What did I learn from this year's annual blood test results?
I shouldn’t run 40 miles the day before I get the blood drawn…
…unless I tell my doctor about the run *before* they see the results. 😆
Angela Antunovic
boosted
A Japanese research team that includes 2025 Nobel Prize laureate Shimon Sakaguchi has developed a technique to produce regulatory T cells that suppress excessive immune activity. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/29/japan/science-health/nobel-team-cells/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #sciencehealth #shimonsakaguchi #medicine #nobelprize
A Japanese research team that includes 2025 Nobel Prize laureate Shimon Sakaguchi has developed a technique to produce regulatory T cells that suppress excessive immune activity. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/29/japan/science-health/nobel-team-cells/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #sciencehealth #shimonsakaguchi #medicine #nobelprize
My State Banned Vaccine Mandates. Here’s How I Covered It as an Idaho Journalist.
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The Idaho Medical Freedom Act, which makes it illegal to require almost anyone to take a vaccine, test or other “medical intervention,” comes amid a national measles outbreak larger than the U.S. has seen in decades.
https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-vaccine-mandate-ban-reporter-story?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#Journalism #Idaho #Vaccines #Health #Medicine #PublicHealth #Measles
ProPublica
and 2 others
boosted
Former Veterans Affairs workers: In August, we reported that the VA lost more than 600 doctors and nearly 2,000 nurses this year.
We know that for many of you, the decision to leave the VA could not have been easy. Here’s how you can share your story with us ⤵️
https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/help-propublica-report-on-leaving-veterans-affairs
#Health #Medicine #Government #Healthcare #PublicHealth #Journalism
Senators Propose Sweeping Changes to Generic Drug Oversight
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Citing a ProPublica investigation, lawmakers are calling on the FDA to conduct more drug testing and to alert hospitals and other purchasers when foreign manufacturers with safety failures are given a special pass to send their products to the U.S.
https://www.propublica.org/article/lawmakers-propose-changes-drug-oversight-fda?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Congress #Senate #Law #FDA #Drugs #Safety #Health #PublicHealth
In case you missed it: We found that the FDA allowed 20+ foreign factories to continue to send certain medications to the U.S. even after those facilities were banned because of concerns about contamination and other breaches.
The agency kept the practice largely hidden from the public and Congress.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-drug-loophole-sun-pharma?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Just seen another paper published on oral #frailty . I am wondering when we will get to a "feet frailty", a "digestive frailty", or a "friendship frailty"... 😆
This is nonsense to me.
Geriatric medicine should avoid constructs that, rather than providing a person-centred approach, promote a partial/fragmented evaluation of the individual.
#CGA #Geriatrics #FragmentationOfCare #IntegratedCare #MedMastodon #Research #Medicine
Suggested reading👇
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=27676177
The health ministry has started considering ways to promote the use of follow-on products of very expensive original biological drugs. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/26/japan/science-health/follow-on-biologics/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #sciencehealth #medicine #mhlw #pharmaceuticals
Could you use a little bit of good news?
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines (like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines) appear to help cancer patients respond better to immunotherapy treatments.
Paper:
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y
Former Veterans Affairs workers: In August, we reported that the VA lost more than 600 doctors and nearly 2,000 nurses this year.
We know that for many of you, the decision to leave the VA could not have been easy. Here’s how you can share your story with us ⤵️
https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/help-propublica-report-on-leaving-veterans-affairs
#Health #Medicine #Government #Healthcare #PublicHealth #Journalism
Alex Akselrod
boosted
Update: the insurance person figured out that it was the family deductible that was still $1,000 which is why insurance didn’t take more off.
But she was lovely and found me a way to get a co-pay card for Paxlovid through the manufacturer - I used it and it made the medication FREE. From $1,000 to $0.
Link for anyone else in my predicament (you gotta have private insurance to be eligible): https://www.paxlovid.com/enroll-in-co-pay-program
#COVID #US #USPol #healthcare #insurance #medicine
Alex Akselrod
boosted
In a twist of irony - I apparently picked up #COVID on the day of my #US naturalization ceremony.
