COVID Vaccine Cost, Detecting Pregnancy Related Cardiac Issues, and Drug Prices

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Detecting Weak Heart During Pregnancy

New research from Mayo Clinic suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could improve the diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy, a potentially life-threatening and treatable condition that weakens the heart muscle of women during pregnancy or in the months after giving birth.

Researchers used an AI-enabled digital stethoscope that captures electrocardiogram (ECG) data and heart sounds to identify twice as many cases of peripartum cardiomyopathy as compared to regular care, according to a news release from the American Heart Association.

Women in Nigeria have the highest reported incidence of peripartum cardiomyopathy so it’s a good place to study. The randomized pragmatic clinical trial enrolled 1,195 women receiving pregnancy care in Nigeria. Approximately half were evaluated with AI-guided screening using the digital stethoscope, and half received usual obstetric care in addition to a clinical ECG.

An echocardiogram was used to confirm when the AI-enabled digital stethoscope predicted peripartum cardiomyopathy. Overall, 4% of the pregnant and postpartum women in the intervention arm of the clinical trial had cardiomyopathy compared to 2% in the control arm, suggesting that half are likely undetected with usual care.(Mayo Clinic)

Software saving lives - I love it.

Cell Phones Safe - Yes and No

A systematic review into the potential health effects from radio wave exposure has shown mobile phones are not linked to brain cancer. The review was commissioned by the World Health Organization and is published today in the journal Environment International. Mobile phones are often held against the head during use. And they emit radio waves, a type of non-ionising radiation. These two factors are largely why the idea mobile phones might cause brain cancer emerged in the first place. (KFF)

May not cause brain cancer but over use by pedestrians is one of the reasons that there has been an increase in their being hit by cars - not paying attention to their surroundings.

Pricey COVID Vaccines

As updated coronavirus vaccines hit U.S. pharmacy shelves, adults without health insurance are discovering the shots are no longer free, instead costing up to $200. The federal Bridge Access Program covering the cost of coronavirus vaccines for uninsured and underinsured people ran out of funding. Now, Americans with low incomes are weighing whether they can afford to shore up immunity against an unpredictable virus that is no longer a public health emergency but continues to cause long-term complications and hospitalizations and kill tens of thousands of people a year.

There are about 25.3 million Americans without health insurance - per the CDC. There are tens of millions more who are underinsured,

Best answer is universal healthcare for better public health. The short term answer is add funding to the Bridge Access Program to make sure everyone can afford to get a COVID shot.

ACTION - Bridge Access

Let’s let our representatives in Washington know that tens of millions of Americans are uninsured or underinsured and the cost of a COVID Vaccine will be out of their reach. That creates a danger for public health and by increasing funding to the Bridge Access Program they can make sure that everyone can get vaccinated. You can reach them here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.

Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PYHJWC to 50409 on your cell phone to send this message.

“I am your constituent and I want you to know that the Bridge Access Program that provides COVID vaccines to the uninsured and underinsured is broke. There are 25.3 million in the US without insurance and tens of millions more that are underinsured. I want you to arrange for the Bridge Access Program to be funded so that everyone can get a COVID vaccine and public health is protected. Thank you.”

Drug Prices - We Started Negotiating & We Can Do More

While federal negotiations for the price of 10 drugs this year is good many other drugs had significant increases.

Over the period from January 2022 to January 2023, more than 4,200 drug products had price increases, of which 46 percent were larger than the rate of inflation. The average drug price increase over the course of the period was 15.2 percent, which translates to $590 per drug product. (HHS)

I received a report on drug prices from Ron Shure, the president of Health Care for All WA, and I wanted to share it with you.

The report was written by Lucia Mueller for PharmacyChecker, a prescription discount service.

What they did was compare the prices of the 10 drugs Medicare negotiated with the prices paid by the National Health Service in England. In general, the US is paying about 4 times as much. Now out of pocket costs for consumers varies dramatically. In England it is about $150/year, while next year Medicare recipients are limited to $2000/year. And most of those 10 drugs will hit the $2000 mark all by themselves. Both insurance systems insure about 67 million people. So it seems we could do a better job of negotiating.

As an aside with respect to Medicare drug prices you need a part D drug plan - either stand alone with traditional Medicare or as part of a part C (so-called advantage) plan. About 85% have that.

Reuters found that review of publicly available maximum prices set by other wealthy nations - Australia, Japan, Canada and Sweden - show that they have negotiated far lower prices for the same drugs. A 30-day supply of nine of the 10 drugs Medicare negotiated will cost $17,581 for Medicare in 2026, compared with $6,725 in Sweden this year. Comparable prices were not available for the 10th drug, Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) insulin Novolog.

So what can we do? Well let’s remember that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) take bribes from drug makers to make drugs available on the policies they control. The drug makers then jack up the prices of the drugs to cover the costs of the bribes. The system was not built to supply product but to generate cash.

If we could negotiate all pharmaceuticals for 330 million people we could see important savings. Universal Healthcare, like HR 3421, the improved Medicare for All Act of 2023 does that.

PS when drug makers say they need to charge so much for research - you can call BS. Almost all the drugs the FDA approved in the last decade were developed on government provided research funds. (reference)

Find My Elected Officials

Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email

• https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

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Important Healthcare Resources

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Organizations to Contact

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Physicians for a National Health Program

One Payer States

Healthcare Now

Reproductive Health

NARAL - Pro Choice America

Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion

Planned Parenthood

Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.

United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.

Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.

If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org

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Specific Advice

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Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens

RESISTBOT

Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more

Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up

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