Do Not Resuscitate: How We Spend Trillions to Enrich Intermediaries Instead of Making Ourselves Healthier

Ground shifting under health economists' tootsies ("Do Not Resuscitate" #367 Oct 25 2024)

Long-standing skeptics about a single-payer system like Medicare for All are having second thoughts, according to a landmark essay that I lead with in my weekly review of our Rube Goldberg health financing non-system. Even though Bernie's 2016 and 2020 campaigns to put M4A on the national agenda, our presidential debates barely touch upon the money worries we all face with unpayable deductibles, ever-poorer deals from our jobs, high copays, the Medicare Advantage scam, and the permanent fear of medical bankruptcy. 
Here are links to all the articles discussed in this week's "Do Not Resuscitate":
Adam Gaffney, David U. Himmelstein & Steffie Woolhandler, “The only way to fix US health care,” New York Review of Books, Nov 7, 2024 https://bit.ly/4hjW9JQ
Luke Chafer, “How go private for that vital operation and get the NHS to pay for it: Everything you need to know about a little-known scheme,” Daily Mail [U.K.], 19 Oct 2024 https://bit.ly/3AbF8kq
Anna Claire Vollers, “1 million+ patients lose coverage as insurers, hospitals drop Medicare Advantage,” Stateline, Oct 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3BTUWZI
Joyce Frieden, “Use of prior authorization up in MA plans, Senate report finds,” MedPage Today, Oct 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YgIzhU
Noam N. Levey, “Voters fret high medical bills are being ignored by presidential rivals,” KFF Health News/CBS News, Oct 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3BVN0XU
Heather Landi, “Walgreens focused on growing specialty pharmacy, data analytics within healthcare business,” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/3A8y0Wa
Nathaniel Meyersohn, “Why your drug store is closing,” CNN Business, Oct 16, 2024 https://cnn.it/4hl7AB6
Annika Kim Constantino & Jacob Pramuk, “CVS replaces CEO as profits, share price suffer,” CNBC, Oct 18, 2024 https://cnb.cx/3YgXmt2
Tristan Manalac, “Unions, public interest groups call on FTC to challenge Novo Holdings-Catalent acquisition,” Biospace, Oct 18, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eMT3wt
Jed Graham, “Cigna restarts talks to buy fallen star Humana,” Investor’s Business Daily, Oct 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/4hg8gI1
Noah Tong, “Humana joins chorus of lawsuits over sinking star ratings,” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/48i0GZs
MedAxiom, “2024 cardiovascular provider compensation and production survey report launches,” Oct 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fdaztB
Kate Gibson, “Walmart plans to deliver prescriptions nationwide in as little as 30 minutes,” CBS News, Oct 22, 2024 https://cbsn.ws/4eZ1GUM
Kathryn Kranhold, “Former FDA lawyers join tobacco industry in ‘epic’ fight against the agency,” The Examination/STAT, Oct 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YnoPZQ
You can get my written digest by emailing. me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
The entire archive is housed at www.nypan.org/single-payer-links-archive

Research fraud, privatization scams, general bloodymindedness (Do Not Resuscitate #366)

