Govind Persad
@govindpersad.bsky.social
Law professor, University of Colorado Law School. Teach and research on health law and bioethics. Papers, etc: https://sites.google.com/site/govindpersad
February 24, 2024 at 4:45 PM
Last, while trade-offs in drug spending are inevitable, a creative strategy--#Pigouvian taxes--could lessen their sharpness
States could raise revenues for covering GLP-1s, while mitigating the need for them, by taxing sodas and other obesogenic foods
States could raise revenues for covering GLP-1s, while mitigating the need for them, by taxing sodas and other obesogenic foods
Cities with soda taxes saw sales of sugary drinks fall as prices rose, study finds
Soda taxes are meant to discourage people from drinking too much sugar, which is linked to a host of bad health outcomes. Cities that imposed the taxes saw a 33% decrease in the sale of sugary drinks.
www.npr.org
February 24, 2024 at 4:44 PM
Last, while trade-offs in drug spending are inevitable, a creative strategy--#Pigouvian taxes--could lessen their sharpness
States could raise revenues for covering GLP-1s, while mitigating the need for them, by taxing sodas and other obesogenic foods
States could raise revenues for covering GLP-1s, while mitigating the need for them, by taxing sodas and other obesogenic foods
Instead, we must honestly and fairly consider trade-offs.
States need to compare drugs- including across different medical conditions- based on value, not just refuse to cover later-arriving drugs like GLP-1s
Value comparisons can help negotiate prices & create incentives for effective drugs
4/5
States need to compare drugs- including across different medical conditions- based on value, not just refuse to cover later-arriving drugs like GLP-1s
Value comparisons can help negotiate prices & create incentives for effective drugs
4/5
Value-Based Pricing of Prescription Drugs Benefits Patients and Promotes Innovation
Value-based pricing aligns prescription drug prices to their clinical benefits, leading to lower spending and better health outcomes.
www.americanprogress.org
February 24, 2024 at 4:43 PM
Instead, we must honestly and fairly consider trade-offs.
States need to compare drugs- including across different medical conditions- based on value, not just refuse to cover later-arriving drugs like GLP-1s
Value comparisons can help negotiate prices & create incentives for effective drugs
4/5
States need to compare drugs- including across different medical conditions- based on value, not just refuse to cover later-arriving drugs like GLP-1s
Value comparisons can help negotiate prices & create incentives for effective drugs
4/5
Would the House's proposed ban on cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) techniques improve GLP-1 access?
No. It will make things worse.
CEA bans make refusals to cover GLP-1s, like NC’s, that only consider cost & unethically ignore value for money more likely, not less
#bioethics
3/5
No. It will make things worse.
CEA bans make refusals to cover GLP-1s, like NC’s, that only consider cost & unethically ignore value for money more likely, not less
#bioethics
3/5
The much-maligned ‘quality-adjusted life year’ is a vital tool for health care policy
A new bill that would ban government use of quality-adjusted life years is misguided.
www.statnews.com
February 24, 2024 at 4:42 PM
Would the House's proposed ban on cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) techniques improve GLP-1 access?
No. It will make things worse.
CEA bans make refusals to cover GLP-1s, like NC’s, that only consider cost & unethically ignore value for money more likely, not less
#bioethics
3/5
No. It will make things worse.
CEA bans make refusals to cover GLP-1s, like NC’s, that only consider cost & unethically ignore value for money more likely, not less
#bioethics
3/5
Blanket refusal to cover GLP-1s for obesity is wrong because GLP-1s are more cost-effective than many other drugs North Carolina covers.
States made the same mistake when they initially refused to pay for new Hepatitis C drugs
2/5
States made the same mistake when they initially refused to pay for new Hepatitis C drugs
2/5
Hepatitis C can be cured. So why aren't more people getting treatment?
