Category: Meds

Big pharma’s grip on health care: time for change

Everyone seems so scared of the word government regulation when it comes to health care. Why? In part, this is because those against regulations (everyone making money off health care) make sure to scare laypeople into equating such action with sociali…

Advancing drug discount programs starts with collaboration and clarity

The 340B drug discount program was enacted more than 30 years ago to lower the cost of medications so providers could deliver more comprehensive services for vulnerable patients. As care delivery has evolved greatly over that time, the program has not …

The untold truth behind our reliance on prescription medications

Recently, while contemplating the AAPA-AMA scope creep debate, I encountered a quote about GLP1-RAs for obesity: “We need to just really think about it as a chronic disease … to make sure that we try to keep that patient in [ongoing] treatm…

Antipsychotic use has been rising in long-term care homes, but we can do something about it

As health care providers working in long-term care (LTC), we’ve seen firsthand how antipsychotic medications are prescribed to residents, and why. Antipsychotics are often used to help manage behaviors such as agitation and aggression in older ad…

Antipsychotic use has been rising in long-term care homes, but we can do something about it

As health care providers working in long-term care (LTC), we’ve seen firsthand how antipsychotic medications are prescribed to residents, and why. Antipsychotics are often used to help manage behaviors such as agitation and aggression in older ad…

The miracle of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a physician’s unforgettable journey

Even a half-century later, a physician cannot forget the first death of a patient under their care. It happened for me during my postgraduate medical training in the 1970s in an academic medical center hospital in the western half of the United States….

The miracle of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a physician’s unforgettable journey

Even a half-century later, a physician cannot forget the first death of a patient under their care. It happened for me during my postgraduate medical training in the 1970s in an academic medical center hospital in the western half of the United States….

You could soon be taking (or prescribing) a drug developed by AI

Across all industries, artificial intelligence is changing our approach to developing new products, including in the life sciences and drug development. While it may seem that an AI-derived treatment is far in the future, the science, biomathematics, a…

The testosterone surge: Are men chasing solutions or creating new risks?

Among men, even before COVID-19, the popularity of testosterone therapy since 2000 likely outpaced the clinical need. There have been a number of proposed reasons for this, such as increased direct-to-consumer marketing for low testosterone treatments …

Navigating patient transitions following the withdrawal of Oxbryta

The withdrawal of Oxbryta (voxelotor) from global markets, announced by Pfizer after a recent data review revealed a rise in deaths and complications, has left sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in a precarious situation. The sudden nature of the annou…