Aaron Mitchell
@thewonkologist.bsky.social
Medical oncologist and health services researcher. Focusing on health care costs, physician-industry COI, and oncology reimbursement reform. Opinions mine.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
Oncologists should support - not oppose - Medicare drug price negotiation. Lower drug prices benefit patients; this should supersede revenue concerns.
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
Oncology Drug Revenue and Price Negotiation
This Viewpoint examines the potential impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and negotiation of oncologic drug prices on payments to oncology specialists.
jamanetwork.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Oncologists should support - not oppose - Medicare drug price negotiation. Lower drug prices benefit patients; this should supersede revenue concerns.
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
Oncologists should support - not oppose - Medicare drug price negotiation. Lower drug prices benefit patients; this should supersede revenue concerns.
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
Oncology Drug Revenue and Price Negotiation
This Viewpoint examines the potential impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and negotiation of oncologic drug prices on payments to oncology specialists.
jamanetwork.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Oncologists should support - not oppose - Medicare drug price negotiation. Lower drug prices benefit patients; this should supersede revenue concerns.
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/
Y’all I just dug these out of an attic where they have been for the last THIRTY YEARS and they STILL WORK!
December 26, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Y’all I just dug these out of an attic where they have been for the last THIRTY YEARS and they STILL WORK!
The linked study cites an article which lists me as an author, but which does not actually exist.
I complained to the journal editors.
Over a year later, the study is still there, no retractions or corrections.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39614949/
I complained to the journal editors.
Over a year later, the study is still there, no retractions or corrections.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39614949/
December 20, 2025 at 7:42 PM
The linked study cites an article which lists me as an author, but which does not actually exist.
I complained to the journal editors.
Over a year later, the study is still there, no retractions or corrections.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39614949/
I complained to the journal editors.
Over a year later, the study is still there, no retractions or corrections.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39614949/
“Over the past few years, the group has found that hospitals are a hotspot for outsized markups of all kinds. In one case, the plan paid almost $90,000 for a series of oxaliplatin infusions…that’s more than 700 times what Medicare would’ve paid at the time.”
This entire “Cancer Capitalism” series from @bloomberg.com is worth a read!
Latest topic: the astronomical markups that hospitals charge on cancer drugs:
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Latest topic: the astronomical markups that hospitals charge on cancer drugs:
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
One Generic Cancer Drug Costs $35. Or $134. Or $13,000.
Hundreds of hospitals across the US are marking up old cancer treatments — in some cases hundreds of times what Medicare pays.
www.bloomberg.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“Over the past few years, the group has found that hospitals are a hotspot for outsized markups of all kinds. In one case, the plan paid almost $90,000 for a series of oxaliplatin infusions…that’s more than 700 times what Medicare would’ve paid at the time.”
This entire “Cancer Capitalism” series from @bloomberg.com is worth a read!
Latest topic: the astronomical markups that hospitals charge on cancer drugs:
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Latest topic: the astronomical markups that hospitals charge on cancer drugs:
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
One Generic Cancer Drug Costs $35. Or $134. Or $13,000.
Hundreds of hospitals across the US are marking up old cancer treatments — in some cases hundreds of times what Medicare pays.
www.bloomberg.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:17 PM
This entire “Cancer Capitalism” series from @bloomberg.com is worth a read!
Latest topic: the astronomical markups that hospitals charge on cancer drugs:
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Latest topic: the astronomical markups that hospitals charge on cancer drugs:
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
Very cool!
December 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Very cool!
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
reality has an unfair anti-Trump bias
Q: At the end of this year, those extended Obamacare subsidies expire. What's your message to those 24m Americans who will see their premiums go up?
TRUMP: Don't make it sound so bad. Obviously you're a sycophant for Democrats. You're obviously a provider of bad news for Republicans.
TRUMP: Don't make it sound so bad. Obviously you're a sycophant for Democrats. You're obviously a provider of bad news for Republicans.
December 12, 2025 at 11:35 PM
reality has an unfair anti-Trump bias
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
Anti-vaxxism is an ideology with maybe the dumbest combination of pointless and evil that has ever existed bsky.app/profile/nyti...
More than 250 people who were exposed to measles, including dozens of unvaccinated school-aged children, are quarantining in South Carolina as the state wrestles to contain an outbreak that has sickened more than 110 people.
