I recently read about British man who claimed that a new Alzheimer’s drug gave him his life back. When he began showing early signs of dementia his doctor recommended that he enroll in a clinical trial testing donanemab, an experimental Alzheimer’s drug. The man claimed he could tell the difference after he began taking it. Not discussed in the article is that after the clinical trial ends he will not be able to continue taking it unless he pays for it privately.
Category: Health Insurance
Tuesday Links
- Study: physician assisted suicide is at least the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada.
- It’s more common for people in rural areas to die earlier than urban residents from things like heart disease, cancer and stroke.
- If a doctor followed the preventive care checklist recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (services everyone is entitled to for free by Obamacare legislation) it would take 8.6 of the doctor’s hours each day – leaving no time to do anything else.
- 60% of baby and toddler food doesn’t meet nutrition standards.
- The US approach replaces more than 73 percent of pre-retirement earnings for average workers (with Social Security plus pension income), significantly higher than the OECD average of 55.3 percent.
Monday Links
- What’s wrong with Kamala’s housing plan.
- It costs more than three cents to make a penny.
- “No state has voluntarily sought a statewide remedy to segregation in the 70 years since the Brown v. Board of Education decision.” (NYT) I’m pretty sure the most segregated states are the most liberal states. That’s definitely true for cities.
- Covid vaccines used to be free. Now they cost $200.
- Once you stop taking obesity drugs the weight comes back.
Are Americans Too Fat, Too Heavy or Too Round?
There are a variety of viewpoints about what causes America’s Battle of the Bulge. You can blame it on genes, sedentary lifestyles, snacking between meals, prepackaged calorie-dense foods, fast foods and cheap foods, all which arguably contribute to obesity. It’s probably all the above. One thing that is unlikely to contribute to excess weight: the Body Mass Index (BMI).