don’t let your feelings about President Trump get in the way of good judgment.

President Trump is delivering on things that matter deeply to me: a prosperous and free world, and a safe and strong United States of America.

[Thor Halvorssen @ThorHalvorssen]

Look closely: Delcy Rodríguez, the unelected vice president and the official who oversees El Helicoide, the largest torture center in the Western Hemisphere, is sworn in by her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, the Rasputin of the regime. Between them stands Nicolás Maduro Jr., the deposed dictator’s son, as if power were an inheritance and Venezuela a family estate. Nepotism, fear, and impunity in one frame. This triumvirate will not last long. Mark my words.

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

I spoke with María Corina Machado today. I affirmed Canada’s support for a peaceful, Venezuelan-led transition of power — one that respects the democratic will of the Venezuelan people.

[Gregg Nunziata @greggnunziata]

It's ok to have mixed feelings today. Pride in our military. Hope for a Venezuela free from Maduro. Concern about tenuous legal authority and fraying constitutional safeguards. Anxiety about what comes next on the ground, in Venezuela and at home.

[Anita Anand @AnitaAnandMP]

Please see my statement on the situation in Venezuela:

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

Even without examining the religious liberties and guarantees argument, the paper in question was objectively poorly written. You have failed to uphold academic quality standards for something as simple as a brief report.

[University of Oklahoma @UofOklahoma]

A statement from the University of Oklahoma:

[Jennifer Gunter @DrJenGunter]

There is no such thing as a late-term abortion. It's a made up word. Maybe start by using correct terminology.

[Kevin Mcleod @dockevinmcleod]

I’m well paid in the public system. I’m swamped. I need time not money. If a physician can charge 2 to 3x’s as much in a parallel private system they can earn more AND get time. They need to see fewer patients or less units of patient care for more money. Basically your hourly wage goes from maybe $350 to $900. Would you work less hours for more money? Of course you would.

This does not shorten waiting lists in the public system. It devastatingly increases them. Of course physicians would leave to work in a private system not just because it’s better paid, but because it gives them back time.

Alberta’s plan is shortsighted in my opinion and bad for overall patient care.

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

Ivermectin is an essential antiparasitic drug, not a silver bullet for neoplasms. Governments regulate the use of pharmaceuticals to decrease public harm, and medical professionals can offer expert advice on appropriate therapies.

[Eva Chipiuk, BSc, LLB, LLM @echipiuk]

Welcome to Canada, where the federal government funds “safe supply” fentanyl but blocked and bans ivermectin, whose discovery won a Nobel Prize and is considered essential by the WHO.

Make it make sense.

[Darren Markland @drdagly]

Good public health is financially sound advice. Unless you want the public system to fail.

[Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association @EZMSA2]

Alberta government requires you to pre-order your COVID and flu vaccines for the fall.

It starts today and ends September 30.

Pre-order on this website or call 811.

https://t.co/eBI7pnvkGu

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

Stop playing victim, no one’s buying it. You’re following Hugo Chávez’s playbook and no amount of deflection will change that.

[Nayib Bukele @nayibbukele]

90% of developed countries allow the indefinite reelection of their head of government, and no one bats an eye. But when a small, poor country like El Salvador tries to do the same, suddenly it’s the end of democracy.

Of course, they’ll rush to point out that “a parliamentary system isn’t the same as a presidential one,” as if that technicality justifies the double standard. But let’s be honest, that’s just a pretext.

Because if El Salvador declared itself a parliamentary monarchy with the exact same rules as the UK, Spain, or Denmark, they still wouldn’t support it. In fact, they would go ballistic if that happened.

Why? Because the problem isn’t the system, it’s the fact that a poor country dares to act like a sovereign one.

You’re not supposed to do what they do. You’re supposed to do what you’re told. And you’re expected to stay in your lane.

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

i hope no drama ensues

[Coldplay @coldplay]

Show #207, Boston

#MusicOfTheSpheresWorldTour

[Mithrandir, MD @hectorade]

me this morrow:

[En Júpiter @En_jupiter_]

Yo dándome ánimo