On “Do Not Resuscitate we look at all the ways we enrich intermediaries instead of spending that money on healthcare. This week, there's a huge scandal on scientific fraud and plenty of appalling corporate behavior, including some juicy legal settlements for those who get caught. I added a new category, general bloody-mindedness.
You can get my weekly digest straight to your inbox by writing me tfrasca@yahoo.com
Here are all the links to the articles mentioned: 
Megan Brooks, “Prominent NIH neuroscientist fired over alleged research misconduct,” Medscape, Sep 30, 2024 https://wb.md/48bcdJZ
Daniel Garcia, “Picture imperfect: Scores of papers by Eliezer Masliah, prominent neuroscientist and top NIH official, fall under suspicion,” Science, Sep 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/40q5MRB
Tristan Manalac, “Teva to pay $450m in settlement with DoJ over kickback and price-fixing allegations, Biospace, Oct 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Y8oCKa
Mike Scarcella, “Blue Cross Blue Shield settles US health provider class action for $2.8 billion,” Reuters, Oct 14, 2024 https://reut.rs/3BM5av3 and Wendell Potter, “Blue Cross Blue Shield to pay largest settlement in U.S. antitrust health care history: $2.8 billion,” Healthcare Un-covered, Oct 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/3NuSj2Y
Emily Olsen, “Epic hit with antitrust lawsuit by data startup Particle Health,” Healthcare Dive, Sep 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/48aZerJ and JT Cestkowski, “FTC won’t rule out action in Epic Systems antitrust lawsuit,” WKOW [Madison WI], Oct 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/400UiDM
Noah Tong, “Medicare Advantage star ratings 2025—Who are the winners and losers?” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eOwBmO
Alan Condon, “Hospitals sick of fighting for Medicare Advantage dollars,” Becker’s Hospital Review, Oct 10, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Y7WM0n
Cheryl Clark, “MedPAC commissioners pan some Medicare Advantage plans’ ‘extra benefits,’” MedPage Today, Oct 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YE43Xz
Fred Schulte & Holly K. Hacker, “The Medicare Advantage influence machine,” KFF Health News/Fortune, Sep 30, 2024 https://bit.ly/3NueIgL
Edward P. Hoffer, “Private equity and medicine: A marriage made in hell,” American Journal of Medicine, Jan 2024 https://bit.ly/3Ys1I1r
Victoria Bailey, “Half of private equity-owned physician practices are resold within 3 years,” Xtelligent, Apr 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/3A2g7YY
Troutman Pepper, “Private equity consolidation of physician practices steady despite economic conditions,” Jul 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3NsyR73
Max Jordan Nguemeni, “Encampment sweeps threaten homeless people’s health,” STAT, Oct 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/4f9isA3
Mary Steurer, “Republican attorneys general seek to block rule providing health insurance for DACA recipients,” North Dakota Monitor, Oct 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/3UcYVqK
Rebecca Grapevine, “Georgia facing numerous crises, but Board of Public Health hasn't met since May,” Healthbeat Atlanta, Oct 4, 2024 https://bit.ly/403R8Pt
Michael DePeau-Wilson, “Billing for patient messages may have negative consequences, analysis suggests,” MedPage Today, Oct 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Yph7Q5
Arthur Allen, “Employers haven’t a clue how their drug benefits are managed,” KFF Health News, Oct 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YrL1Ua
Rebecca Pifer, “Blue Shield of California sidesteps PBMs with new Humira biosimilar deal,” Healthcare Dive, Oct 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/3BQVbow
Dave Muoio, “32 bipartisan state attorneys general ask Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma PBM case,” Fierce Healthcare, Jun 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/4f4x4AS
Tom Murphy, “Expect employers to get more picky about who you see for care,” Associated Press, Oct 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dPqmgU
 
and check out the full archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive
 

Pharma scams far and wide (Do Not Resuscitate #365 Oct 11 2024)

