Plague Days Medicine.

Nowadays my daily newspaper is packed with medical news. There is hardly room for anything else. It is even pushing Donald Trump off the front page.
Just today, for instance, in the face of frighteningly escalating numbers the front page posted an article headed " A little humility from public health officials would go a long way". Indeed, they have much to be humble about. An early astounding lack of common sense in both the politicians in charge and their medical advisers is obvious and resulted in many diverse opinions and much contradictory emotional advice, little of it with a sound basis in science The reluctance to take appropriate measures early on for fear of public disapproval, resulted in the loss of an early opportunity to nip the pandemic in the bud. When the bombastic U.S. President closed immigration from China, he was accused of racism.  When he insisted in calling the Coronavirus the "China Virus", he was accused of racism.  Planes were still coming from China to Toronto and Vancouver regularly on a daily basis when all such travel should have been rigorously banned.
The article went on to attempt to analyze the effectiveness or lack of it, of the various measures recommended by government and their medical advisers. Unfortunately, recommendations mean little unless they are followed and enforceable. There is a core of individuals who will not follow them unless forced to do so and by definition recommendations are not enforceable, They re just suggestions. This makes it impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of any measures unless they become laws. The cavalier attitude of those who don't want their 'rights' intruded upon disregards the safety and rights of the rest of the population. It is the government's mandate to protect society as a whole and there are many examples of over-riding the rights of individuals where they may be damaging to society as a whole. It is necessary to make the use of face-masks and the other protective measures compulsory because they probably do provide some protection and this is how we are going to find out how effective they are. Government needs to do what is necessary, regardless of whether it is popular or not, to make life as safe as possible for the majority of the population.

A Judge with Commonsense!  
The next heading read,"Judge halts trans teen's mastectomy." The judge, a sane woman, granted an injunction against a cosmetic surgeon and the teenager's family doctor after a request from the mother. This prevents the the surgeon from advising or promoting a double mastectomy or any surgery on the girl to allow the mother, who opposes the surgery, a chance to determine if all the proper protocols were followed. The mother's lawyer stated, "The mother needs to see that all the protocols that led the two doctors to come to the conclusion that did was what was in the best interests of her daughter." The mother further said she thought the procedure was not in the best interests of her daughter and that she she was opposed to her receiving sex altering steroids. Further, she stated that she had emailed both the doctors and got no answers.
"I'm in total darkness and I don't have any rights," said the mother. "I need some time for her to grow up and mature."
It boggles the mind that a family doctor and a cosmetic surgeon can undertake such drastic and controversial action (and it is controversial from both a medical and moral point of view) without responding to the mother's attempt to contact them.
Commonsense and common decency are becoming the exception.  
The decline continues.