- Study: The global COVID-19 campaign vaccinated over 2 billion people within the first 8 months. We find that the vaccination campaign across 141 countries averted 2.4 million excess deaths, valued at $6.5 trillion.
- Burnout among health care workers: Less than 30 percent are “very happy”; more than a third report symptoms of “depression”; more than half have symptoms of “anxiety.”
- Who makes more money from the sale of generic drugs – PBMs or drug manufacturers?
- How many prescription drugs do people take over their lifetimes? non-Hispanic Whites take the most, Hispanics take the least, and non-Hispanic Blacks fall in between these extremes.
Category: Wednesday Links
Wednesday Links
- The Obamacare-created Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was expected to save $2.8 billion in its first decade. In fact, it increased spending by $5.4 billion.
- Health risks of marijuana.
- Walmart offers telehealth for pets. Amazon may be next.
- Are we paying people not to work?
- One in 10 cancer patients have seen their treatment affected by drug shortages. Of those, 68% had trouble finding substitute medications and 59% reported treatment delay.
Wednesday Links
- Dental insurance isn’t really insurance – it’s a discount service.
- A 20-year-old research paper with lasting relevance asks: Why are people getting fatter? Answer: they are eating too much.
- Is there a nursing shortage or is there a shortage of nurses providing care? And what’s the difference?
- Obese patients are often excluded from drug trials. Is that a mistake?
- After looting CVS, Target and other stores, what do thieves do with the loot? They set up shop on the sidewalk across the street and sell them. DC has made that easier by decriminalizing street vending.
Wednesday Links
- Tyler Cowen on an early study by Claudia Goldin explaining inequality: returns to education is the culprit.
- Case and Deaton: Life expectancy at age 25 for those with four-year college degrees rose to 59 years on the eve of the pandemic, up from 54 years in 1992. But for those without college degrees, life expectancy reached its peak around 2010 and has been falling ever since. (NYT)
- Matt Yglesias rejects the Case/Deaton argument for “deaths of despair.”
- 20 percent of adolescents had symptoms of major depressive disorder during the pandemic, but less than half got treatment.
- 45% of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee have conflicts of interest. That may be why the government published the food pyramid that caused so many people to get fat.