Drug prices are a major contributor to runaway health costs. On “Do Not Resuscitate we look at the mainstream and specialty news media about how we make intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. This week I focus on pharmaceuticals, including Pharma revenues and pricing, Medicare drug negotiations, the FTC lawsuit against PBMs, and the steady march of concentration all over the healthcare universe (PBMs being the worst example). Additional notes on the noises from Harris & Co. on whether she’ll back up/reappoint Lina Khan at the FTC (probably not—although agitation from us might affect that).
This podcast is a version my written digest, which you can get direct for free by writing me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
Below are all the links to the articles mentioned. You can also view the entire archive going back 6 years at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive
Matt Stoller, “Inside the mafia of Pharma pricing,” BIG, Jul 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dCbse4
Julia Rock, “How Big Pharma actually spends its massive profits,” The Lever, Jan 6, 2023 https://bit.ly/4fjcAVl
Megan Henney, “Prescription drug prices have surged almost 40% over the past decade,” FOX Business, Jul 2, 2024 https://fxn.ws/3SszUXz
Reed Abelson & Rebecca Robbins, “FTC slams middlemen for high drug prices, reversing hands-off approach,” New York Times, Jul 9, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4d378oK
Juliana Kim & Sydney Lupkin, “FTC sues insulin middlemen, saying they pocket billions while patients face high costs,” NPR, Sep 22, 2024 https://n.pr/4eWfLC0
Rebecca Robbins & Reed Abelson, “The opaque industry secretly inflating prices for prescription drugs,” New York Times, Jun 21, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3ylmaak
Lecia Bushak, “City of Baltimore sues Biogen over allegedly paying PBMs to stave off Tecfidera generic competition,” Medical Marketing & Media, Sep 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/3NGAqyx
Noah Tong, “Texas sues PBMs, manufacturers over insulin ‘conspiracy,’” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eGurpg
Stephen Kent, “Harris promised to be ‘pragmatic’—that means dropping Lina Khan at the FTC,” The Hill, Oct 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/485JtSN
Matt Stoller, “Monopoly round-up: The 2024 CNBC shadow campaign to fire Lina Khan,” BIG, Aug 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/4f0JHg7
Ken Alltucker, “Senate panel questions Novo Nordisk CEO over decision to discontinue this popular insulin,” USA Today, Sep 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Bz3WTO
Robert King, David Lim & Lauren Gardner, “In a first, Medicare has set prices for 10 drugs, saving billions,” Politico, Aug 15, 2024 https://politi.co/3BEMKMV
Nathaniel Weixel & Joseph Choi, “5 takeaways from first Medicare drug price negotiations,” The Hill, Aug 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YlnkNf
Deena Beasley, “US will still pay at least twice as much after negotiating drug prices,” Reuters, Sep 3, 2024 https://reut.rs/3YhFXl0
Mark Siedner & Rochelle Walensky, “Tested in Africa, used in America: How can we end the practice of HIV wonder drug experimentation in Africa?” STAT, Sep 18, 2024 https://bit.ly/4gZI4kU
Shalina Chatlani, “To lower prescription drug costs, states head to the courthouse,” Stateline, Aug 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dJQMAX
Anna Claire Volleres, “Angry patients spur new state watchdogs to bring down drug prices,” Stateline, Jul 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YohFWU
Grace Hills, “Kansas AG Kris Kobach accuses Pfizer of misleading vaccine marketing in lawsuit,” Kansas Reflector, Jun 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dIwKGM
Jakob Emerson, “27 health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans,” Becker’s Hospital CFO Report, Oct 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eWgenK
Heather Landi, “AHA calls on feds to boost supply of IV solutions as some hospitals cancel elective procedures to conserve stock,” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Yi70Nh
Melissa Barber, Joseph S. Ross, and Reshma Ramachandran, “One way to pay for weight loss drugs: CMS could buy Novo Nordisk,” STAT, Jul 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yafFHk
Oliver Whang, “In states that won’t pay for obesity drugs, ‘They may as well have never been created,’” New York Times, Jun 25, 2024 https://nyti.ms/46uA5Hq
Charles Piller, “All the Alzheimer’s research we didn’t do,” New York Times, Jul 7, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3YjFGhY
Juliet Ferguson, Eurydice Bersi & Maxence Peigné, “How Big Pharma preys on poor countries—and patients pay the price,” Open Democracy, Jul 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/4f1pG9i
 

Do Not Resuscitate #364 Private equity loots healthcare & the Great Medicaid Kick 'em off

