Pharma talk, pickleball injuries & booger science 🔬
Coming in hot, one more healthcare newsletter you never asked for. But I promise, we’re cooler.
Think about it 💡
✒️ One small step for Biden, one giant leap for pharmaco-equity. Signed into law by the U.S. president on August 16, the Inflation Reduction Act seeks (among other things) to lower the cost of prescription drugs, including cancer drugs, blood thinners, and insulin. As it stands, the US is wearing the very expensive crown awarded to the country with the highest spending on prescription drugs. This results from the increasing costs leading to financial hardship for many Americans, especially for minorities. Black and Hispanic Americans are more affected by chronic diseases and therefore have higher rates of prescription drug spending than white Americans. They also do not adhere to prescribed treatments as much because of the high cost of medication. By lowering these costs, the IRA provides an important avenue for addressing healthcare disparities.
⚖️ How about pharmaco-accountability?? A federal judge ordered CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart to pay $650.5 million to two Ohio counties in a case related to the opioid epidemic. The decision seeks to hold pharmacy chains accountable for their part in feeding the opioid crisis. Though the ruling is one (big) step towards setting a precedent for other communities, some providers have expressed concerns as to how it could impact certain patients.
Toss your yoga pants away, put your pickleball shorts on 🥒
🎾 Pickleball is the new fastest-growing trendy afterwork-pre-brunch-cool-kids-only sport. And no, it (unfortunately) does not consist in tossing a pickle back and forth which, let’s be honest, is a shame (especially given that it involves a Kitchen??). The new cash machine of the century, pickleball, is also the subject of numerous scientific publications reporting the dangerous nature of this very extreme and hazardous sport. Spraining, straining, fracturing, diving face first into your flabbergasted boss, it’s all fun and games until it’s all misery and…no games.
Neat News 🗞️
🏥 Maven Clinic is expanding its platform with a new dedicated menopause care program as more employers seek to provide this benefit. Neat.
🇮🇳 Bangalore-based health and wellness clinic Mojocare raised $20.6 million to address issues such as reproductive health, fertility, and hair care through an online platform. Super neat.
👩⚕️ Point-of-care ultrasound devices are growing in popularity as a means to accelerate diagnosis and encourage health equity. Ultra(sound) neat.
What the hellth? 🔬
👃 You know you do it. I know you do it. Everybody knows everybody does it. Rhinotillexis (nose-picking in layman’s terms) is widespread among animals: humans, gorillas, chimpanzees, giraffes…even seals and dogs have their own little nose-picking resembling rituals. Children who have yet to internalize the social stigma around it do it as if their booger was a gourmet dish.
💡 If we all do it, then how bad can it really be? Pretty bad.
🦠 It turns out that sticking your finger up your nose is a terrific strategy for getting germs deeper into your system or spreading them around the environment with your snotty little pointer. Shocker, I know. Research has shown that picking one's nose is associated with nasal carriage of S. aureus (golden staph) and an increased risk of transmitting it to wounds, where it presents a more severe threat.
💊 Even more fun, antibiotics are sometimes not effective against golden staph. In fact, increasing antibiotic resistance is prompting healthcare professionals to take a closer look at their patients' nose-picking habits and educate them on how to, well, not stick their fingers up their nose.
Consumable Content 🧁
✍️ AI can help us understand the brain. Drug design, hearing aid, post-stroke care, mood disorders…NeuroAI could unlock new avenues for improvements in human health.
📖 CB Insights released a report on the role of tech in improving clinical trials. With a lot of pretty purple pics and graphs.
This is what you came for 🍑
🎂 Do you invite your exes to your birthday parties? Chances are you’re a psychopath (narcissist, sadist, Machiavellian…fun stuff). A study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found that subjects with the darkest personality traits (aka, psychopathic tendencies) were more likely to say they stayed in contact with their former lovers. Maybe you should reconsider your guest list.
See u soon, 🦝.