Hundreds Quarantined in South Carolina as Measles Outbreak Shows No Sign of Slowing
The outbreak shows no signs of slowing, likely because of the affected area’s “lower-than-hoped-for vaccination coverage,” a state health official said.
nyti.ms
December 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Anti-vaxxism is an ideology with maybe the dumbest combination of pointless and evil that has ever existed bsky.app/profile/nyti...
lol this month’s issue of JCO appears to have been resected with positive margins
December 12, 2025 at 2:36 AM
lol this month’s issue of JCO appears to have been resected with positive margins
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
"One agency source said at least one division is having to pour all of its resources into reviewing drugs that received a voucher, taking time away from other medical products."
NEW: I dug deep into new top drug regulator Tracy Beth Høeg's record at the FDA so far, talked to agency staff, and even found some old and interesting blog posts, to get a sense of how she'll lead the drug center. TLDR, staff are worried. More here:
www.statnews.com/2025/12/11/t...
www.statnews.com/2025/12/11/t...
FDA staff fear Tracy Beth Høeg will bring bias and instability to embattled drug center
Høeg is set to become the fifth head of the FDA's drug center in a year.
www.statnews.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:20 AM
"One agency source said at least one division is having to pour all of its resources into reviewing drugs that received a voucher, taking time away from other medical products."
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
I didn’t really get how much “health care contact days” is a meaningful patient outcome until I got sick
thank you @ishaniganguli.bsky.social @dusetzinas.bsky.social @jamanetworkopen.com
thank you @ishaniganguli.bsky.social @dusetzinas.bsky.social @jamanetworkopen.com
For older adults with metastatic cancer, each day spent on health care can take away from days that are often devastatingly limited. Our latest study led by Arjun Gupta and Shelley Jazowski with @dusetzinas.bsky.social and Avi Gupta is out now in @jamanetworkopen.com
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Health Care Contact Days in Older Adults With Metastatic Cancer
This cohort study examines patterns and changes in health care contact days over time among traditional Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with metastatic breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers.
jamanetwork.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I didn’t really get how much “health care contact days” is a meaningful patient outcome until I got sick
thank you @ishaniganguli.bsky.social @dusetzinas.bsky.social @jamanetworkopen.com
thank you @ishaniganguli.bsky.social @dusetzinas.bsky.social @jamanetworkopen.com
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
So, to all the "RFK's got some good ideas" folks (Rachael Bedard, Leana Wen) and Jay Bhattacharya is "an excellent choice for NIH" (Steven Macedo, Frances Lee) and Vinay Prasad "will bring a breath of fresh air to FDA" (Adam Cifu, John Mandrola) groupies--you own this now too.
I think the *speed* at which RFK Jr and his Great Barrington Declaration/anti-vaxx/Brownstone wrecking crew have been dismantling the US public health system has been really astonishing
Well, Senators Bill Cassidy and Thom Tillis, you wanted RFK Jr. to “go wild” at HHS.
Congratulations. You’ve achieved your goal. He is well on his way to completely destroying the US vaccine program.
Congratulations. You’ve achieved your goal. He is well on his way to completely destroying the US vaccine program.
December 7, 2025 at 11:15 AM
So, to all the "RFK's got some good ideas" folks (Rachael Bedard, Leana Wen) and Jay Bhattacharya is "an excellent choice for NIH" (Steven Macedo, Frances Lee) and Vinay Prasad "will bring a breath of fresh air to FDA" (Adam Cifu, John Mandrola) groupies--you own this now too.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
Government documents obtained by @kffhealthnews.org show the agency overseeing Medicare Advantage does little to enforce long-standing rules intended to ensure about 35 million plan members can see doctors in the first place.
Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare. - KFF Health News
Health systems drop out of Medicare Advantage plans all the time. Yet government documents obtained by KFF Health News show that federal regulators rarely warn plans that their networks of health prov...
kffhealthnews.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Government documents obtained by @kffhealthnews.org show the agency overseeing Medicare Advantage does little to enforce long-standing rules intended to ensure about 35 million plan members can see doctors in the first place.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
@medscape.com piece on biosimilars policy, including our recent @jamanetworkopen.com study on biosimilar prices:
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
FDA Aims to Streamline Biosimilar Drug Development
FDA proposals include ‘major updates’ to simplify biosimilarity studies, reduce unnecessary clinical testing, and ease the process for making biosimilars interchangeable with brand-name biologics.
www.medscape.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
@medscape.com piece on biosimilars policy, including our recent @jamanetworkopen.com study on biosimilar prices:
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
In good company alongside some cutting-edge basic science, our recent @bmj.com study examining the association between cancer drug profitability and utilization made the @mskcancercenter.bsky.social research highlights!
www.mskcc.org/news/msk-res...
