Interesting Links for 19-11-2023

[andrewducker]

1. The UK's economic assessment for vaccination eligibility is a masterpiece of fraud. (We bought the vaccines and then didn't give them to people it would have helped, even though it would also have helped others!)

(tags:vaccination UK OhForFucksSake )

2. Pharmacies prescribing the contraceptive pill will put women's mental health at risk

(tags:depression hormones women mentalhealth contraception )

3. Russell T Davies on the portrayal of disabled people (and facial scarring) and why they decided to change Davros

(tags:disability drwho evil TV society )

4. Evil Cripple - TV Tropes

(tags:disabilities society tropes TV )

Comments

[autopope]

The clickbaity "pharmacies putting women's mental health at risk" piece is an op-ed by a lifestyle journalist; there's no new research feeding it, it's alarmist in tone, and while her personal blog didn't ding my "danger: evangelical!" bell, it didn't not ding it. (Women on the pill don't get offered routine mental health check-ups anyway, whether prescribed by their GP or a pharmacist, so this comes over as an anti-contraception hit piece on some level, whether intended by the author or by the editors.)

[andrewducker]

There's no change in evidence, but there is a change in how medication is being prescribed.

I do agree with her that we *should* be monitoring people's mental health when giving them things that can affect it. I agree with you that we don't do enough of it already.

[autopope]

Pharmacists prescribing contraceptive pills was a live issue back when I was a pharmacist, in the second half of the 1980s. This stuff moves slowly.

(There's a very clear trend among American anti-abortion campaigners to extend their opposition to cover the morning after pill, and then hormonal contraception in general, and finally all forms of birth control. I'd be very cautious about taking any stories about contraception side effects at face value in the current media climate unless they're backed up by a peer-reviewed source, and even then I'd want to dig into the authors' funding and association.)

[andrewducker]

To be clear, I'm with you on this, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it. I just think that we should be aware of what the effects might be, so that if there's a sudden uptick in depression we know what's going on, and can put something in place to deal with it.

(And I know enough people whose mental health was fucked up by hormonal contraception despite assurances from GPs that there are no side effects to them, that I would view any arguments against that as not listening to women.)

[mountainkiss]

It’s also important to look at the counterfactual. What is the ease with which women are currently gaining access to contraception and how if at all will pharmacist prescription improve this? Both terminations and unplanned children are also not great for women’s mental health. (I have no idea what the data says, but in principle there are two sides to this.)

[andrewducker]

To be clear, I'm with you on this, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it. I just think that we should be aware of what the effects might be, so that if there's a sudden uptick in depression we know what's going on, and can put something in place to deal with it.

[mountainkiss]

And I don't disagree with that either. I think it would be good both for the system to scaffold (with what money?) and for women to know more about this (albeit that this too has a shadow side).