“We can have an active, robust discussion as a group of medical experts spontaneously, and so we’re doing more of that,” Makary said of his preference for convening roundtables. Guess what roundtables don't have? FACA requirements to occur in public with the opportunity for public comment.

Excited to see this study out in the world! Looks at the counterfactual of a world in which biosimilars didn't launch. Always fun working with @thewonkologist.bsky.social

I could not love this more.

OutKast is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: “We started in a little room. Great things start in little rooms”

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death. Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written." Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. 🧪🧬🧫

Unbelievable. NIH has posted 6 open NIH directorships in the middle of a shutdown. What a circus. And an opportunity for more cronyism from RFKJr and Bhattacharya. hr.nih.gov/careers/open...

The Flex Loan, a new type of payday loan pioneered by Advance Financial in Tennessee, allows residents to borrow up to $4,000 at a 279.5% interest rate. It has burdened low-income borrowers while generating huge profits for lenders. (Published May with @tennesseelookout.com)

ICER #WeeklyView: Obesity public meeting, paying for value for obesity meds, & responses to ICER’s Launch Price and Access Report conta.cc/4nLPYAy

So excited!

A few thoughts from me on that big GLP-1 news today! www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Personally, I do things not because they’re easy, but because I incorrectly thought they’d be easy

Merkley, Wyden pressure CMS over Medicare provider directory www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/merkl...

FAA may cancel thousands of flights over shutdown tinyurl.com/3xxw9a5b

Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made.

Our new study is published today in @bmj.com! We studied whether oncologists tend to use cancer treatments that are more beneficial, more profitable, or both. I was surprised by the results: clinical benefit mattered, profit did not. 1/ cc: @dusetzinas.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/391/...

"Privately funded basic biomedical R&D is only viable when the market for it is good, and we didn't know it was going to be bad." - one of the people most likely to be able to tell whether the market was going to be good or not

if u do not have anything nice to say well sometimes u are not wrong

It's also Godzilla day so I will temper the existential dread with this...

There is no way I would give up my potato stash for trick or treaters. Do what you must, my friends, but I defend the potato stash.

Genius. I am going as this for all future Halloweens and on NYE.

he thinks they’re for petting 🥺

The costs of insurance plans are now visible at Healthcare.gov, and we scooped last week that the benchmark premium is spiking 30%. We're looking to tell the stories of Americans facing soaring insurance costs. You can share your experiences here: thewashingtonpost.formstack.com/forms/obamac...

Sticker shock for ACA recipients: Clint and Cindy Kittrell, Oregon: $305/month --> $2,500/month. Chad and Tara Smith, Idaho: $710/month --> $1,000/month. Jessica Bunger, Florida: New premiums quadruple to $1,100/month. "I’ve never felt so powerless in my life" www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson share.google/SwZgHHMRJY9v...

the obsession with "retirement" as some sort of natural end state to a life of productive work is ridiculous, another symptom of millennial entitlement skewing public opinion. instead, consider taking "microretirements" throughout your career, perhaps between 12am-6am

Want to do research on home care, assisted living, and nursing home workers, but are having trouble finding info about the policies that affect them? Look no further! The AWARD Network Data Compendium has data for you! Learn more in our new JAMDA article. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The government shutdown has put SNAP benefits at risk for millions of Americans. Travis Peters, an urban farmer in Detroit, is giving out free produce tomorrow 'If it's getting tight, my food is free. Don’t even sweat that'

Food bank director: “for every meal that a food bank provides, the SNAP program provides nine. There’s no way we can meet that gap.”

We hope you can join us & @pennchibe.bsky.social for a virtual keynote presentation from Amy Finkelstein about rethinking common inferences in healthcare. Wednesday 10/29 at 12 PM ET. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VIvfC2

Are you interested in pursuing a PhD in Health Policy & Health Services Research at Vanderbilt? Join me on Nov 12th at noon ET for an information session. If you cannot join, we have a ton of information available on our website to help you with your application! www.vumc.org/health-polic...

Thanks for the kind comments and notes, friends! It was a great day!

ICYMI, in a recent article in @jama.com with @dusetzinas.bsky.social and Thomas Hwang, we explored this issue in detail and argued that "not all combination drugs should be treated separately for negotiation purposes." 4/4 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Absolutely thrilled to be a member of the National Academy of Medicine! Lifetime career achievement unlocked! Cannot thank my persistent nominators enough for this honor. Congratulations to the new cohort - it is so fun to see so many deserving people be recognized! nam.edu/news-and-ins...

Congratulations and welcome to the 100 new members elected today to the National Academy of Medicine! #NAMmtg nam.edu/news-and-ins...

Dallas didn’t disappoint. #NoKings

No Kings rallygoers in Nashville are lining streets and chanting: the crowd is a mix of ages and genders.

😍 Boston, you are beautiful. #NoKings

Not even my sign but I approve! #NoKings #Nashville

#NoKings #Nashville

Hell yeah, Nashville!

"Until we go bankrupt or are fully devoured by one of the three beasts, things are going to be business as usual here. That means doing the job of two and a half employees without complaining."

Had a claim denied by Aetna but joke’s on them because I’m a health economist on furlough. Bet they’ve never seen an appeal with a “methods” section before.

Medicare has stopped paying physicians due to the shut down. Standing right on the third rail www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c...

Good write up on alternative funding programs. These really are the worst idea.

Have questions about TrumpRX, or all the talk about "most favored nation" policies? "Today Explained" by@vox.com has a great rundown:

Nothing says this is a nothing burger (h/t @julierovner.bsky.social) like a 5PM Friday announcement and this phrase: "Specific terms of this agreement remain confidential." www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre...

Pfizer and now AstraZeneca struck deals with the White House to provide "most-favored nation" pricing in Medicaid. But as USC Schaeffer’s Darius Lakdawalla explains to @cbsnews.com, the effect may be small since Medicaid already gets the “best price” by law.

W/today's Trump/AZ deal, sharing my still-relevant earlier @opinion.bloomberg.com column on the Trump/Pfizer drug pricing deal. As @dusetzinas.bsky.social told me then, the details really matter & seems possible we'll never get them--and never know if these deals are mainly good for pharma. 🎁link:

My boss: so how's our fourth quarter looking? Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but

We are excited to share a recently published article in @jhppl.bsky.social which investigates the past, present, and future of @fda.gov reforms. As numerous changes occurring at the agency threaten public trust and scientific rigor, there is still opportunity to reenvision the future (1/3)