Of Fat Cats, Abstinence Pledges and Medical Quacktitioners

November 10th, 2011 by

Hank Stern of InsureBlog is hosting an entertaining edition of the Health Wonk Review. Take a few moments and you will learn some interesting things: The dangers of obesity – a well-known hazard for adults – is also a danger for pets. There is an alarmingly high rate of pregnancy among U. S. teens – 10 percent of all pregnancies; in a directly related issue, the ideologically-driven attempt to mitigate these pregnancies through “abstinence pledges ” has proven remarkably ineffective: one study shows that 88 percent of abstinence pledgers go ahead and have sex anyway.
Speaking of failed programs, we will resist, at least for the moment, the temptation to pontificate on the appalling situation at Penn State University. Suffice it to say that power comes with responsibility, especially toward the powerless. Protecting the brand is a sorry excuse for failing to protect the innocent.