Went to the doctor today where I got tested and diagnosed - all good. Insurance covered it, I paid $40 co-pay.
They prescribed Paxlovid. Great, definitely want to take it.
Went to the pharmacy, they tell me the 5 days of it will cost $1,777. I nervously laugh, telling them they need to make sure to run it through insurance.
They take my insurance, and say “that’s strange, it’s still really expensive”. New total: $1,000.
They try to add a discount code, but it cancels out the insurance, so the total is $1,500.
I ask if there are generics - nope, not available. I double-check my plan details: I’m $100 away from my deductible and the plan covers basically all prescribed medications. Pharmacy is in-network, supposedly.
Anyway, now I’m home and trying to call my insurance and wondering how in the world people are being made to choose between higher risk of hospitalization and paying $1-1.7k for five days of medication with a private insurance plan.
At least I got to pick up more KN-95 masks to wear while I’m contagious….
In a twist of irony - I apparently picked up #COVID on the day of my #US naturalization ceremony.
Went to the doctor today where I got tested and diagnosed - all good. Insurance covered it, I paid $40 co-pay.
They prescribed Paxlovid. Great, definitely want to take it.
Went to the pharmacy, they tell me the 5 days of it will cost $1,777. I nervously laugh, telling them they need to make sure to run it through insurance.
They take my insurance, and say “that’s strange, it’s still really expensive”. New total: $1,000.
They try to add a discount code, but it cancels out the insurance, so the total is $1,500.
I ask if there are generics - nope, not available. I double-check my plan details: I’m $100 away from my deductible and the plan covers basically all prescribed medications. Pharmacy is in-network, supposedly.
Anyway, now I’m home and trying to call my insurance and wondering how in the world people are being made to choose between higher risk of hospitalization and paying $1-1.7k for five days of medication with a private insurance plan.
At least I got to pick up more KN-95 masks to wear while I’m contagious….
Update: the insurance person figured out that it was the family deductible that was still $1,000 which is why insurance didn’t take more off.
But she was lovely and found me a way to get a co-pay card for Paxlovid through the manufacturer - I used it and it made the medication FREE. From $1,000 to $0.
Link for anyone else in my predicament (you gotta have private insurance to be eligible): https://www.paxlovid.com/enroll-in-co-pay-program
#COVID #US #USPol #healthcare #insurance #medicine
In a twist of irony - I apparently picked up #COVID on the day of my #US naturalization ceremony.
Went to the doctor today where I got tested and diagnosed - all good. Insurance covered it, I paid $40 co-pay.
They prescribed Paxlovid. Great, definitely want to take it.
Went to the pharmacy, they tell me the 5 days of it will cost $1,777. I nervously laugh, telling them they need to make sure to run it through insurance.
They take my insurance, and say “that’s strange, it’s still really expensive”. New total: $1,000.
They try to add a discount code, but it cancels out the insurance, so the total is $1,500.
I ask if there are generics - nope, not available. I double-check my plan details: I’m $100 away from my deductible and the plan covers basically all prescribed medications. Pharmacy is in-network, supposedly.
Anyway, now I’m home and trying to call my insurance and wondering how in the world people are being made to choose between higher risk of hospitalization and paying $1-1.7k for five days of medication with a private insurance plan.
At least I got to pick up more KN-95 masks to wear while I’m contagious….
Charles U. Farley
and 1 other
boosted
Is Your Medication Made in a Contaminated Factory? The FDA Won’t Tell You.
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The agency’s decision to conceal drug names on inspection reports has prevented doctors, pharmacists and patients from knowing whether medications made overseas are tainted by manufacturing failures that could make them ineffective or unsafe.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-hides-drug-names-contaminated-factories?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Is Your Medication Made in a Contaminated Factory? The FDA Won’t Tell You.
---
The agency’s decision to conceal drug names on inspection reports has prevented doctors, pharmacists and patients from knowing whether medications made overseas are tainted by manufacturing failures that could make them ineffective or unsafe.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-hides-drug-names-contaminated-factories?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post