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.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
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.
Woke Medicine is Hazardous to Your Health
Virtually all medical schools admit black and Hispanic applicants with scores on the Medical College Admission Test that would be all but disqualifying if presented by white and Asian applicants, and some schools waive the MCATs entirely for select minority students. Courses on racial justice and advocacy are flooding into medical school curricula; students are learning more about white privilege and less about cell pathology.
Heather Mac Donald in the WSJ Excellent throughout.
Friday Links
- Why are there so few Covid cases in Africa, compared to the rest of the world? Speculative
- Hospitals are still evading the law on transparency.
- Can a pharmacist deny a patient a morning-after pill?
- How the clothes you wear can affect your health. Futuristic
- More reasons not to tax people with the highest incomes. Insightful
- Are Democrats robbing Medicare to pay for Obamacare?