Nearly 110,000 people died in 2023 from a drug overdose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That is around 300 people per day. Opioid abuse and overdose deaths are growing problems in the United States. In recent years fentanyl has flooded the illicit drug market. Virtually all prescription opioids bought off the street are counterfeit with fentanyl as the active ingredient. Many illicit drugs, like cocaine and heroin, are also laced with fentanyl to boost the strength.
Category: Direct Primary Care
Health Care Disruption Takes Another Hit
Walmart has made the unfortunate decision to shutter its health clinics, the big box retailer announced. The decision was apparently sudden. Only about a month ago Walmart announced plans to add 19 more stores in 2024. In all Walmart will close all 51 of its physician-staffed clinics. Walmart is also closing its telemedicine portals as well.
Tuesday Links
- A Medicare reform that is long overdue: when Medicare Advantage enrollees return to traditional Medicare, they shouldn’t be penalized in the medigap market.
- Robin Hanson responds to Scott Alexander: core medicine is effective but it appears that extra medicine (delivered in high spending areas) is not.
- San Francisco opens a $1.7 million public toilet. (NYT)
- Why it is so hard to know if there is a relationship between red meat and mortality.
- States with freer economies attract more immigrants from other states and have higher growth rates.
Are Senior Homeowners Aging in Place or Stuck or Stuck in Place?
I toured a naturally occurring retirement community (NORC) in Queens, New York a few years ago. It was an Aging in Place initiative, partly funded by the Denver-based Daniels Fund. Fun fact: The fund was established by Bill Daniels before he died. His fortune came from basically inventing cable TV. The purpose of a NORC is to allow people in the community to age in their own homes as long as possible, rather than forced to move into assisted living.