- Gaming the patent system: drug companies have 74 patents apiece on America’s ten best-selling drugs—receiving over half of them after FDA approval.
- More than 3.1 million patients in 48 states have completed a consultation with an AI-powered chatbot.
- Federal employees are still not back to work. 17 of the 24 federal agencies in GAO’s review had an average occupancy of 25 percent or less.
- As of mid-2020, collections agencies held $140 billion in unpaid medical bills. That’s more than all other collections agency consumer debt combined.
- 80% of children with cancer survive at least five years in the wealthiest countries v. 30% in the rest of the world, according to WHO. (NYT)
Category: Cost of Healthcare
The Atlantic: What Happens When Hard Drugs Are Decriminalized
Today John Goodman posted the Danger of Drug Laws and the unintended consequences of making drug abuse illegal. Because drug abuse is illegal, illicit drug users don’t have the support system that medical pharmaceuticals have. For example, fentanyl has both legitimate medicinal uses and non-medical uses. It has a low therapeutic index when used for pain relief. That means it is inherently risky.
Insured, But for How Long?
While 12.5% of individuals under 65 are uninsured at a point in time, twice as many—one in four—are uninsured at some point over a 2-y period. Moreover, the risk of losing insurance remained virtually unchanged with the introduction of the landmark ACA. Risk of insurance loss is particularly high for those with health insurance through Medicaid or private exchanges; they have a 20% chance of losing coverage at some point over a 2-y period, compared to 8.5% for those with employer-provided coverage.
Thursday Links
- Arnold Kling on “Price Discrimination Explains Everything,” (including hospital finance). Recommended.
- Biden suspends funding for the Wuhan Lab.
- How Fauci and NIH leaders worked to discredit the lab leak theory.
- Report by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic relies on more than 8,000 documents, including emails and other communications, plus nearly 25 hours of witness testimony.
- Bob Moffitt: the Biden administration is stonewalling an attempt to get at the origin of Covid.
- Douglas Hofstadter changes his mind: AI really is a risk. (David Brooks: NYT)
- Woke ideology is invading the mental health professions. (WSJ)