A new CDC report finds that just a third of those diagnosed with hepatitis C have cleared the virus — a decade after a cure was made available.
www.npr.org
February 24, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Blanket refusal to cover GLP-1s for obesity is wrong because GLP-1s are more cost-effective than many other drugs North Carolina covers.
States made the same mistake when they initially refused to pay for new Hepatitis C drugs
2/5
States made the same mistake when they initially refused to pay for new Hepatitis C drugs
2/5
I mostly know ethics/political ones: Crooked Timber, PEA Soup, and lots of defunct ones (Public Reason, Ethics Etc, my personal fave Left2Right).
I was so looking forward to posting to Public Reason when I finished my PhD, but instead we just have social media
I was so looking forward to posting to Public Reason when I finished my PhD, but instead we just have social media
February 24, 2024 at 3:17 AM
I mostly know ethics/political ones: Crooked Timber, PEA Soup, and lots of defunct ones (Public Reason, Ethics Etc, my personal fave Left2Right).
I was so looking forward to posting to Public Reason when I finished my PhD, but instead we just have social media
I was so looking forward to posting to Public Reason when I finished my PhD, but instead we just have social media
This piece made me think about how structural problems with fragmentation of support programs exacerbate disadvantage, even though the piece sometimes took a frustratingly “blame the hospital” lens.
Would’ve loved to hear more in the piece about reforms that would help undo this fragmentation
Would’ve loved to hear more in the piece about reforms that would help undo this fragmentation
February 22, 2024 at 5:55 PM
This piece made me think about how structural problems with fragmentation of support programs exacerbate disadvantage, even though the piece sometimes took a frustratingly “blame the hospital” lens.
Would’ve loved to hear more in the piece about reforms that would help undo this fragmentation
Would’ve loved to hear more in the piece about reforms that would help undo this fragmentation
Reposted by Govind Persad
…of a paper that determines my judgement of the paper. But the assumptions and starting points of the argument should be reasonable to anyone. In that sense I can offer a fair review of a paper even if the conclusion is something that I deeply disagree with.
February 17, 2024 at 6:10 AM
…of a paper that determines my judgement of the paper. But the assumptions and starting points of the argument should be reasonable to anyone. In that sense I can offer a fair review of a paper even if the conclusion is something that I deeply disagree with.
Reposted by Govind Persad
No, I think value judgements are inevitable, even in the sciences ppl make (epistemic) value judgements all the time - though often implicitly. On top of that It seems impossible to do (and review in) ethics in a morally neutral way. But it should not be my own moral perspective on the conclusion…
February 17, 2024 at 6:00 AM
No, I think value judgements are inevitable, even in the sciences ppl make (epistemic) value judgements all the time - though often implicitly. On top of that It seems impossible to do (and review in) ethics in a morally neutral way. But it should not be my own moral perspective on the conclusion…
Some of the litigation I discuss that challenges consideration of race in health grantmaking is patterned on litigation against non-health grantmakers (e.g. Atlanta's Fearless Fund) being brought by the same organization and attorneys that litigated the Harvard/UNC affirmative action cases
Venture capital fund defends grants for Black women in US appeals court
A venture capital fund on Wednesday urged a U.S. appeals court to allow it to resume a grant program that awards funding to businesses run by Black women and reject an anti-affirmative action group's claim that it discriminates based on race.
www.reuters.com
February 15, 2024 at 3:00 PM
Some of the litigation I discuss that challenges consideration of race in health grantmaking is patterned on litigation against non-health grantmakers (e.g. Atlanta's Fearless Fund) being brought by the same organization and attorneys that litigated the Harvard/UNC affirmative action cases
Litigation has targeted consideration of individuals’ race in:
-grants to health trainees www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-region...
- physician recruitment litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
-medical board composition litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
-grants to health trainees www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-region...
- physician recruitment litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
-medical board composition litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
Suit challenges required minority appointments to Louisiana medical licensing board
A law requiring that some members appointed to the board that licenses and regulates physicians in Louisiana be from minority groups is being challenged in federal court.
apnews.com
February 15, 2024 at 2:59 PM
Litigation has targeted consideration of individuals’ race in:
-grants to health trainees www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-region...
