September 30th 2008 | Alternative/buyer beware/natural, Health care system, Treatment | 0 Comments
From the New York Times:
Can online information be trusted? The answer, increasingly, is yes. In a study earlier this year, a report in the journal Cancer looked at 343 Web pages about breast cancer that came up in online searches. The researchers found 41 inaccurate statements on 18 sites — an error rate of 5.2
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September 1st 2008 | Biologics, Health care system, Psoriasis Research, Public policy issues | 0 Comments
Congress is considering several bills that would make it easier for companies to market generic versions of biologic drugs, according to a recent article in the Washington Post. Competition from generics is expected to reduce significantly the cost of expensive biologic medications. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the availability of biologic generics would
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August 16th 2008 | Health care system, Insurance, Treatment | 2 Comments
A European study has confirmed what psoriasis patients whisper about among themselves: a stunning percentage of psoriasis patients do not even fill the prescriptions their doctors prescribe for them. Nearly one-third of dermatology patients do not obtain their prescription medications, found the study from Denmark, and psoriasis patients had the lowest compliance rate–nearly
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August 7th 2008 | Health care system, Impact of psoriasis, Insurance, Public policy issues, Treatment | 0 Comments
The Washington Post reported on August 4 that health and life insurance companies can cheaply and quickly get access to electronic prescription records of insurance applicants. At a cost of about $15 per request, private companies, including Milliman IntelliScript and Ingenix, will compile an insurance applicant’s prescription history from databases of past insurance claims. Both
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March 19th 2008 | Health care system | 0 Comments
An article in the New York Times (free registration may be required) makes several note-worthy points. The article talks about how extremely difficult it is for medical students to be selected to study dermatology–difficult because so many very smart people want the same few training spots available. It turns out relatively humane hours,
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February 22nd 2008 | Health care system, Public policy issues | 0 Comments
A study of psoriasis treatment in hospital dermatology departments in the United Kingdom has found that “the average waiting time for routine appointments is only 10 weeks….”
It’s unclear how “routine” is defined, but ten weeks would be a terribly long time if you were in the midst of a psoriasis flare.
How does that wait compare
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