�Թϲ�����

It never fails to astonish when some Americans say they prefer paying the highest healthcare prices in the world and having millions of people uninsured rather than adopt effective approaches to affordable universal coverage found in nearly all other developed countries. My recent column on a Valley Village woman who was charged $200 for a cloth sling for her dislocated shoulder — a price tag about 900% more than similar slings found on Amazon — touched a nerve with many readers. (David Lazarus, 9/24)

When Paul DeWolfe needed back surgery, he was careful to make sure his hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota, was in his insurer's network. He figured his portion of the bill would run to about $3,000, he told KARE 11 TV of Minneapolis. So you can imagine DeWolfe's surprise when his actual bill came to $18,590.83. While his hospital was in-network, some of the doctors who treated him were not. Surprise medical bills are not new. (9/23)

Juul Labs, the leading e-cigarette maker, says it has long been upfront about its determination to keep young people away from its vaping products. That’s what the San Francisco company says, anyway. But its advertising strategy has assiduously cultivated young consumers, with great success. That’s the finding in a series of studies from Stanford University that have turned a spotlight on how Juul exploited social media and the tastes of young adults to target a youth market. (Michael Hiltzik, 9/24)

Cancer therapeutics have become a big business for the pharmaceutical industry. Since 2013, cancer drug expenditures in the United States as a percentage of total U.S. prescription spending has increased by almost 60 percent, and the number of cancer drugs in late-stage trials increased more than 60 percent during the same time frame. Major pharmaceutical houses such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca are reportedly “pivoting to cancer.” As well as big business, it is a saga full of celebrities and drama, framed by truly heart-wrenching stories and featuring calls for what then-Vice President Joe Biden called a cancer “moonshot” after his son Beau passed away in 2015. Although efforts to declare “war on cancer” go back to the Nixon administration, they have yielded less than one might expect. (Robin Feldman, 9/24)

By some measures, this was a thrilling year of accomplishments for the cancer field. From Aug. 1, 2018, to July 31, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 27 cancer treatments. This is the highest number ever reported in the nine editions of the annual Cancer Progress Report. ...But overall figures show that we still have work to do. Today in America, the overall cancer mortality rate is 161 per 100,000 people per year. For whites, the rate is 161.5 per 100,000, and for blacks, the death rate is 185.6 per 100,000. A look beneath the surface shows that cancer health disparities cut across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, sexual, and geographic lines, and they influence every element of cancer risk, diagnosis, and treatment. (Elaine Mardis, 9/23)

Many industries have been affected by the Trump administration’s escalating trade war, from agriculture to technology. Few people are talking about the problems faced by small biotech companies and researchers who are unable to move forward with their research due to restrictions on foreign investments. (Mahesh Narayanan, 9/25)

In a recent profile, Jonathan Van Ness of “Queer Eye” courageously shared his story as an “out-and-proud ‘member of the beautiful H.I.V.-positive community’” who has remade his life after experiencing childhood sexual abuse, drug addiction and shame. As a sociologist who has spent more than a decade interviewing women who are living with H.I.V., I saw in Mr. Van Ness’s story the larger social and political urgencies of the epidemic. (Celeste Watkins-Hayes, 9/24)

Humankind knows no greater tragedy than the death of a small child. Thanks to quiet but powerful progress in public health, that tragedy is far less common than it once was — including in the planet’s developing regions. As recently as 1990, the global annual rate of death for children under the age of 5 was 82 for every 1,000 live births. Last year, that rate was 37 per 1,000 live births. If the present trend continues, the rate could reach 28 by 2030. And with additional effort from private agencies and governments, it could fall even further, hitting the target, 25 per 1,000, set under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. (9/24)

With medical marijuana about to be legalized, Missouri doctors are issuing certifications that will allow patients to fill their prescriptions starting next year. We still think Missouri voters made the right decision to legalize medical marijuana, but it’s also important that the letter of the law still applies.The temptation will be high (no pun intended) for people to obtain prescriptions even if they have no valid medical reason to use marijuana. (9/24)

The businesses that lobbied the state Legislature over measures that would help or harm them know their work isn’t done just because the lawmakers have cast their votes and gone home for the year. There’s still Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature or veto to be won. Among the players stepping forward is the American Kidney Fund, which paints itself as a charity devoted impartially to helping patients facing the torment and expense of dialysis. The fund’s target is a bill passed Sept. 10 that would cap the profits enjoyed by corporate dialysis providers and impose disclosure requirements on third parties, like the fund, that help dialysis patients afford their insurance. (Michael Hiltzik, 9/24)