- physician recruitment litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
-medical board composition litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
-grants to health trainees www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-region...
- physician recruitment litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
-medical board composition litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/d...
Leah Rand & @akesselheim.bsky.social have a couple of nice papers explaining the problems with QALY bans and evaluating ethical critiques of cost-effectiveness analysis:
"Congress’ Misguided Plan to Ban QALYs" (JAMA)
Review of ethical critiques of QALYs: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
"Congress’ Misguided Plan to Ban QALYs" (JAMA)
Review of ethical critiques of QALYs: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Congress’s Misguided Plan to Ban QALYs
This Viewpoint discusses the flawed assumptions and potential negative impacts of a proposed federal bill that would ban government health care programs from us
jamanetwork.com
February 9, 2024 at 10:49 PM
Leah Rand & @akesselheim.bsky.social have a couple of nice papers explaining the problems with QALY bans and evaluating ethical critiques of cost-effectiveness analysis:
"Congress’ Misguided Plan to Ban QALYs" (JAMA)
Review of ethical critiques of QALYs: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
"Congress’ Misguided Plan to Ban QALYs" (JAMA)
Review of ethical critiques of QALYs: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
QALYs are an imperfect measure of the value of a drug
But often (certainly w/Congress' QALY ban) critics aren't suggesting a better alternative--they want the US, unlike everywhere else, to pay for drugs without measuring or comparing their value
Result: no accountability for pharma, just $$$
But often (certainly w/Congress' QALY ban) critics aren't suggesting a better alternative--they want the US, unlike everywhere else, to pay for drugs without measuring or comparing their value
Result: no accountability for pharma, just $$$
February 9, 2024 at 10:45 PM
QALYs are an imperfect measure of the value of a drug
But often (certainly w/Congress' QALY ban) critics aren't suggesting a better alternative--they want the US, unlike everywhere else, to pay for drugs without measuring or comparing their value
Result: no accountability for pharma, just $$$
But often (certainly w/Congress' QALY ban) critics aren't suggesting a better alternative--they want the US, unlike everywhere else, to pay for drugs without measuring or comparing their value
Result: no accountability for pharma, just $$$
Friday Fave #6: David DeGrazia, Moral Status as a Matter of Degree? Southern J. Phil. 2008
"Many people hold views implying that sentient animals have moral status but less than that of persons. These positions suggest that moral status admits of degrees. Does it?"
"Many people hold views implying that sentient animals have moral status but less than that of persons. These positions suggest that moral status admits of degrees. Does it?"
philosophy.columbian.gwu.edu
January 8, 2024 at 12:14 AM
Friday Fave #6: David DeGrazia, Moral Status as a Matter of Degree? Southern J. Phil. 2008
"Many people hold views implying that sentient animals have moral status but less than that of persons. These positions suggest that moral status admits of degrees. Does it?"
"Many people hold views implying that sentient animals have moral status but less than that of persons. These positions suggest that moral status admits of degrees. Does it?"
Friday Fave #5(?): Peter Ubel & George Loewenstein, Distributing scarce livers: the moral reasoning of the general public, Soc. Sci. & Med., 1996, www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds...
"Many people in the general public are interested in goals other than merely maximizing measurable health outcomes..."
"Many people in the general public are interested in goals other than merely maximizing measurable health outcomes..."
www.cmu.edu
November 18, 2023 at 8:41 PM
Friday Fave #5(?): Peter Ubel & George Loewenstein, Distributing scarce livers: the moral reasoning of the general public, Soc. Sci. & Med., 1996, www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds...
"Many people in the general public are interested in goals other than merely maximizing measurable health outcomes..."
"Many people in the general public are interested in goals other than merely maximizing measurable health outcomes..."