- Over-the-counter birth control decision is a small step in the right direction – many more steps are needed.
- At $3.5 million for a one-time dose, Hemgenix (which cures hemophilia) is now the most expensive drug in the world.
- Gender bias in academia? A lot less than you might think.
- Michael Drummond on high US drug prices: “My hope as a European is that US never gets its health system in order.”
- British babies born with DNA from three people.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
FDA Panel Backs OTC Birth Control
An advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted to recommend Opill be sold over the counter (OTC) without a prescription. Opill is a hormonal contraceptive pill first approved in 1970. Advisory committees are panels of outside medical experts who advise the FDA on matters related to the specific area they were appointed to. There are numerous advisory panels. In the latest vote, one panel advises on over-the-counter medications. Another panel advises on reproductive health. The combined panel was composed of 17 experts in a 2-day hearing.
Physician Visits are Inconvenient, Inefficient and Outdated: They Don’t Have to Be
The last major productivity increase in medical care was the physician’s waiting room. Back in the day house calls were common. If the doctor had to walk, drive or ride a horse to your house that was not a good use of his time. Of course, 100 years ago your doctor couldn’t help much either….
The High Cost of Poor Mental Health
There is a growing mental health crisis today. Numerous people report being depressed or anxious due to Covid and its aftermath. As the Texas mall shooting illustrates there is a lot of untreated mental illness in the United States. Indeed visits to the emergency rooms (ER) for mental health problems are on the rise. A mental health issue such as a panic attack can mimic other problems. I met a cab driver who said he went to the ER for a heart attack but it turned out to be a panic attack. Purportedly, hundreds of thousands of Medicaid patients seek treatment in emergency rooms for mental health.