Why should antidepressants be switched from Rx to OTC? Because there is a severe shortage of mental health professionals. Access to mental health specialists and therapists is difficult for many people. Most therapists don’t accept insurance and psychiatrists are booked out far in advance.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Monday Links
- Penn Wharton on Biden’s latest student loan plan: it will cost taxpayers $84 billion and roughly “750,000 households making over $312,000 in average household income” will benefit.
- 400,000 to 480,000 children were born each year prenatally exposed to drugs or alcohol, based on an estimate for 2009–14, before the current drug epidemic began.
- The average resident of New Jersey will pay almost $1 million in lifetime taxes. No wonder the Garden State has lost more residents to out migration than any other state.
- CDC on why women avoid mammograms: feeling socially isolated, loss of work or reduced hours, dissatisfaction with life, the cost to access health care, a lack of transportation, and receiving food stamps.
Saturday Links
- US drug shortages reach an all time high.
- Bathrooms of the future: First, an alert from your toilet—you’re dehydrated. The mirror over your sink advises you to apply your prescription cream. As you step into the shower—it glows with infrared light, designed to soothe inflammation ….. (WSJ)
- Walmart is delivering prescription drugs to patients by drones in Dallas-Fort Worth.
- Report from Britain: There is little evidence that DEI efforts such as mandatory antibias training have any positive effect on corporate culture.
- Mayo Clinic: Puberty blockers cause long-term fertility problems in boys.
Thursday Links
- Studies: hugs are good for you.
- Regular mammograms identify 87% of breast cancers. AI programs can boost that detection rate by 20%, and the cost is $40 – $100 extra. Is that worth it?
- Study: There is no evidence that buying and then forgiving medical debts that are in collections improved on average beneficiaries’ finances, access to credit, or their physical or mental health. People were even less likely to pay existing medical bills after their debt was eliminated.
- PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down for thousands of years, if at all. Turns out, they are everywhere, including our drinking water, and that could be hazardous to our health.
- The FDA has approved a test that predicts a patient’s risk of becoming addicted to opioids. Why is that controversial?