What Are Hospice and Palliative Care?

From Healthcare Triage. For many of us, a time will come at the end of our lives when we need a specific kind of care to maintain as much quality of life as possible, and to die with dignity. Hospice and palliative care are the topics of this week’s Healthcare Triage. Related HCT episodes: We’re…

How Medicare Started Negotiating Drug Prices

From Healthcare Triage. Reuploaded 11/2/2024 with a corrected typo. In most countries, health care systems negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies, making crucial drugs more affordable for their citizens. In America, that wasn’t the case until recently. Signed into law in August of 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act made several changes aimed at strengthening…

Sex Testing in Sports: Does it Make Sense?

From Healthcare Triage. The issues surrounding sex testing in sports may seem like a new phenomenon, but this has been coming up at least since women were allowed to compete in the Olympics – so, for like the past century or so. There’s a whole lot of concern over who is allowed to compete in…

How Do Companies Decide Which Drugs to Develop?

From Healthcare Triage. Between government funding and pharmaceutical industry spending, billions of dollars are spent annually to bring just a handful of drugs to market. That means some strategic investing is likely going on behind the scenes, and we were curious about the factors driving some of that strategy. Thanks in part to support from…

Why Do Prescription Drugs Cost SO Much?

From Healthcare Triage. In 2020 the expected global expenditure on prescription drugs was somewhere around 1.3 TRILLION dollars, with around $350 BILLION of that spending being done in the United States. The US seems to have a particular issue in this area, with citizens paying much more than their counterparts in similar countries. But why…

An In-Depth Look at America’s Opioid Crisis

From Healthcare Triage. This compilation is a deep dive on the opioid crisis, thanks in part to funding by the NIHCM. Explore the history of opioids, the science of opioids, and learn about how and why attitudes and US policy regarding addiction treatment and opioid control need to change. 0:00 Intro 0:22 A Brief History…

Exercise Is Good, and Here’s the Evidence

From Healthcare Triage. Maybe not quite all the evidence, but we’ve looked at a lot of the benefits of exercise over the years. While we’re taking a few weeks off this summer, we’re looking back at some of our most popular topics. This compilation of videos looks at exercise research and helps us understand just…

The Drug Shortage Putting Newborns at Risk

From Healthcare Triage. For some women, a simple shot during pregnancy and then right after labor can prevent a huge amount of suffering for both parents and future children. So what happens when there’s a shortage that prevents that shot from happening? Related HCT episodes: Myths About Pregnancy: Be sure to check out our podcast!…

Is Tylenol Safe During Pregnancy?

From Healthcare Triage. We’ve got new and improved data on the relationship between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and diagnoses of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability in offspring. Have we been right or wrong to recommend it during pregnancy? Related HCT episodes: Relative Risks of Acetaminophen, ADHD, and Autism: https://youtu.be/iYX7Y1lLZ78 Be sure to check out our…

New Obesity Drugs May Impact Mental Health

From Healthcare Triage. In mid to late 2023 there was a flurry of news reports about patients taking new weight loss drugs reporting associated mental health concerns, including suicidal thoughts. There’s still a lot of research to be done to fully understand these drugs and their effects, but we take a close look at the…