Author's posts
Massachusetts Legislature Proposes Banning Use Of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis To Inform Healthcare Coverage Decisions
The US healthcare system rations based on a person’s ability to pay, quality of health insurance, and health status. Allowing for clinical- and cost-effectiveness considerations to inform allocation decisions is less arbitrary. Yet, Massachusetts lawma…
Dutch Study Confirms That Covid-19 In Pregnant Women Can Lead To Stillbirths
A Dutch study suggests that pregnant women infected with the coronavirus can experience severe complications in the second half of their pregnancy that result in stillbirths. It’s important therefore to implement Covid-19 prevention strategies, includi…
Opioid Overdoses Are A Raging Public Health Crisis, Driven Mostly By Illicit Fentanyl And Heroin
Government policymakers must redouble efforts to target the current drivers of the opioid crisis, namely, illicit fentanyl and heroin, while reframing preventive approaches in place to curb misuse and abuse of prescription opioids.
Waning Vaccine Immunity: Why Boosters Are So Crucial In Vulnerable Sub-Populations
The Delta wave continues to wreak havoc. It’s driven primarily by the unvaccinated, but is increasingly affecting the vaccinated, too, especially vulnerable sub-populations who haven’t been boosted. Waning vaccine immunity among these sub-populations i…
Austria Locks Down Most Of The Unvaccinated, Unleashing Heated Discussions Across Europe About How To Tackle The Latest Covid-19 Surge
In Austria approximately 2 million people who are unvaccinated or don’t have proof of recovery from Covid-19, can only leave their homes for work, to shop for essentials, or for emergencies. It’s uncertain if this gambit will work and whether other Eur…
CMS’s Innovation Center To Increasingly Focus On Medicaid As Expansion Of The Program Accelerates
As the CMMI embarks on a quest to improve Medicaid it may need to consider adjusting criteria of what counts as a successful alternative payment model. Sometimes cost savings may not be achievable. Improved health outcomes may be a more realistic goal,…
Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic Extends To Tuberculosis And Neglected Tropical Diseases
Tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases have been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as resources have been diverted to the Covid-19 response. This has caused an acute disruption of activities aimed at disease diagnosis, control, and el…
If Approved, The Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine Could Help Reduce Vaccine Hesitancy In The U.S.
Novavax’s recent application for licensing its Covid-19 vaccine in Australia, Canada, and the UK hasn’t gained much traction in the US media. This is odd, given that the vaccine could not only help to close the equity gap in vaccine supply globally, bu…
Democrats Revive Drug Pricing Reform With A Narrow Set Of Proposed Measures
Democrats have revived drug pricing reform with a narrow set of proposed measures. What’s being hammered out by Democrats as part of the budget reconciliation bill is much less ambitious than, say, H.R 3. Nevertheless, any reform of drug pricing, howev…
Preparing For The Next Pandemic: Guarding Against Anti-Science
Public health preparedness in the U.S. faces enormous challenges. These include decades of neglect of public health and chronic underfunding at the local, state, and federal levels. Also, there is entrenched opposition to public health interventions, f…
