- Good news: The FCC is cracking down on robocalls.
- The case for Novavax.
- Lancet study: rising global temperatures since 2000 have caused 116,000 more heat deaths annually, but also led to 283,000 fewer cold deaths.
- The doctor doesn’t know best: health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are switching mental health patients from a prescribed medication to one that may not work as well.
- How well does Paxlovid really work?
- Why is America’s mortality rate higher than that of other nations? Study considers every possibility except the obvious one: our population is heterogeneous. Last time I looked, Americans of northern European descent have the same life expectancy as northern Europeans.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
California is Going to Make its own Insulin
Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will spend $100 million to develop low-cost insulin and build an in-state manufacturing facility.
Friday Links
- AMA encourages doctors to learn health economics. They even have their own online course. Haven’t checked it out, but I suspect it is more sociology than economics.
- Amazon wants to be your doctor.
- Déjà vu: Monkeypox testing looks like the Covid testing fiasco all over again.
- “probably half of all Covid infections have happened this calendar year — and it’s only July.”
- Insulin bill in the Senate looks like a done deal.
Medicare Unlikely to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices than PBMs
Senate Democrats are looking to lower Medicare drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices it pays for a limited number of drugs. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 expressly forbid the government from interfering with negotiations between private payers and drug makers. However, allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug makers has long been a goal of Democrats and the idea is popular with voters.