There are terrible medicine shortages here and around the world. The heart of the problem is the way Big Pharma works. We must transform this industry if we want important medicines at a price we can afford. My colleague Tim Bierley 👇 aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/…

Time to quote Confuseus again. “ Enjoy the result you have found by exploratory analysis, for you will not find it again.”

Marvelous essay on equality by Nathan J Robinson. We give weight to equity considerations when making decisions regarding healthcare provision, but it's a valuable to remember that those are partly stomping out symptoms of broader systematic issues (primarily wealth inequalities).

Excellent article on how the criminalization of drugs is not about drugs salon.com/2024/06/11/aba…

These shocking pictures show the Jabalia Health Centre, before and after this devastating war. Before the war, UNRWA met 70-80% of primary healthcare needs in #Gaza. Only a fraction of UNRWA’s health centres remain operational, with minimal access to supplies. #CeasefireNow

Join Centre for Advancing Health's seminar this Wednesday! Dr. Ricky Turgeon, 2022 Health Professional-Investigator awardee, will talk about the importance of integrating shared decision-making into care for patients with heart failure.

Endowments are meant to insulate universities from politics. But far from being apolitical, the arrangement prioritizes the whims of the market, the authority of financial experts, and the preferences of donors over the concerns of students and faculty. jacobin.com/2024/06/univer…

BREAKING: The Lancet has just published this article "conservatively" estimating that the death toll in the Gaza genocide could be 186,000 people or more. That's 8% of the population, obliterated. These are apocalyptic figures. thelancet.com/journals/lance…

A good and thoughtful essay by Dustin Guastella critiquing the culture-war posture generally known as "wokeness" and explaining why abandoning Englightenment universalism for militant particularism is a disastrously stupid thing for anyone with even vaguely left-wing goals to do.

"Sponsored content is distinct from editorially curated or peer-reviewed content and is not reviewed or endorsed by NEJM AI or its editors" - because exploiting researchers and peer reviewers isn't enough, we also need intentionally deceptive advertising campaigns.

Interesting use of a discrete choice experiment! Worrisome but not surprising findings😬

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a series of behavioral-economics experiments funded by Exxon potentially helped the firm save billions after their greatest environmental disaster. jacobin.com/2024/08/behavi…

A reminder: "The Dangerous Academic Is an Extinct Species." In Current Affairs. "But even if their jobs were safe, the corporatized university would still produce mostly banal ideas, thanks to the sycophancy-generating structure of the academic meritocracy." currentaffairs.org/news/2017/06/t…

📣Generic versions of HIV prevention drug lenacapavir could be made for just $40 a year, not the current $40,000 price. I urge Gilead Sciences: be transparent about your costs, and prioritise the communities whose lives can be transformed by this product! #GileadForGood

Lots of discussion re: Bill C-64, the Pharmacare Act throughout CDA-AMC Symposium 2024. Just got word that the Senate will conduct hearings on the Bill starting Sept. 18. ICYMI Steve Morgan, PhD & I think the Bill has major flaws and needs to be amended. cmaj.ca/content/196/27…

In an interview, we spoke with director of Global Justice Now Nick Dearden about the ruthless profiteering of Big Pharma, an industry that exploits public research and denies crucial medicine to countries in the Global South. jacobin.com/2024/09/big-ph…

Health research critiques: "Ok yeah, that idea is great and you are great, but like maybe there is a slight tiny problem, but that's ok thank you so much for your work" Meanwhile in philosophy (Bertrand Russell's reply to Strawson):

me heading into PhD confirmation like

.Georgia Tomova using the example of 'grip strength' to explain the difference between prediction and causal inference. Grip strength may be good predictor of future health, but training your grip strength isn't likely to improve your health very much. #CausalIntroCourse

This is dystopian. Direct-to-consumer marketing, company referral to telehealth physician for targeted prescribing, and company-owned online pharmacy to dispense the (still heavily marked-up) drug. Complete control.