A Modest Health Care Economics Experiment to Fight Rising Costs
By HAYWARD ZWERLING, MD
Healthcare providers, medical institutions, local pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies generally set the price of their products/services well above the payment they expect to receive from all insurers. These healthcare vendors set their fee schedule at 150%, 200% or 1,000% of the maximum payment they expect to receive from their most generous payor.
Here in Massachusetts, when a healthcare product or service is consumed and the patient has health insurance, the vendor submits a bill to the insurance company who specifies the “allowed fee,” which is considerably less than the “bille...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 20, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Fee Schedules Massachusetts Quest Source Type: blogs
The scary evolution of direct-to-consumer advertising
One night in 1997, as Americans watched Touched by an Angel they were touched by something else unexpected: an ad for a prescription allergy pill called Claritin, sold directly to patients.
Prescription drugs had never been sold directly to the public before — a marketing tactic called direct-to-consumer or DTC advertising. How could average people, who certainly had not been to medical school, know if the medication was appropriate or safe without a doctor’s recommendation?
Soon, ads for Meridia, Propecia, Singulair, Paxil, Prozac, Vioxx, Lipitor, and Viagra followed — exhorting patients to “ask their doct...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 17, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/martha-rosenberg" rel="tag" > Martha Rosenberg < /a > Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs
A free, simple, fun, effective way to improve your fertility !
Here's the prescription - Have more sex !Now, this might seem surprising. After all, sex is such a natural activity and everyone does it all the time , so how will having more sex improve your fertility ?The trouble is that sex for procreation is very different from sex for recreation.When you're made to perform " on demand ", this creates all kinds of problems.The husband may not feel like having sex on a particular day , but his wife arm twists him , because the doctor has advised them to have sex on Day 12, 14 and 16 ( which is actually bad advice, but is still trotted out mindlessly by most gynecologists. )This often m...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - March 17, 2017 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Pfizer's New Viagra TV Ad Has a Unique Mobile " Call to Action "
As reported by FiercePharma (here), Pfizer ’s new TV commercial for Viagra, which encourages patients to text a keyword from their mobile phones to receive special discounts, appears to be " a first " for pharma Marketing.I decided to have some fun with a few stills from the ad: (Source: Pharma Marketing Blog)
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 19, 2017 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Viagra Source Type: blogs
Coronary artery disease: Primary care and prevention – 2
Previous
Check for differential diagnosis
Some of the important differential diagnosis in the case of acute coronary syndrome are acute pulmonary embolism, aortic dissection, pneumothorax, esophageal disease, perforated peptic ulcer, cholecystitis, gastritis and sometimes even Herpes Zoster of left thoracic region in pre-eruptive phase. A good history, physical findings and sometimes time are needed for an accurate differential diagnosis. Checking for asymmetry of peripheral pulses is often resorted to for excluding aortic dissection, though it may still miss an aortic dissection sparing the branches as in descending thora...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 18, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
The Day Pharma Tchotchkes Died
Back in February, 2009, shortly after the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) imposed a voluntary ban on gifts to physicians (aka"tchotchkes"), I predicted that tchotchkes would become nostalgia items in the future, reminding pharmaceutical sales reps and physicians of the"good old days" (read"Viagra Boxers: An Example of Proto-Nostalgia tchotchke").I was reminded of this prediction by a recent article (here) in MM&M, which claimed:"These relics of the past have a certain value for those on the hunt. One eBay seller hopes to fetch $20 for a blue pill-shaped Vi...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - October 4, 2016 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Ban Gifts to Physicians PhRMA Physician Sunshine Act tchotchkes Source Type: blogs
Bull stiff
There’s a brand of coffee apparently being touted as more than your usual pick-me-up…and aimed especially at men, it seems. It’s got herbal extracts (tongkat ali, maca root and guarana) that are meant to boost libido and health and are all-natural (whatever that means, isn’t everything natural?). However, one news site points out that the herbal coffee also contains desmethyl carbodenafil, which is, as you might guess from the name, an analogue of sildenafil, which is commonly prescribed as Viagra (as the orally available citrate salt).