@dusetzinas.bsky.social
www.mskcc.org/news/msk-res...
@dusetzinas.bsky.social
MSK Research Highlights, November 20, 2025
New MSK research finds a potential therapeutic opportunity in regulatory T cells’ resilience to the loss of Foxp3; shows how cancer develops resistance to antibody-drug conjugates; develops a new syst...
www.mskcc.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
In good company alongside some cutting-edge basic science, our recent @bmj.com study examining the association between cancer drug profitability and utilization made the @mskcancercenter.bsky.social research highlights!
www.mskcc.org/news/msk-res...
@dusetzinas.bsky.social
www.mskcc.org/news/msk-res...
@dusetzinas.bsky.social
It had been far too long since my last GREETINGS OF THE DAY email! This one may be my new all time favorite.
How much better could you signal "this is spam"? LOL right now 🤣
@ankurfactorial.bsky.social
How much better could you signal "this is spam"? LOL right now 🤣
@ankurfactorial.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 6:50 PM
It had been far too long since my last GREETINGS OF THE DAY email! This one may be my new all time favorite.
How much better could you signal "this is spam"? LOL right now 🤣
@ankurfactorial.bsky.social
How much better could you signal "this is spam"? LOL right now 🤣
@ankurfactorial.bsky.social
When someone leaves the “-ized” out of “generalized estimating equations”
And now you too can shame other people that don't know this! 😜
November 14, 2025 at 1:59 PM
When someone leaves the “-ized” out of “generalized estimating equations”
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
NEW: We’ve uncovered the first known example of taxpayer money flowing from DHS to businesses controlled by Kristi Noem’s allies and friends.
It’s part of a money trail that’s been shrouded in secrecy—and involves $220 million, a mysterious Delaware LLC & a horse named Gill.
It’s part of a money trail that’s been shrouded in secrecy—and involves $220 million, a mysterious Delaware LLC & a horse named Gill.
November 14, 2025 at 12:20 PM
NEW: We’ve uncovered the first known example of taxpayer money flowing from DHS to businesses controlled by Kristi Noem’s allies and friends.
It’s part of a money trail that’s been shrouded in secrecy—and involves $220 million, a mysterious Delaware LLC & a horse named Gill.
It’s part of a money trail that’s been shrouded in secrecy—and involves $220 million, a mysterious Delaware LLC & a horse named Gill.
KIDS.
Every morning, how does it always take 20 minutes between “ready to leave” and “ready to leave”????
Every morning, how does it always take 20 minutes between “ready to leave” and “ready to leave”????
November 14, 2025 at 1:48 PM
KIDS.
Every morning, how does it always take 20 minutes between “ready to leave” and “ready to leave”????
Every morning, how does it always take 20 minutes between “ready to leave” and “ready to leave”????
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say.
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
November 13, 2025 at 10:04 PM
NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say.
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Honored to have been a co-author on you first thread in this role! But the credit is really all to Dr. Paul, who led this study.
I was honored to have been asked to collaborate by the @portalresearch.org team
I was honored to have been asked to collaborate by the @portalresearch.org team
Starting with this article on ICI pricing from @thewonkologist.bsky.social and colleagues!
Do more approved drugs with the same mechanism reduce prices?
ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/...
Do more approved drugs with the same mechanism reduce prices?
ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/...
November 12, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Honored to have been a co-author on you first thread in this role! But the credit is really all to Dr. Paul, who led this study.
I was honored to have been asked to collaborate by the @portalresearch.org team
I was honored to have been asked to collaborate by the @portalresearch.org team
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
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
Our new study is out today in @jamanetworkopen.com!
We looked at trends in biologic drug prices after biosimilar competition.
Key takeaways: savings from biosimilars are substantial, but take longer to accrue than commonly seen with generic small molecules.
1/
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
We looked at trends in biologic drug prices after biosimilar competition.
Key takeaways: savings from biosimilars are substantial, but take longer to accrue than commonly seen with generic small molecules.
1/
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Biologic Drug Prices in Medicare Part B After Entry of Biosimilars to the Market
This cohort study evaluates the associations of biosimilar entry to the market with the prices of originator biologics under Medicare Part B reimbursement.
jamanetwork.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:37 PM
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