- Anthrobots are biological robots, made from human cells, that “can be coached to do something they would never have done on their own.”
- A critical analysis of a proposal to abolish the FDA, by Scott Alexander.
- Blue cities are more segregated than the rest of America.
- A brief history of torture in judicial proceedings, including the modern era.
- Despite its being in place for more than half a century and directing more than a billion dollars annually, there is limited evidence of the Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) program’s effectiveness at reducing geographic disparities in access to care or health outcomes.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
Thursday Links – 14 December 2023
- There are more living cells on Earth — a million trillion trillion, or 10^30 in math notation, a 1 followed by 30 zeros — than there are stars in the universe or grains of sand on our planet.
- Elisabeth Warren’s solution to the generic drug shortage problem: let nonprofit companies produce them.
- Employers are hiring virtual providers as weight-loss drug gatekeepers.
- What is mifepristone? It is used in more than half of all US abortions.
Wednesday Links
- Lilly’s weight loss drug: if you stop taking it you will regain half the weight you have lost.
- Trump’s environmental record was surprisingly good.
- A typical couple reaching age 65 and retiring in 2020 has paid $680,000 in lifetime taxes. They can expect lifetime benefits of about $1.24 million. Most retiree couples are “Social Security millionaires,” regardless of other income and assets.
- One in four animals raised for food are never eaten.
- There are over 73,000 contract pharmacies that qualify for 340B discounts. Is anybody paying list price for these drugs?
More Physicians Want to Work in Medical Business, Not Medical Practice
A recent survey found that more than half of both medical students and nurses in training prefer not to work in patient care. In the United States 63% of medical students and 60% of nursing students report hoping to work in non-clinical areas of medicine, such as public health management, research or business consultancy.