Tag Archives: health

For the legal/political nerd who’s also concerned with medication costs

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Lower generic drug costs

So if you’re like me (and you probably are at least a little; I have no delusions, at this point it’s mostly just my friends and occasionally my mom reading this blog), most of the SCOTUS-related news on your RSS feed has been everyone freaking out over how the Court’s going to hear cases on DOMA and Prop 8. Scalia didn’t help matters with his latest dickishness. But there’s another case relevant to us, guys!

(I say relevant to us because if you’re like me, and we’ve established that you probably are at least a little, then you probably take at least one medication on a regular basis.)

Next year, the Court is going to hear a case about medications, namely drug manufacturers who are paying the companies that make generics to keep said generics off the market. The FTC is arguing that the drug manufacturers are, by these pay-for-delay deals, artificially and inappropriately eliminating competition; the Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, says that while the drug companies involved do great by this whole arrangement, they do so by screwing over consumers, who might have to pay 90% more.

Sidebar: that savings isn’t necessarily worth it; Teva’s generic Wellbutrin was recently recalled because it was found to be so much less effective, which is a polite way of saying that this antidepressant that was actually making people more depressed, anxious, and suicidal. My insurance company switched me to a generic Lexapro as soon as it came on the market earlier this year, and it was great news for my wallet, but within a couple of weeks I was a complete emotional mess because it was so useless. But, then, I wouldn’t be surprised if this artificial suppression of generics were also related to proliferation of ineffective generics.

I mean, I don’t think there’s even a question that Leibowitz is right. Let’s compare quotes, for one thing.

These pay-for-delay deals are win-win for the drug companies, but big losers for U.S. consumers and taxpayers.
—Jon Leibowitz, FTC Chairman

This case could determine how an entire industry does business because it would dramatically affect the economics of each decision to introduce a new generic drug. The current industry paradigm of challenging patents on branded drugs in order to bring new generics to market as soon as possible has produced $1.06 trillion in savings over the past 10 years.
—Ralph G. Neas, Generic Pharmaceutical Association President

If you’re using “paradigm” in your statement — really, more generally, if you’re just relying on marketing buzzwords when you’re trying to present your case to America — you don’t actually have a case. Pretty sure that’s in the Constitution somewhere, so you know right from the get-go that you’re gonna have trouble with the originalists.

Anyway, like I said at the beginning, I know we’re all freaking out about the gay rights cases, which is understandable. But if you get bored with that, I submit that this is a pretty good place to direct your liberal Supreme Court freakout energies instead. You gotta keep it fresh, you know? And when that expensive brand anti-anxiety med helps calm you down, you’ll know that you’re really getting your money’s worth.

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Do you hate jogging? Science has good news for you! Also, for me.

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Jogging is terrible, isn’t it? Ann Perkins knows what I’m talking about. So does Deadspin. Anyway, the Wall Street Journal reports that science has finally brought those of us with common sense some good news: apparently not only are there no signs of mortality benefits for endurance runners, but in fact, research appears to suggest that being fast is also bad for you. I mean, okay, there’s been some criticism of the study, correlation is not causation, blah blah blah, but when it comes to the jogging, can you really afford to take chances? The answer is no, of course you can’t.

BONUS POINTS to the WSJ article for the inclusion of cardiologists taking swipes at each other. Intelligent, competent people insulting each other’s research: something I will never not find hilarious.

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Poem: Note To Self

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You are an animal. This longing is yours—
Your birthright, millions of years having passed.
In your heart, that still dimly recalls fur,
When you keen, you should be soothed. This will last,
I expect, as long as we are mammals.
There are no certainties beyond the need.
Beasts have no words; you are an animal;
You may never solicit guarantees.
The world is packed with animals like you.
Beasts have no words; they neither can nor will
Make promises. “Longed for”—”needed”—not “due”.
But this poem’s not to lecture (plus it’s filled).
It’s only a reminder. Your blood’s warm;
Your beastly need for kindness, truth to form.

Some authentically honest advice based on genuine experience and real life

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Let’s face it, there are like a million blogs out there, which you probably know, although if you didn’t that’s a lie, there are no other blogs out there, just this one. And there’s only so many times I can talk about my empty, aimless days of underemployment and job-seeking and the depths of despair to which I have been consigned, from which there is no possible return and into which the light of joy cannot reach, plus, you know, maybe you don’t need to worry about any of that because you’re not the completely hopeless shell of a human that your un-/under-employed friends are. Way to go, you!

All of that adds up to a problem, because of course the number one piece of advice for any blogger is to be Authentic and be Real and be Honest! I mean, I guess I could just copy/paste the same entry over and over, and we can discuss the art that I am making with that, but I’m not sure I even have the attention span to set that queue up in WordPress.

With that in mind, here are some Very Real pieces of advice based entirely on my day yesterday.

1. Don’t have any kind of serious discussion with your nipples sticking out. Put a bra on, even if you’re just sitting around at home and you’d normally just wear a tee-shirt. Maybe some jeans, too, instead of your yoga pants. (If your nipples aren’t ridic noticeable no matter what, even under some tee-shirt bras, you can skip to #2.)

2. Sliced green pepper makes a rad snack for work, but keeping it wet and crisp presents an intriguing challenge when you mostly work out of your car. (Don’t worry about this if you don’t work out of your car. Then you can use a plastic container with some water in it, since you don’t need to stop it from splashing all over the place.)

3. You can explain it as many times as you like, in as many different tones as you like, but that dude at the warehouse where you pick up your papers for the day will never accept that your name is “Julia” and not “sweetheart”. (If Julia is what you’re trying to explain your name is, anyway. Which is cool, because even if that’s not your name it’s still preferable to “sweetheart”.)

4. Glass-topped tables are heavy as hell, and thus nearly impossible to flip over in a fit of rage and despair. (Not applicable if you are the Hulk.)

5. Your alma mater will treat you just as hilariously terribly during your attempt to apply for a job there as it did when you were attending. (Unless your school managed to do anything without it being a comedy of errors. J/K, basically this is everyone’s academic experience.)

6. Clenching your jaw is only gonna make that headache worse. (If you are a jellyfish and thus have no jaw, you can ignore this.)

These are gonna serve you well in life, Internet, you’re welcome. What other advice can I offer you? Bring me your problems, let’s solve them together.