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Jake Seliger has died

marginalrevolution.com

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Re: Jake Seliger has died

#71

Post by efilife »

slazaro wrote: post #53
fnord77 wrote: post #35

I've seen about a half dozen articles on his passing from cancer, but none of them say who he is. Googling his name doesn't help either. Who is he?

He was an active HN user and a writer, he had a very active blog for many years, and he and his wife had been documenting their struggles during his disease; some of those articles were voted high here and had a lot of discussion around them. So in the microcosm of HN, it's relevant news. RIP Jake.

so what was this guy known for? for a blog? for his illness?

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#74

Post by zh3 »

Puts me in mind of Randy Pausch's last lecture [0]; only reminded of it by this, which also reminds me I've lost my mother, father in law recently plus close one going through it right now. Horrible disease, hard to find the words sometimes (edit: which he did).

May he rest in peace.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#75

Post by wood_spirit »

JohnMakin wrote: post #62

The craziest thing to me is he was still posting up to the very end. I've seen this multiple times in end-stage cancers, my grandfather's pancreatic cancer, he seemed "fine" (other than looking incredibly sick) til the last ~12 hours or so - he was even doing some yard work the day or two before he died. He knew the entire time how much time was left, too. I don't know why I find this so crazy, other than I hope I ne…

Yes I remember the shock to hear that The Hermit, who kinda run The Register forums, died on the same day I had a chat with him. He quietly messaged me to give me some advice that was spot on. I had no idea and there was no hint that he was at the tail end of a protracted illness. They closed the forums and the website continued to change and be less of a community after that.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#77

Post by _yb2s »

bena wrote: post #23
vinnyvichy wrote: post #4

Jake's wife on FDA deregulation https://bessstillman.substack.com/p/the-drugs-killing-dying-...

This is a complicated subject. Because those rules are in place for reasons. And some of those reasons are to prevent drug companies from turning the poor into lab rats with no regard to their safety. And I guarantee you, you let "terminal" patients skirt rules, there will be a hell of a lot more "terminal" patients. And I'm sure there are some non-regulation reasons to limit various therapies. They are trying to see…

As someone that works in drug discovery as an academic and has patented drugs, I can tell you that the current process is biased way too far towards safety for optimal life saving outcomes if you look at it in a cold utilitarian way. A lot of lives would be saved by fast-tracking the approval process, despite the fact that there would also be an increase in negative outcomes.

However, it is probably not socially or politically tenable to kill or harm people with experimental drugs even if it saves a greater number of people. Realistically, I don't see things changing much.

I don't think its fair to dismiss this perspective as "written from an emotional place." As Alex Tabarrok wrote above, both Jake and his wife (a medical doctor) were involved with this issue before his diagnosis.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#79

Post by cancerboi »

Jake was strong. He was so prolific throughout his death process. Truly an inspration, especially to those dying of this disease.

It is a terrible disease. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. The horror, pain and lethargy that you experience... Having chunks of your body cut out periodically... Slowly dying from the inside out... Watching your loved ones fall apart... I can barely put into words how difficult it is. If you know someone who has this disease, reach out to them, they need love and support.

Rest in peace Jake. You will be missed. But more importantly, you will be remembered.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#80

Post by adamredwoods »

The work he did with clinical trials and navigating the system was very impressive. We need more people that are willing to push the envelope on cancer trials. I have my own challenges and his work is greatly appreciated.

We still need to beat cancer, all types. Let's keep going where Jake left off.

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