Former President Trump’s declaration to reduce drug prices came laden with bold promises but lacked critical specifics. The declaration, however, does shed some light on Trump’s dedication to the matter and provides a glimpse of future developments, given how successfully the administration structures a concrete pathway. Which administrative bodies will take the charge in bringing down the prices? Will there be a requirement for legislative involvement? What role might Medicare policy play in such a transformation?
Recent research shows a sizeable number of American children residing in homes where at least one parent grapples with a substance use disorder. The chief concern seems to be parents affected by alcohol use disorder, followed by cannabis, prescription-related, and then other drug-related disorders. Approximately six million children are living in a situation where a parent suffers simultaneously from a substance use disorder coupled with a major depressive disorder or serious psychological stress.
In the spring of 2012, a research group from the University of California, Berkeley, submitted their initial patent application in the U.S. for the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Later in December, another research group, this time from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, submitted a competing patent application, for which they sought to hasten the review process. The disagreement over patent rights for this potentially groundbreaking technology persists, and a recent update revealed that a federal appeals court favored the Berkeley team’s appeal against a verdict from the U.S. Patent Office. This development might not only affect the destiny of the contested CRISPR patents, but it could also alter how an invention’s primogeniture is defined legally.
A quick glance at a can of Alani Nu is enough to demonstrate the radical facelift the $22 billion energy drink industry has undergone. The market was previously monopolized by brands like Monster and Red Bull, which utilized a machismo-fueled extreme sports narrative to captivate young male consumers. Currently, these companies are leveraging health and wellness trends to tap into a broader demographic and fuel continued impressive growth. The rising brands are emphasizing ‘health-conscious ingredients,’ ranging from biotin to lion’s mane mushrooms. Despite the wellness-intensive marketing, some health experts are concerned that such strategies may exacerbate consumer confusion about potential health risks.
Concerning hormone-related health risks, trans individuals who use testosterone for the initial years show no elevated risk of gynecological cancers compared to cisgender women, according to a comprehensive study conducted in Amsterdam. Despite the absence of significant historical concerns linking such hormone use to cancer, there has been a palpable lack of longitudinal research on this potential relationship. In this particular study, medical records spanning from 1972 to 2018 of nearly 2000 trans patients assigned female at birth were meticulously examined. This study, the largest of its kind, analyzed the gynecological tissue of trans individuals using testosterone. Over the duration of the study, none of the participants were diagnosed with cancers in the uterus, ovaries, vagina, or vulva.
Elizabeth Holmes is currently serving a significant prison sentence of 11 years for deceiving investors, and she has been effectively shut out of federal health schemes for close to a century. Yet, somehow, her vision of pioneering a revolutionary change in diagnostic testing still manages to prompt health care discussions. The sudden appearance of Haemanthus, a company established by Evans, has generated a range of reactions, from surprise to resentment and cynical skepticism. To quote Saini, president of the impartial think-tank, the Lown Institute, ‘It’s somewhat bewildering to see someone so intricately linked to such a controversy, attempting to initiate a project with uncanny similarities.’