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Jake Seliger has died

marginalrevolution.com

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Re: Jake Seliger has died

#181

Post by ETH_start »

llamaimperative wrote: post #50
Zak wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People selling stuff are in the same category as the drug companies; I have no objection to regulating them, and imprisoning them for fraud, with an enhanced penalty for preying on particularly vulnerable people in the case you described.

How exactly are you going to prove fraud without, you know, the clinical trial data that you've just allowed them not to produce in the first place? Fraud is one risk -- the much bigger one is well-intentioned people trying to save lives seeing positive outcomes where there aren't any.

You could require them to disclose that they have no clinical data proving efficacy while also allowing them to sell the drug.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#182

Post by ETH_start »

bena wrote: post #81
Zak wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I don't think the answer is let terminal patients take whatever they feel like. I don't think anyone has the moral authority to tell anyone else what they can take, especially terminal patients. I do, however think governments have a responsibility to regulate how drug companies conduct trials so as to minimize harm to patients. This probably has the same outcome in practice, but I find the moral distinction im…

That's really the perspective I'm coming from. When I say the answer isn't to let terminal patients take whatever they feel like, it's to say that they shouldn't be the one to make the decision that a developing drug is safe enough for them to trial. Just because one is terminal, it does not make one an expert in medicine or pharmaceuticals. So it shouldn't be used an exception to the processes in place.

I don't understand this. Society at large supports assisted suicide and a host of other personal choices that unquestionably harm the health of the person making them. Why draw a line at potential treatments for illnesses? Why can't someone choose to be a guinea pig for the sake of advancing the science?

My guess is that consumer safety is being used as an excuse by those who want to control the market via regulatory gatekeepers, to reduce competition. But regardless of what's motivating it, it's illiberal.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#184

Post by sam2426679 »

canucker2016 wrote: post #87
dredmorbius wrote: post #58

Jake posted as jseliger on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jseliger He blogged at https://jakeseliger.com/ >, and numerous of his blog articles were submitted to HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=jakeseliger.com >. That includes numerous topics, over the past year or so his experience with cancer, often concerning frustrations with the process and mechanism. His essay on agenticness especially strik…

In an August 2023 post about regrets, https://jakeseliger.com/2023/08/12/regrets/ , his last regret is: * Not looking into that thing on my tongue in July 2022, when I first noticed it, but that is very specific to me and probably not generalizable. In https://jakeseliger.com/2024/05/16/the-financial-costs-of-he... , he mentions "...I got a partial glossectomy in Oct. 2022. Mine had some high-risk features, but I was…

> Not looking into that thing on my tongue in July 2022, when I first noticed it, but that is very specific to me and probably not generalizable... I got a partial glossectomy in Oct. 2022

This one hits close to home. My dentist at the time misdiagnosed tongue cancer as a “reddish lesion, w/ possible tongue biting,” and this was only after I pointed it out to him at the end of a routine appointment. It wasn’t correctly diagnosed until further prodding from me 3 months later. By some estimates, that delay increased my chance of death by 30%, and the cancer has since progressed from stage 2 to stage 4.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#185

Post by thom »

efilife wrote: post #170
thom wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. He was an academic who wrote about writing, authored two inconsequential novels, and was very open about his cancer. Many people here interacted with him or his work, but there’s no shame if you didn’t. A black bar on HN means people asked for it, it’s not a new entry on life’s high score table that needs to be rigorously justified.

[flagged]

I’m pretty comfortable with how I’m acting in the comments about someone’s death, but you do you.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#186

Post by benreesman »

I don’t know Jake, but I’ve been reading his last writings and I’ll observe that strength and courage and class in the face of existential infinity never, ever goes out of style.

That’s a legacy. You’re a role model to me for how I hope to face my moment when it comes.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#187

Post by vinnyvichy »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #169
BessS wrote: post #159

Hi everyone, This is Bess, Jake's wife. I just want to say how deeply touched I am to see how much Jake and his writing are appreciated here on HN. The intellectual online community which made up a big piece of his life for so long was important to him, as was having a positive influence on others, and it would have meant so much to him- as it does to me- to see the impact he made. Thank you for the people who reache…

I didn’t know Jake’s work, but I’m going on vacation tomorrow and this thread has moved me to get copies of his books and start reading them while I’m away. I’ll be thinking of your family as I make my way through them. I sincerely wish you and your daughter the best.

The writing of Jake's widow (e.g., on FDA reform)

is worth reading too.

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#188

Post by [deleted] »

BessS wrote: post #159

Hi everyone, This is Bess, Jake's wife. I just want to say how deeply touched I am to see how much Jake and his writing are appreciated here on HN. The intellectual online community which made up a big piece of his life for so long was important to him, as was having a positive influence on others, and it would have meant so much to him- as it does to me- to see the impact he made. Thank you for the people who reache…

[deleted]

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#189

Post by begueradj »

dredmorbius wrote: post #58

Jake posted as jseliger on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jseliger He blogged at https://jakeseliger.com/ >, and numerous of his blog articles were submitted to HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=jakeseliger.com >. That includes numerous topics, over the past year or so his experience with cancer, often concerning frustrations with the process and mechanism. His essay on agenticness especially strik…

How old was he ?

Re: Jake Seliger has died

#190

Post by vertis »

BessS wrote: post #159

Hi everyone, This is Bess, Jake's wife. I just want to say how deeply touched I am to see how much Jake and his writing are appreciated here on HN. The intellectual online community which made up a big piece of his life for so long was important to him, as was having a positive influence on others, and it would have meant so much to him- as it does to me- to see the impact he made. Thank you for the people who reache…

Nothing can really help/console in this moment. But so many of us are thinking about him. I appreciated his blog, his strength. It will go on and make a difference.

If you ever need anything my contact details are on my profile and I would be more than happy to help in any way that I can. Technically, financially (I'm sure you have much closer resources, but the offer is there regardless).

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