- Is it possible to “build a cell from scratch”?
- BMJ study: a trade deal with the US requiring Britain to pay more for US drugs would cause 229,000 avoidable deaths because of the diversion of funds from other heath care needs. Is this supposed to make us feel guilty?
- From 2005 to 2023, per capita health care spending grew 1.8 percent per year among people in the highest income quintile compared with no growth among people in the lowest income quintile.
- How AI could increase health care spending.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Friday Links – 3 July 2026
- The average silver plan deductible this year is $5,304.
- Doctors can change the color of your eyes. (Cost: $12,000)
- Less developed countries can ignore patent law, reverse engineer patented drugs and make them available – even to visitors from developed countries. (NYT)
- Chemotherapy drugs in short supply are being rationed.
- The “Fiscal Democracy Index” measures the share of revenues remaining after accounting for the mandatory spending and interest costs imposed by past Congresses. In the early to mid-1960s, the index stood at over 60 percent. Today, the index has fallen to zero.
Heat Kills More Europeans Annually Than American Deaths from Gun Violence
If you watched YouTube this past month you have no doubt seen reaction videos of Europeans visiting the United States for the World Cup soccer match. The games were not the highlight of the videos. The topic that caused the videos to go viral was the reaction to American culture, including the size of stores like Buc-ees, Costco, Walmart, and Bass Pro Shop, and the portion size at restaurants. European experiencing Texas barbeque for the first time was a hot topic, as was air conditioning. It is currently sweltering in Europe, and it was relatively hot in the Southern U.S. the past several weeks. Europeans appreciated the use of air conditioning, including inside some arenas.
Wednesday Links – 1 July 2026
- In March … a surgical assistant in Dallas earned $50,456 through arbitration for a prostate removal operation. The surgeon, who accepted the patient’s insurance, earned $1,843. (NYT)
- “The surgery done 700,000 times per year is no better than a placebo surgery.”
- Drug economics: the marginal cost of one more pill is almost zero; but the marginal cost of treatments based on the sequencing of your individual genome can be quite high.
- “The general pattern … research points to is that many people don’t use the time they save using AI to do less; they use the time to take on new tasks.” (The Atlantic)
- This hospital has opted out of Medicare, charges market prices in its ER and turns patients away if they can’t pay. (Statnews)