At my local Kroger grocery store there is a waiting area next to the pharmacy with a room that says Consultations. The waiting area is rarely used. There is only the occasional person whose prescription is being filled. The consultation room is generally only used for those occasions when a pharmacist administers a vaccine. It’s mostly…
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Tuesday Links
- Paragon study: In 2023, the federal government is expected to spend 6.2 percent of the economy (or more than $1.6 trillion) on mandatory health programs. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that within 30 years, the federal government will annually spend at least 9 percent of the economy on those programs. And this is a conservative estimate.
- A little-noticed provision of the omnibus spending bill could give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to ban off-label use of approved therapies, even though 1 in 5 prescriptions written are for an off-label use.
- Study: Laughter really is contagious – and that’s good. (WaPo)
- Diversity training not only doesn’t work, it may actually backfire. So why are we spending $3.4B a year on it? (NYT)
- Fourth Quarter lobbying: almost $7 million by the American Hospital Association and $6.6 million by PhRMA. As Milton Friedman said, the question is not why we get so many bad laws; the question is, why aren’t things worse?
- Amazon will sell generic drugs for as little as $5 a month. But, no Medicare or Medicaid or private insurance.
- 25 of the 37 novel drugs approved in 2022, were first approved in the US.
The War on Drugs that Save Lives and Cure Diseases
About 85% of new medicines launched between 2012 and 2021 were available in the U.S., compared to 61% in Germany, 59% in the U.K. and 52% in France and Italy. Bluebird bio in 2021 said it was unwinding operations in Europe and withdrawing gene therapies for rare diseases, citing the challenges of “achieving appropriate value…
Friday Links
- Reason (magazine) investigation: CDC used Facebook to silence Covid dissent.
- More than 1,000 nursing homes reached a 75% infection rate during the Covid pandemic.
- For: more off label uses of existing drugs.
- IRA bill is already affecting drug development – negatively.
- What it will cost to attend this year’s Super Bowl game: almost $9,000.
- The Manchin/Capito Trust Act would force Congress to do what it doesn’t want to do: Tackle our unfunded entitlement liabilities.