Manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and other felony charges filed against paramedics in a Denver suburb will provide the public with a queasy close up look at not only the stresses weighing on medical first responders but also how complacent too many people have become as a crucial part of health care frays under fiscal pressures…..
Continue ReadingPolice excessive force
How does U.S. improve its health care if the president excuses wrongdoing?
Leave it to the extreme actions of the current White House occupant to disprove Shakespeare and the adage that the quality of mercy cannot be strained. Some of the dozens of President Trump’s latest acts of clemency, with more likely to be granted, are sending bad messages of who gets ahead in a rapacious U.S…..
Continue ReadingVideo evidence casts harsh light on authorities’ use of excessive force
In the running battle between authorities and individuals over excessive use of force, the eyes suddenly now have it: The advance of smart phone technology to ubiquity and with quality video recording is giving claimants powerful new evidence. It is not pretty for law enforcement excesses — and even potentially extra-legal escapades. Not one, not….
Continue ReadingConcerns spike as police seek to medicalize tactics that end in arrest deaths
The national outage over authorities’ excessive use of force, especially against black men, may take law enforcement, first responders, politicians, and critics into a murky and nightmarish area — call it the unfounded medicalization of official control. Two fatal flash point cases — involving African Americans George Floyd in Minneapolis and Elijah McCain (shown, right)….
Continue ReadingDetails build on authorities’ brutal use of ‘less lethal’ projectiles and tear gas
Just as law enforcement authorities find themselves under fire for instances of racist, excessive uses of force, police agencies across the country seem hell-bent on giving critics more and more evidence for their argument that major policing reforms are needed. The independent, nonpartisan Kaiser Health News Service and USA Today deserve credit for scrutinizing dozens….
Continue ReadingSaying a big ‘No!’ to racism, excessive police force, and health disparities
Like a patient already struggling with serious illness or injury, the nation saw its underlying conditions flare up in distressing fashion in recent days: The country first found itself grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic that has infected almost 2 million and killed more than 100,000. It gasped as the economy plunged and joblessness hit rates….
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