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: Health Economics & Costs
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.
Woke Medicine
Step One of the medical licensing exam, taken during or after the second year of medical school, tests medical students’ knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology. On average, black students score lower on the grading curve, making it harder for them to land their preferred residencies…. The solution, implemented last year, was to eliminate the Step One grading disparity by instituting a pass–fail system. Hospitals choosing residents can no longer distinguish between high and low achieving students—and that is precisely the point! More.
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.