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What We're Reading: Valeant Increases Aid-in-Dying Drug Price Ahead of California's New Law
What we're reading, March 24, 2016: Valeant doubles the price of aid-in-dying drug; the Supreme Court seems split on contraception case; and less than 3% of Americans meet qualifications for a healthy lifestyle.
With legalized assisted suicide ready to take effect in California starting in June, Valeant Pharmaceuticals has increased the cost of the drug used for these instances. According to NPR, the company makes the drug most commonly used for physician-assisted suicide and has decided to double the price of the drug from last year. In 2009, a lethal dose of the drug cost less than $200—now it is $3000.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, still 1 member short, heard arguments regarding the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage requirement. However, it seems like a 4-4 tie may be a real possibility, which would not set a national precedent and would affirm the appeals court decisions, reported The New York Times. The likely swing vote would be Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who seemed to wonder if making religious institutions comply with the law would make them “complicit in the moral wrong.”
Nearly all Americans do not meet the basic qualifications for a “healthy lifestyle.” Just 3% of Americans have a lifestyle that includes moderate or vigorous exercise for at least 150 minutes a week; a diet score in the top 40% of the Healthy Eating Index; no smoking; and a body fat percentage under 20% for me or 30% for women, according to The Atlantic. The toughest qualifications to meet was the body fat percentage (only 9.6% of Americans) while not smoking was the qualification most frequently met (71.5%).
Standard Criteria for Loss of Ambulation Needed in DMD
April 19th 2024A recent study suggests the differences between ambulation definitions for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can impact the identification of ambulant vs nonambulant individuals, and standard criteria across settings are needed.
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Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Early Involvement Critical in Treating Immunotherapy-Induced Overlap Syndrome
April 19th 2024A series of case studies reveals the importance of early diagnosis and involvement of special teams of clinicians when dealing with potential cases of overlap syndrome, which encompasses myocarditis, myasthenia gravis, and immune checkpoint inhibitor–related myositis.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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Government agencies have created an online portal for the public to report potential anticompetitive practices in health care; there are changes coming to the “boxed warning” section for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T) to highlight T-cell blood cancer risk; questions about the safety of obesity medications during pregnancy have arisen in women on them who previously struggled with fertility issues.
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