On “Do Not Resuscitate for the week ending Oct 4, 2024, there’s news about the ongoing monopolization of healthcare as well as some sorry tales on the great Medicaid Kick-Off, that is, how millions of people on Medicaid are getting kicked off. As for good news, the Feds supported a workers lawsuit against a healthcare Godzilla in Pennsylvania, and some Medicare Disadvantage purveyors got a shellacking from Wall Street since they aren’t churning out enough profits.
Here are links to all the articles mentioned: 
Dan Primack, “Newsom vetoes bill to let California ban private equity deals for health care,” Axios, Sep 30, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eCxmPg
Paige Minemyer,” Key investor pressing CVS’ leadership for strategic changes,” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Y5VuEu
Dave Muoio, “Mercy, Alice Walton philanthropies unveil $700M specialty care affiliation,” Fierce Healthcare, Sep 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XGFcjO
Dave Muoio, “Anti-monopoly advocates urge FTC to block McKesson, Cardinal Health's big-ticket oncology acquisitions,” Fierce Healthcare, Sep 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ZPcC2K and Jeff Lagasse, “McKesson to acquire controlling interest in cancer outfit for $2.5 billion,” Healthcare Finance, Aug 27, 2024 https://bit.ly/3N8KiAP and David Wainer, “Drug distributors go all in on cancer care,” Wall Street Journal, Sep 30, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/3ZIlJC9
Mike Scarcella, “US Justice Dept backs workers’ antitrust lawsuit against Pittsburgh medical center,” Reuters, Oct 1, 2024 https://reut.rs/4eLxZpK
Matt Wiederrecht, “How a Harris Administration would approach antitrust policy,” Capstone, Aug 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TQRVPW
Eleanor Klibanoff & Lomi Kriel, “Despite warnings, Texas rushed to remove millions from Medicaid. Eligible residents lost care,” Texas Tribune/ProPublica, Sep 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eyVRgz
Renuka Rayasam & Sam Whitehead, “The first year of Georgia’s Medicaid work requirement is mired in red tape,” KFF Health News/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sep 13, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zE3uTP
Dave Muoio, “Nonprofit hospitals received $37.4B in federal, local tax benefits in 2021, study finds,” Fierce Healthcare, Sep 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eKD1mp
Edward Carver, “Why we need Medicare for All: Boeing revokes health benefits for striking workers,” Common Dreams, Oct. 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3NcqLzm
Dave Muoio, “What docs say is driving them away: 4 strategies to retain physicians,” Fierce Healthcare, Sep 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ZOf9Km
Ariel Cohen & Sandhya Raman, “On campaign trail, Vance lays out ‘concept of a plan’ for health care,” Roll Call, Sep 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/4gKsedN
Paige Minemyer, “Humana’s stock stumbles after it reveals 2025 star ratings drop,” Fierce Healthcare, Oct 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4ewjfvk
You can get my full digest direct to your inbox by writing me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
The whole archive of my single-payer digests is housed at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive 
 

How to extract rent from the health biz (Do Not Resuscitate #363) Sep 27 2024

In “Do Not Resuscitate" we pore over through the mainstream and specialty healthcare news media to see how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. This week’s theme is, How to extract billions from healthcare while providing lousy services? 
Here are all the articles mentioned this week:  
Paige Minemyer, “Employers are bracing for healthcare costs to spike in 2025. Here’s why,” Fierce Healthcare, Aug 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dkhijS
Jenna Carlesso, “Cost to rise for health plans sold on and off Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange,” CT Mirror, Sep 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XVSfPR
Lynne Terry, “Individual, small company health insurance plans will cost hundreds more a year,” Oregon Capital Chronicle, Sep 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/4etSwPG
Lora Pellegrini, “Medical costs are driving insurance premiums,” Franklin (MA) Observer, Sep 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ZERrQQ
Tina Reed, “Insurers’ big profits stem from care delivery, not core business, Axios, Aug 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XXAbFc
Paige Minemyer, “ACA exchange enrollees could see steep premium increases if enhanced subsidies expire,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XXmrdm
Julie Appleby, “New lines of attack form against the Affordable Care Act,” KFF Health News/ABC News, Aug 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XXVFll
Margot Sanger-Katz, “The campaign issue that isn’t: health care reform,” New York Times, Sep 13, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3XxdQNa
Berkeley Lovelace Jr., “U.S. ranks last in health care compared with nine other high-income countries, report finds,” NBC News, Sep 19, 2024 https://nbcnews.to/3MXWyDX
Tony Leys, “Patient underwent 1 surgery but was billed for 2. Even after being sued, she refused to pay,” KFF Health News, Aug 20, 2024 https://yhoo.it/3MVy7ap
Sarah Varney, “Her life was at risk. She needed an abortion. Insurance refused to pay,” KFF Health News/NPR, Aug 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/4deArnu
Ken Alltucker, “Nearly half of insured Americans get surprise expenses in medical bills, survey finds,” USA Today, Aug 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TE0ayI
Brianna Abbott & Peter Loftus, “Cancer is capsizing Americans’ finances: ‘I was losing everything,’” Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/45mIH2g 
Anjalee Khemlani, “Medicare Advantage could lead to lower hospital credit ratings: S&P,” Yahoo News, Aug 22, 2024 https://yhoo.it/3TKyTLc
Christopher Weaver, Tom McGinty, Anna Wilde Mathews & Mark Maremont, “Insurers pocketed $50 billion from Medicare for diseases no doctor treated,” Wall Street Journal, Jul 8, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/3ZCzRNi
Michelle Crouch, “Atrium Health cancels thousands of past medical debt judgments,” Charlotte Ledger/North Carolina Health News, Sep 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/3BrfM2c
Noam N. Levey & Ames Alexander, “How North Carolina made its hospitals do something about medical debt,” KFF Health News/Charlotte Observer, Sep 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Bh8U7P
Rachel Crumpler, “Copays pose a barrier for incarcerated people seeking medical care,” North Carolina Health News, Sep 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TJJTZ7
Patricia Kime, “VA sets up website, call center to protect vets from fraud as more companies profit from benefits claims,” Military.com, Aug 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/47CE2KZ
Paige Minemyer, “CVS’ Oak Street to pay $60M to settle kickback allegations,” Fierce Healthcare, Sep 18, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TJhNNw
Annie Waldman, Maya Miller, Max Blau & Duaa Eldeib, “Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here’s why,” ProPublica/NPR, Aug 25, 2024 https://n.pr/3XVtsLD
Max Blau, “‘I don’t want to die.’ He needed mental health care. He found a ghost network,” ProPublica/NPR, Sep 22, 2024 https://n.pr/3zxfLcw
Eleanor Klibanoff, “What Texas can learn from Italy’s big bet on tiny community health homes,” Texas Tribune, Sep 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/4gAK9n7
Madelyn Beck, “Should the state provide life support to Wyoming’s ailing ambulance services?” WyoFile, Aug 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XUqE1x
Eileen Applebaum, Emma Curchin & Rosemary Batt, “Structural determinants of health: Hospitals’ unequal capital investments drive health inequities,” Center for Economic and Policy Research, Jul 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XEbjAP
 