Undeclared active pharmaceuticals in food and drink pr...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 29, 2016 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Science Source Type: blogs
Sharing medications happens more often than we think
Many men experience significant erectile problems after having a radical prostatectomy, and many of the men treated by the urologists I work with eventually land in my office. We talk frankly about the quality of their erections before the surgery, what they are like now, and what they have tried to do to resolve the problems they are having. After this, some interesting conversations take place.
“Well, I tried some Viagra but it didn’t work,” is often the response I hear.
I quickly check the record and often fail to find a record of a prescription from the treating urologist.
“Did your family physician prescribe t...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 28, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/anne-katz" rel="tag" > Anne Katz, RN, PhD < /a > Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs
The Future of Work Part I
Have you ever taken some time to think about what work will look like 5, 10 or even 20 years from now? If you haven’t, it is probably worth the effort because a changing work environment may have dramatic implications for how you are employed in the future. In these two posts, I want to talk about some of the trends I’m seeing and how they may play out in the coming years.
Outsourcing
Companies are getting better and better at spinning off specific business functions and letting them be handled by others. For example, many businesses can’t justify running payroll in-house. It is cheaper to hire a company...
Source: Productivity501 - September 20, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mark Shead Tags: Misc Source Type: blogs
Memo To The President: The Pharmaceutical Monopoly Adjustment Act Of 2017
Since 1980, Congress has enacted many laws granting pharmaceutical manufacturers monopolies that no other industry enjoys. These extra monopolies were created with the expectation that monopoly profits would spur greater investment in research to find important new drugs. In fact, they have caused US consumers to pay higher prices for medicines for longer periods of time while making the pharmaceutical industry far more profitable than any other industry. I believe the next president and Congress should take several key steps, which I outline below, to roll back these costly, unnecessary monopolies.
The Current Landscape
C...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 13, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Alfred Engelberg Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Health Policy Lab Bayh-Dole Act Big Pharma Gilead Hatch-Waxman Act johnson & johnson pfizer Source Type: blogs
Give them the vees …
Today’s Maltese memory brought to you by the letter V
Vacation, vacuum, vagina, vain, Valentino, Valium, vague, Valletta, vanity, Van Gogh, vanish, variation, V.A.T., Vatican, vasectomy, Vaseline, vegetarian, V-Day, velocity, venereal disease, vendetta, venial sin, venture, vent, ventilation, ventriloquist, Venus, veritas, vernacular, vermouth, versus, velvet, vermillion, vessel, Vesuvius, victim, V.I.P., vice versa, vicious circle, Vicky, victory, video, vino, violence, violin, virgin, virile, Virgin Mary, virtuoso, virtue, Viagra, vibration, vice, vicinity, vicious, viper, virus, visceral, vision, visitation, vitam...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 5, 2016 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Science Source Type: blogs
Nitrates – Cardiology MCQ
Wrong statement about nitrates:
a) Predominantly venodilators
b) Have coronary vasodilator effects
c) Contraindicated in vasospastic angina
d) Should be avoided in hypotensive patients
Correct answer: c) Contraindicated in vasospastic angina
Nitrates are useful in vasospastic angina. Non selective betablockers like propranolol are avoided in vasospastic angina as they can cause alpha overactivity. Nitrates are contraindicated in those on phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor sildenafil. (Source: Cardiophile MD)
Source: Cardiophile MD - August 24, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Source Type: blogs
DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance New Test Series 5
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Source: Cardiophile MD - August 6, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Featured Source Type: blogs
How Congress Allowed Vaccine Manufacturers to Dismantle the Constitution (in One Thousand Words or Less)
Oh, Congress, you’ve made such a mess of things. When you were elected as a Representative, you must have been confused. To clarify, you represent the people of the United States, not corporations.
There is a little document called The Constitution of the United States of America. In that document, (which it appears many of you have not read) is what’s called The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights outlines the rights of American citizens. To betray those rights is treason. Go ahead and read it, you can find it online.
You, our Representatives, are sworn to protect The Constitution. The following are examples of our con...
Source: vactruth.com - July 19, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Sarah Carrasco Tags: Logical Recent Articles Sarah Carrasco Top Stories truth about vaccines vaccine laws vaccine-induced autism William Thompson Source Type: blogs
DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Mock Test 26
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Source: Cardiophile MD - May 10, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Featured Source Type: blogs
