- Because of a “Covid Emergency,” 150 members of the house were able to vote remotely on the IRA bill.
- Are progressives trying to destroy San Francisco’s status as “the best food city in the country”?
- Is hearing loss justification enough to end your life? Canada arguably has the world’s most permissive euthanasia rules.
- Why is Bill Kristol attacking Herschel Walker because he sought mental health care?
- Does it matter what time of day you take your meds? Apparently.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
During a Nursing Shortage Nurses Abandon Hospitals
Physicians have long dabbled in cosmetic medicine to boost their incomes. It is interesting to note that their cosmetic practices are competitive with transparent pricing, while their therapeutic areas of practice is bureaucratic with opaque prices. As a result of competition, cosmetic surgery prices have risen about equal to consumer inflation, which is one-third the rate of medical inflation.
Who Benefits from Drug Rebates? Mostly Health Plans (Not Consumers)
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) have been in the news lately. PBMs manage drug benefits for insurers, self-insured employer health plans, Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D. Recently executives from the three largest PBMs were hauled before Congress to discuss their business models. One reason for scrutiny is that the three largest PBMs control about 80% of the market.
One-Third of Patients don’t Take their Medication as Directed
Patients don’t follow directions. A Canadian study found nearly one-third of patients don’t take their medications as directed. This is news to me. I thought it would have been a much higher proportion that are medication nonadherent. Medscape medical news reports:
In a study that examined more than 200,000 patients and 91,000 unique prescriptions, overall nonadherence rates ranged from 13.7% for patients prescribed antidepressants to 30.3% for patients prescribed antihypertensive therapies.