 

What Does Project 2025 say about healthcare? SPL #361

Project 2025 is the conservative think tank universe's blueprint for Trump II Administration. This week, I review its healthcare chapter instead of my usual rundown of the news on how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich. Project 2025 has plans to further privatize Medicare, throw more people off Medicaid, and harass women seeking abortions. “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” does have some surprises in it, including the guy they picked to write the HHS chapter, so I cover all that. The usual single-payer news review of the mainstream and specialty media will return next week. 
Here's the link to Project 2025:
<https://www.project2025.org/2025­MandateForLeadership­FULL.pdf>
 
And if you would like to get my digest direct to your inbox, write me at <tfrasca@yahoo.com> 

Can "public" health survive in the US? Do Not Resuscitate #360 Sep 6 2024

it’s time to reexamine the sorry state of our public health establishment, which in the best of times should provide a strong sense of a collective commitment to “promoting the general welfare” as a balance to the pursuit of individual self-interest. But these, needless to say, are not the best of times, and the profound discrediting of the very idea of public health bodes ill not just for the goal of a single payer/Medicare for All health system but for the Republic itself.
On "Do Not Resuscitate," I talk about how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. Links to all the articles mentioned in this episode are listed below along with my email if you would like to get my full weekly digest direct to your inbox. There is also an archive of back issues of all the 360 digests I produced over the last 7 years. 
Aron Solomon, “Summer COVID surge shows we may have to return to 2020 pandemic measures,” The Hill, Aug 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/4ectELN
Beth Mole, “The Covid-19 summer wave is so big, the FDA might release new vaccines early,” Ars Tecnica, Aug 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/47aKcln
Associated Press, “Sprinter Noah Lyles collapses after 200-meter race, wins bronze medal,” Aug 9, 2024 https://www.vpm.org/news/2024-08-09/noah-lyles-200-meter-coronavirus-paris-olympics
Brenda Goodman, “Free Covid tests, treatments will return to help the country cope over fall and winter, US officials announce,” CNN, Aug 23, 2024 https://cnn.it/3ThsSFD
Natasha Korecki & Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner, “The Democratic convention’s surprise guest: Covid,” NBC News, Aug 26, 2024 https://nbcnews.to/3ATGsbN
Emily Baumgaertner, “On the Covid ‘off-ramp’: No tests, isolation, or masks,” New York Times, Aug 27, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4eaExy0
Mary Kekatos, “There may be an increase in COVID cases this summer. Experts say this is why many shouldn’t be concerned,” ABC News, Jun 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ARo6rY
Lexi Lonas & Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, “Health experts warn against COVID complacency in schools amid surge,” The Hill, Aug 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/4gfrYDs
Apoorva Mandavilli, “What causes dangerous inflammation in children with Covid?” New York Times, Aug 7, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3ZemO4i
Ariana Eunjung Cha, “‘Unusual’ cancers emerged after the pandemic. Doctors ask if Covid is to blame,” Washington Post, Jun 6, 2024 https://wapo.st/4dFVQHf
Maureen Tkacik, “Why is NIH perpetuating long COVID denial?” American Prospect, Jun 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cTBWHA
Hillary Smith, “UK researchers find Alzheimer’s-like brain changes in long Covid patients,” University of Kentucky, Aug 30, 2024 https://bit.ly/3B3k3so
Katie Bach, “New data shows long Covid is keeping as many as 4 million people out of work,” Brookings, Aug 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cMzkew
Philip Marcelo, “Police in a suburban New York county have made their first arrest under a new law banning face masks,” Associated Press, Aug 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XfBZHI
Lambert Strether, “Eight reasons mask bans are beyond stupid,” Naked Capitalism, Aug 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3MBASxn
Maggie Fox, “H5N1 bird flu isn’t a human pandemic—yet. American contrariness could turn it into one,” Scientific American, Jun 5, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Zf0PKt  
