BBC NEWS | Health | Windpipe transplant breakthrough
This is simply an amazing medical event. Check out the entire story.
Lifelong Learning
Another One Bites the Dust
Protective Life to buy bank, seeking bailout cash – Business News from The Birmingham News – al.com
According to the Birmingham Business Journal:
Protective Life Corp. reported third quarter 2008 net losses of $100 million as its investments plunged by $203 million.
The Birmingham-based insurance firm reported pre-tax stock losses of $92.4 million in Lehman Bros., $45.3 million in Washington Mutual, $7.1 million in Freddie Mac and $21.9 million in Fannie Mae.
Protective Life’s net losses for the quarter ended Sept. 30 follow three previous quarters in which it posted a combined $135 million in net income.
Protective Life reported net income of $73 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007.
And the Madness continues…
Statins for Everybody…Maybe Not
The comments to the following blog post are worth reading.
Listen and Learn – Alzheimer’s Research Update
Survival Strategies
I was having a wonderfully quiet morning until I read this article from Bloomberg. I’ve provided the first paragraph which essentially summarizes the survival strategies for some of the largest insurance companies on the planet.
- Buy a small bank that no one else would want due to imprudent and improper lending practices
- Convert into a Federally regulated bank or S&L
- Stand in line and beg for money from the US taxpayer.
Go ahead and read the entire article. It will make you violently ill.
I felt I needed to explain my previous post.
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — Four of the world’s biggest life insurers may acquire small banks that regulators have cited for improper practices to improve their own chances of getting cash from the $700 billion U.S. government bailout fund.
The Power of New Media
I am hardly the expert on the varied forms of communications technology conveniently described as the New Media. But managing technology operations for two companies has taught me the simple rule of paying attention. Examples of paying attention (and not paying attention) abound. I happened to notice the number of text messages delivered by cell phone companies exceeded the number of phone calls for the first time a couple of months ago. My personal phone bill last month included nearly 5400 text messages on my son’s line.
And that’s a light month compared to the 8000+ month he had earlier this year.
The point I’m making is also simple. Pay attention to the new methods of communication and the communities that are being created. These communities are powerful. They can and will change your business in ways we have yet to imagine. For an illustration of my point, read this article.
Listen and Learn – They Will Eat the Double Cheeseburger and NOT the Statin
Non-compliance with medical advice or medications is not a good prescription for future outcomes. Underwriters need to know which side of the compliance fence the applicant is on.
Many Patients On Cholesterol Meds Stop Treatment : NPR
Go to Hank George’s website for a good read on non-compliance.
Risk-Taking Behavior: Noncompliance with Medical Advice | Hank George INC
Listen and Learn – Statins for Everybody
Here are a few links that provide some more insight into the recent results from the Jupiter study.
Study: Statin Helps Even If Cholesterol Is Normal : NPR
In Lowering Cholesterol, How Low Do You Go? : NPR
You can read the NEJM abstract here:
NEJM — Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein
Mine’s 72. What’s Yours?
More Scary Stuff
Most people who know me know I’m fairly diligent about exercise and diet. They also know I enjoy my glass of anti-platelet aggregation liquid in the evening. But most who know me, don’t know I used to weigh 350 pounds. I lost my weight back in the 70’s (that’s 19 not 18 70’s). So it pains me to read an article like this. The sample size may be small, but the results do not surprise me nor are they encouraging regarding the current health of our kids and the future health status of these guys when they grow up.
Check out this scary stuff. The future of underwriting looks bright.
Child Obesity Seen as Warning of Heart Disease – NYTimes.com
lifeunderwriter.net 
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