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Current Kratom and Psilocybin Legislative Action in Iowa
I just saw an excellent post from Dr. George Dawson, MD, DFAPA on Kratom. His emphasis that the risk for harm from this substance should be “…remembered at every policy debate.” I agree. This reminds me of what happened in the Iowa Legislature this term at the second funnel regarding substances with the potential for…
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Iowa Ivermectin Bill is Funnel Proof and Apparently is Still Alive and Other Anti-Vaccination Bills (Updated 5:45 PM today)
According to a Des Moines Register story today “Which bills in the Iowa Legislature lived and died after 2nd funnel?” by Steven Gruber-Miller and Marissa Payne March 20, 2026: “Other bills remain in play, including legislation restricting the governor’s emergency powers, allowing Iowans to buy ivermectin over the counter without a prescription and limiting tuition…
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Waiting for the Second Funnel in Iowa Legislature on Anti Vaccination Bills 2026
I’ve been trying to track the two anti-vaccination bills heading into the 2nd funnel in Iowa and I guess I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow’s news reports. One of them is HF 2171 which would eliminate Iowa’s requirement that children in grades K-12 receive vaccines before they can attend school. The other is SF…
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CDC ACIP Meeting Postponed for Today and Tomorrow
I missed the recent notice in the last couple of days that the CDC ACIP meeting was postponed for today and tomorrow. Me and more than a couple dozen people were kept waiting for a half hour before I got suspicious and looked it up. There’s a CIDRAP story posted yesterday that explains the “delay.”…
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Must Read Post on Real Psychiatry
I have a big shout out to Dr. George Dawson, MD for his post on his blog Real Psychiatry about the trolling of psychiatrists on social media. I tried adding links to social media from my blog for a short while and dropped it years ago.
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Ivermectin Bill Looks Like It’s Dead-For Now
This is a quick followup on the progress of Governor Reynolds MAHA bill which included a piece endorsing making Ivermectin available over-the-counter in Iowa. I just read a story about what looks like the disappearance of the ivermectin from Reynold’s bill. The story, written by Laura Belin, comes from a webpage called Bleeding Heartland: An…
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CDC ACIP Meeting Scheduled for March 18, 19 2026
It’s been a while since the last CDC ACIP meeting. It’s scheduled for March 18, 2026, 8 AM to 5 PM EST and March 19, 2026, 8 AM to 5 PM EST, according the notice on the Federal Register. There are over 1500 comments and the one I thought was the best was by the…
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Iowa Ivermectin Bill Heads to the Senate
I see the Iowa House passed HF 2676 including the ivermectin section which would make the anti-parasite drug available over-the-counter (OTC) in Iowa, despite arguments against it about the medical indications for the drug, which don’t include treatment of cancer and Covid-19 infection. There’s a high probability that some people might use it to treat…
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Clinical Problems in Consultation Psychiatry and The Break-Dancing Koala Bear
I ran across an old Clinical Problems in Consultation Psychiatry (CPCP) presentation by a couple of sharp medical students in 2014. They presented it at one of my morning consult rounds and it’s about Charles Bonnet Syndrome. They did a very nice job and it compares fairly well with the University of Iowa Ophthalmology Dept…
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Do We Really Need Artificial Intelligence to Help People Who Are Demoralized?
I was just going through the many files on one of my old thumb drives that I still keep after I retired from consultation-liaison psychiatry over 5 years ago. I found a file that I must have typed from a source on how to help medically ill persons who are demoralized. Demoralization is not the…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 