Stephan: This story was sent to me by a friend who is an internationally respected physician and author with this message, "I think the insulin rip-off is the clearest example of pharma-greed. Insulin is not optional; without it, people die. Simple as that. That means a captive user group -- and an opening for limitless greed. Insulin should be dirt cheap. This article actually suggests solutions." That pretty much says it.
By the numbers: Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi control almost the entire insulin market. Together, those companies had about $22 billion in global insulin revenue in 2017.
These are the per-vial list prices for common insulin brands, according to Elsevier’s Gold Standard Drug Database:
- Novo Nordisk’s Novolog: $289
- Eli Lilly’s Humalog: $275
- Sanofi’s Lantus: $270
- Walmart sells an older type of insulin for $25 a vial, but many patients don’t want to switch treatments.
Between the lines: Most patients don’t pay the full list price for insulin, but people who are uninsured or have a high-deductible insurance plan do.
Why it matters: “It’s really one of my greatest fears,” said […]
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Friday, October 26th, 2018
Stephan: Here is a very interesting look at the future. I agree with a lot of it, but don't think it factors in what climate change is going to do, and the social effects it will have. But it should provoke your thinking.
The future is almost here… it’s both scary and exciting.
Predictions!
1. Auto repair shops go away. A gasoline engine has 20,000 individual parts. An electrical engine has 20. Electric cars are sold with lifetime guarantees and are only repaired by dealers. It takes only 10 minutes to remove and replace an electric engine. Faulty electric engines are not repaired in the dealership but are sent to a regional repair shop that repairs them with robots. Essentially, if your electric “Check Motor” light comes on, you simply drive up to what looks like a car wash. Your car is towed through while you have a cup of coffee and out comes your car with a new engine.
2. Gas stations go away. Parking meters are replaced by meters that dispense electricity. All companies install electrical recharging stations.
3. All major auto manufacturers have already designated 5-6 billion dollars each to start building new plants that only build electric cars.
4. Coal industries go away. Oil companies go away. Drilling for oil stops.
5. Homes produce and store more electrical energy […]
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Friday, October 26th, 2018
BOB BRIGHAM, - The Raw Story
Stephan: Have you, like me, noticed how many stories are emerging of Republican sabotage of American democracy? The Republicans know they are a minority party so they do what all unethical deceitful people do, they cheat, and rig, and grift. Just take this story as one of a dozen I have seen today.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel (left) and Donald Trump (right). Image via McDaniel’s Facebook.
The Republican National Committee mailed absentee voters in a key battleground state incorrect information about state election law that could result in spoiled ballots, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The mailer incorrectly said that absentee ballots postmarked by the election day would be counted if they were received by county clerks within 10 days of the election. Under Montana law, ballots must be turned in by 8 p.m. local time on election day.
Recent polls have shown single-digit races between Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and his challenger, Republican State Auditor Matt Rosendale. In the battle for the state’s lone congressional seat, Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) has also polled within single-digits of his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Kathleen Williams.
“We regret the unintentional error we made in a recent mailing,” said RNC spokesman Rick Gorka. “We are contacting all voters who received the mailing through live phone calls and we are sending new mailers to each voter providing clarification.”
“Mailers […]
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Thursday, October 25th, 2018
TESSA STUART, - Rollingstone
Stephan: If you have been reading me regularly you know I have been tracking how the christofascists are attempting to gain control of the government from the inside, and to implement policies that reflect their mental disorders concerning women, guns, and greed. They use the religious protections and tax advantages provided by the Constitution to create the anti-democratic authoritarian christofascist political movement. This essay lays out how they are trying to restructure women's health care.
Millions of docile submissive White women I know will vote Republican in 13 days. As a result their life-spans will be shorter, and they will die more often delivering children, as will their babies, and their children won't get the education they would wish they could but, I am afraid, I cannot feel sorry for them. There is no cure for willful ignorance.
Credit: lllustration by Brian Stauffer
It was dusk on a Friday in March 2017, and the women’s health clinic in San Antonio was mostly deserted, except for a nurse finishing some end-of-the-week paperwork, when the phone rang. The man on the other end of the line introduced himself as Dr. Meyerstein with the Office of Refugee Resettlement in Washington, D.C., the agency charged with the temporary care of children apprehended while crossing the border alone.
Earlier that day, the clinic had given a 17-year-old girl the first dose of a medication abortion — a regimen that requires two sets of pills to be taken at least 24 but no more than 48 hours apart. Meyerstein wanted to know what would happen if the girl didn’t take her second dose.
The nurse knew the patient he was asking about: petite, shy, brown hair and a face that looked younger than the age on her chart. A chaperone from the government-funded shelter where she was being held accompanied her to […]
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In a special telephone meeting on Thursday, August 23, Bayer AG’s CEO Werner Bauman tried to reassure the German conglomerate’s principal shareholders who were concerned about the recent drop in the company’s stock. Bayer’s stock fell dramatically after an unfavorable verdict against Bayer’s St. Louis subsidiary, Monsanto.