David Wallace-Wells, “We’re applying lessons from Covid to bird flu. That’s not good,” New York Times, Aug 7, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4cVcZvn
to get my digest by email, write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
Back archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive
 

350,000 nasty chemicals sloshing around and we're banning masks? Aug 16 2024

On “Do Not Resuscitate (This System”) this week (ending August 16, 2024), I focus on how our health is affected by environmental factors, which don’t get much attention in our reimbursement-based payments system. The regulatory apparatus is rigged by laws forcing the government to prove harm rather than requiring industries to prove safety. And all the while we're flooded with tendentious propaganda about "environmental zealots" interfering with noble industries. To top it all off, Nassau County in New York has just decided to ban. . . masks! A harmless protective measure is the target while we let all sorts of junk merrily penetrate us through air, water, and food. 
You can get my print digest by writing to tfrasca@yahoo.com, and here are links to all the articles mentioned: 
William Boyd, “How environmental law created a world awash in toxic chemicals,” Law and Political Economy Project, May 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WC4f7i
Naomi Oreskes, “Asbestos is finally banned in the U.S. Here’s why it took so long,” Scientific American, May 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/44Zi3g1
Jack Guy, “Microplastics discovered in human penises for the first time,” CNN, Jun 19, 2024 https://cnn.it/3M0zsMF
Kate Aronoff, “Is big oil putting microplastic in your testicles? And if they are—should someone do something about that?” The New Republic, May 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cjBD9h
Alex Brown, “States need to keep PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ out of the water. It won’t be cheap,” Stateline, May 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Vo3cbO
Micah Toll, “The ‘one simple trick’ Paris used to reduce air pollution 40% ahead of Olympics,” Electrek, Jun 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/3AnXJcZ
They kicked out cars, provided alternative forms of transportation, tripled parking fees for large SUVs. I guess that’s three tricks.
Susan Pulliam, “The EPA cop who became a warrior for ‘forever chemicals,’” Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/3yX58yX
Hannah Norman & Patricia Kime, “Exposed to Agent Orange at US bases, veterans face cancer without VA compensation,” KFF Health News/USA Today, Apr 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yyKx3N
Zoey Becker, “With ruling, Pfizer can escape some claims in legal battle over Chantix carcinogen allegations,” FiercePharma, May 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3SJ4JY4
Andy Miller, “Toxic gas adds to a long history of pollution in southwest Memphis,” KFF Health News/USA Today, May 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WLHm15  
Hiroko Tabuchi, “EPA pulls from the market a weedkiller harmful to fetuses,” New York Times, Aug 6, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3X28Gtp
Deborah Mary Sophia, “US agency puts onus on Amazon for sale of hazardous third-party products, Reuters, Jul 30, 2024,” https://reut.rs/3yGo1Xh
Ted Alcorn, “Alcohol industry panics as healthier habits cut sales,” Think Global Health, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WNkGxA
Dietrich Knauth, “Scientist defeats J&J lawsuit over cancer research,” Reuters, Jul 1, 2024 https://reut.rs/3SILaiH
Kiley Bense, “Pennsylvania, Ohio residents affected by East Palestine derailment say needs still not being met,” Inside Climate News/Pennsylvania Capitol-Star, Jun 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3X0Z5mA
Suzanne Robotti, “The FDA should withdraw approval of more than 400 tainted medicines,” STAT, Aug 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/3X1oWuD
Julie B. Zimmerman et al., “How tobacco companies use chemistry to get around menthol bans,” Scientific American, Jun 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WHYchE
Nicholas DeVito, “Ultra-processed foods: the tobacco of the 21st century?” STAT, Aug 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/3M27SyB
Anne N. Thorndike, “Small changes in food ‘choice environments’ in stores can make a healthy difference,” STAT, Aug 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fGD8k9
Lambert Strether, “Mask bans slowly spread [cough, cough] in states and localities,” Naked Capitalism, Aug 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/3X2Qosc
 
