Aaron Mitchell
banner
thewonkologist.bsky.social
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.
New Jersey told doctors to stop accepting more than $10K per year from the drug industry.

...looks like we didn't stop. 😡

Great work by Neeraj Patel, @reshmagar.bsky.social @jsross119.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/healthaffair...
Changes in pharmaceutical industry payments to physicians after New Jersey's 2018 restriction
The federal government and several states have implemented measures to restrict, ban, and increase transparency of promotional payments from pharmaceutical
academic.oup.com
January 16, 2026 at 1:59 PM
New study in @jamanetworkopen.com this week: frequency of post-market safety issues for cancer drugs with accelerated approval.

Happy to collaborate on this study with Dr. Mooghali, @reshmagar.bsky.social @jsross119.bsky.social

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Postmarket Safety Actions for Novel Oncology Drugs Granted Accelerated Approval
This cross-sectional study examines postmarket safety actions for novel oncology drugs that received accelerated Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
jamanetwork.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Sorry to learn of the passing of David Mitchell, founder and leader of @p4ad.bsky.social who played large role in helping get the Inflation Reduction Act to the finish line.

His voice will be very missed.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/h...
David Mitchell, Who Led Fight on Drug Prices, Dies at 75
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Our latest study on physician-industry COI, out last week in The Oncologist.

I have often heard the rationale that "if I'm conflicted with all the companies, then I'm unbiased."

So we asked, how often DO oncologists receive payments from all competing companies?

academic.oup.com/oncolo/advan...
How Often Do Oncologists Receive Industry Payments from Competing Companies?
AbstractBackground. Payments from pharmaceutical companies to oncologists can influence prescribing practices. However, some physicians believe that receiv
academic.oup.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
Make it viral.
January 8, 2026 at 3:22 AM
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/
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/
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
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
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/
December 20, 2025 at 7:42 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.”
December 20, 2025 at 3:06 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...
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
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
Very cool!
December 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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.
December 12, 2025 at 11:35 PM
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
lol this month’s issue of JCO appears to have been resected with positive margins
December 12, 2025 at 2:36 AM
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...
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
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
December 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
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.
December 7, 2025 at 11:15 AM
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
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
November 21, 2025 at 8:07 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
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
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
November 14, 2025 at 6:50 PM
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
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.
November 14, 2025 at 12:20 PM