Good morning, JPD I hope your son is feeling even better today.
He’s getting there. Thank you.
Good news !
Wonderful news. Thank you.
Good news JPD!
Amid all the bad news on Covid-19, monkeypox, and other diseases, some hopeful news. A disease that has plagued many developing nations is on the verge of being eradicated. https://twitter.com/salonium/status/1545031090427072512
I’ve been involved in assessing neglected disease public health programs for a long time. The Guinea worm program was one of many I evaluated. Really good to hear how successful the program has been. Where there is a will it can be done. It does, however, take lots of government resources, as private companies are generally not interested in such programs (they don’t earn them money).
Pricing products like the Covid-19 vaccine or treatments such as Paxlovid is difficult. In a system like ours there are no constraints on manufacturers. They can set the price as they see fit. But, this can lead to some real problems for drug makers who want to gain market share in already crowded therapeutic classes. In the U.S., these drug makers assume that new products will be able to command high prices and folks will buy it (or at least their insurers will). That is simply not the case. Often, insurers – and people paying out-of-pocket – balk at the massive price premiums. What’s strange is that drug makers don’t respond by lowering the price. No, they respond with even more aggressive marketing campaigns. Sometimes they’re successful. Sometimes they’re not. My latest is on Brexafemme, a new product that’s marginally better than cheap generics in the class, but does a price that’s 20 times as much make any sense? https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2022/07/06/brexafemme-new-treatment-for-vaginal-yeast-infection-faces-considerable-pricing-and-reimbursement-challenges/?sh=237cec186627
For the most part, the pharmaceutical industry is a disgrace!
Price gouging ego maniacs.
The ad campaigns on television these days is shameful!
I don’t trust any of their drugs. True, I take some and some are most valuable, but I question the validity of many of them.
And have you read the side-effects? Crap, I’d rather not take the drug.
I heard on tv this morning that Paxlovid is now available by prescription.
Recently I mentioned that the hospitalization curve was flattening, though still rising. Unfortunately, in the past week the curve has resumed a steeper upward slope nationwide. Obviously, this isn’t good. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1545077553076899841
This is also why I try to avoid future predictions. I’ve been burned many times. I think everyone – even true experts – should refrain from predicting the future of this virus.
Well, let’s hope the upward climb doesn’t last too long.
Angela Rasmussen understands virology and immunology much better than I. She describes the nature of reinfections, and why it’s not a matter of you’re either protected or not. I mentioned this yesterday, but didn’t fully explain it.
Immunity is not binary; it’s not as though you get infected with a virus (any virus) and then either you have perfect protection or you don’t have any at all. Though newer sub-variants of Omicron are more likely to evade antibody neutralization from prior exposure to an earlier variant or vaccination, your immune system is not completely naive.
16% jump in reported US monkeypox cases from today, compared to yesterday. Testing is finally getting easier. We’ll see similar daily jumps moving forward. 10-15% of cases have been or are hospitalized. This is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.
C-19
7-8
ready
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Good morning, JPD I hope your son is feeling even better today.
He’s getting there. Thank you.
Good news !
Wonderful news. Thank you.
Good news JPD!
Amid all the bad news on Covid-19, monkeypox, and other diseases, some hopeful news. A disease that has plagued many developing nations is on the verge of being eradicated. https://twitter.com/salonium/status/1545031090427072512
I’ve been involved in assessing neglected disease public health programs for a long time. The Guinea worm program was one of many I evaluated. Really good to hear how successful the program has been. Where there is a will it can be done. It does, however, take lots of government resources, as private companies are generally not interested in such programs (they don’t earn them money).
Pricing products like the Covid-19 vaccine or treatments such as Paxlovid is difficult. In a system like ours there are no constraints on manufacturers. They can set the price as they see fit. But, this can lead to some real problems for drug makers who want to gain market share in already crowded therapeutic classes. In the U.S., these drug makers assume that new products will be able to command high prices and folks will buy it (or at least their insurers will). That is simply not the case. Often, insurers – and people paying out-of-pocket – balk at the massive price premiums. What’s strange is that drug makers don’t respond by lowering the price. No, they respond with even more aggressive marketing campaigns. Sometimes they’re successful. Sometimes they’re not. My latest is on Brexafemme, a new product that’s marginally better than cheap generics in the class, but does a price that’s 20 times as much make any sense? https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2022/07/06/brexafemme-new-treatment-for-vaginal-yeast-infection-faces-considerable-pricing-and-reimbursement-challenges/?sh=237cec186627
For the most part, the pharmaceutical industry is a disgrace!
Price gouging ego maniacs.
The ad campaigns on television these days is shameful!
I don’t trust any of their drugs. True, I take some and some are most valuable, but I question the validity of many of them.
And have you read the side-effects? Crap, I’d rather not take the drug.
I heard on tv this morning that Paxlovid is now available by prescription.
Recently I mentioned that the hospitalization curve was flattening, though still rising. Unfortunately, in the past week the curve has resumed a steeper upward slope nationwide. Obviously, this isn’t good. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1545077553076899841
This is also why I try to avoid future predictions. I’ve been burned many times. I think everyone – even true experts – should refrain from predicting the future of this virus.
Well, let’s hope the upward climb doesn’t last too long.
Angela Rasmussen understands virology and immunology much better than I. She describes the nature of reinfections, and why it’s not a matter of you’re either protected or not. I mentioned this yesterday, but didn’t fully explain it.
Immunity is not binary; it’s not as though you get infected with a virus (any virus) and then either you have perfect protection or you don’t have any at all. Though newer sub-variants of Omicron are more likely to evade antibody neutralization from prior exposure to an earlier variant or vaccination, your immune system is not completely naive.
16% jump in reported US monkeypox cases from today, compared to yesterday. Testing is finally getting easier. We’ll see similar daily jumps moving forward. 10-15% of cases have been or are hospitalized. This is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.
C-19
7-8
ready