 

Rich hospitals, poor hospitals (Do Not Resuscitate #358) Aug 9 2024

This week on “Do Not Resuscitate (This System”), your round-up of how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier, I look at the two-tiered hospital system evolving: on the one hand, prosperous Godzillas (including pseudo-nonprofits), and on the other, collapsing smaller, rural, or independent outfits that serve regular folks and can’t compete as businesses (which, incidentally, they shouldn’t have to).
You can get my full written digest by writing to me at tfrasca@yahoo.com and the back archive is hosted at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive
Here are links to all the articles mentioned in the podcast: 
Tina Reed, “Gulf widens between rich and poor hospitals,” Axios, Aug 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YCf0t4
Andrew R. Jones, “‘They must leave’: Coalition begins push for HCA to relinquish Mission,” Asheville Watchdog, Jul 27, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YAMCHv
Susanna Vogel, “State healthcare cost caps could further pressure hospital operating margins,” Healthcare Dive, Jun 4, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WVauob
Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Why many nonprofit (wink, wink) hospitals are rolling in money,” KFF Health News/Washington Post, Jul 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/4ddyetm
Taylor Sisk, “Closing of rural hospitals leaves towns with unhealthy real estate,” KFF Health News/USA Today, Jun 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WzITHz
Dietrich Knauth, “Massachusetts warns of health crisis amid Steward hospital sale delay,” Reuters, Jul 31, 2024 https://reut.rs/3ylb0T1
Gretchen Morgenson, “After private equity takes over hospitals, they are less able to care for patients, top medical researchers say,” NBC News, Jul 31, 2024 https://nbcnews.to/3LWrOTl
Susanna Vogel, “Steward will lay off more than 1,200 workers in Massachusetts,” Healthcare Dive, Aug 5, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cbLHAw
Steve Leblanc, “Massachusetts Senate approved bill intended to strengthen health care system,” Associated Press, Jul 18, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yxLPwp
[Editorial], “Health care consolidations: Bad for your health and wallet,” Dallas Morning News, Jul 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Acl6WJ
Katy Golvala, “Another lawsuit alleges Hartford HealthCare stifled competition,” CT Mirror, Jun 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WXoOvh
Heather Landi, “TowerBrook, CD&R take health tech company R1 RCM private in $8.9B deal,” Fierce Healthcare, Aug 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3AdhdB1
Alex Weprin, “New York’s largest hospital system is setting its sights on the entertainment business,” Hollywood Reporter, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3LORlhj
Marty Makary, “Medicare’s crazy payment system is creating monopolies in health care,” Washington Post, Jul 8, 2024 https://wapo.st/3WViPIy
Susanna Vogel, “North Carolina to offer enhanced Medicaid funds to hospitals that help eliminate medical debt,” Healthcare Dive, Jul 31, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WWW8Ul
Jeff Amy, “Former Georgia insurance commissioner sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to health care fraud,” Associated Press, Jul 13, 2024 https://bit.ly/3SBYHZe
Avni Gupta, Sara R. Collins, Shreya Roy & Relebohile Masitha, “Unforeseen health care bills and coverage denials by health insurers in the U.S.,” Commonwealth Fund, Aug 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/46He20n
 

Pharma's Many Scams & Hustles (Do Not Resuscitate #357) Aug 2 2024

On “Do Not Resuscitate" we look at the mainstream and specialty healthcare news media about how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. This week’s focus is pharmaceuticals: their crazy cost, the corrupted system of approvals, patent abuse, regulatory laxity, and the PBM scam in which yet another set of intermediaries extracts monopoly rents and destroys neighborhood pharmacies. 
You can get my full written weekly digest by writing to me at <tfrasca@yahoo.com>.
It's archived at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive.
Here are links to all the articles mentioned this week: 
Joe Biden & Bernie Sanders, “Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly must stop ripping off Americans with high drug prices,” USA Today, Jul 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fsRR1W
Andy Hirschfeld, “What is behind the insulin shortage in the US?” Al Jazeera, May 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fjDAVv
Stephanie Nolen, “South Africa runs out of insulin pens as global supply shifts to weight-loss drugs,” New York Times, Jun 19, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3WpMqIv
Alan Yu, “A discontinued asthma medication has patients scrambling, some to the ER,” NPR/WHYY, Jul 22, 2024 https://n.pr/3StsYJR
Megan Henney, “Prescription drug prices have surged almost 40% over the past decade,” FOX Business, Jul 2, 2024 https://fxn.ws/3SszUXz
Rebecca Robbins & Reed Abelson, “The opaque industry secretly inflating prices for prescription drugs,” New York Times, Jun 21, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3ylmaak
Reed Abelson & Rebecca Robbins, “FTC slams middlemen for high drug prices, reversing hands-off approach,” New York Times, Jul 9, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4d378oK
Jared S. Hopkins, “Mail-order drugs were supposed to keep costs down. It’s doing the opposite,” Wall Street Journal, Jun 25, 2024
Bhanvi Satija, “Boehringer-GoodRx partner to offer Humira rival at 92% discount,” Reuters, Jul 18, 2024 https://reut.rs/3SsJx8y
Anna Claire Vollers, “Angry patients spur new state watchdogs to bring down drug prices,” Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service/Stateline, Jul 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fsE9fM
Rosemary Westwood, “Louisiana reclassifies drugs used in abortions as controlled dangerous substances,” KFF Health News/WWNO, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/46uuYY8
Melissa Barber, Joseph S. Ross & Reshma Ramachandran, “One way to pay for weight loss drugs: CMS could buy Novo Nordisk,” STAT, Jul 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yafFHk
Matt Bevins, “A real world Dr. Evil: Big Pharma’s conspiracy to game medical literature,” Racket News, Jun 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fnBm7o
Jason Mast & Matthew Herper, “Top FDA official Peter Marks overruled staff to approve Sarepta gene therapy,” STAT, Jun 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WrD7b9
Liam Bendicksen, Edward Cliff & Aaron S. Kesselheim, “This gene therapy may not work. So why did the FDA fully approve it?” Washington Post, Jul 22, 2024 https://wapo.st/4bZY42w
Adam Feuerstein, “Sarepta demanded Duchenne patient advocacy group censor video critical of the company,” STAT, Jul 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dl0FoF
Devi Shastri, “Rural pharmacies fill a health care gap in the US. Owners say it’s getting harder to stay open,” Associated Press, Jun 7, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WIGLyq
Ian Karbal, “Prescription for trouble: Pennsylvania pharmacists say PBMs are driving pharmacy closures,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Jun 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WL1n9B 
Jessica Grose, “It’s time to ban pharmaceutical advertising,” New York Times, Jun 19, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4drgDOl
Ruth Reader, “Opioid deaths rose 50 percent during the pandemic. In these places, they fell,” Politico, Jun 26, 2024 https://politi.co/3YsO9PQ