Viewpoints: Why Are Obesity Drugs So Expensive?; Intense Heat Waves Negatively Affect Older Americans
Editorial writers delve into these public health issues.
Bloomberg:
Who's Really Keeping Ozempic And Wegovy Prices So High?
On Tuesday, congressional leaders spent two hours taking to task Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Officer Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen over the high price of the company’s diabetes and obesity drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. Now the question is whether those prices will change. (Lisa Jarvis, 9/25)
Stat:
Congress Must Protect Older Americans From Extreme Heat
On Wednesday, Congress passed a temporary spending bill that keeps the government funded beyond Sept. 30. Yet, even in light of lawmakers averting a shutdown, there is another end-of-moth deadline looming they’ve largely ignored: expiration of foundational aging and disability legislation called the Older Americans Act (OAA). (Marquisha Johns and Casey Doherty, 9/26)
The Conversation:
Diet-Related Diseases Are The No. 1 Cause Of Death In The US – Yet Many Doctors Receive Little To No Nutrition Education In Med School
In a 2023 survey of more than 1,000 U.S. medical students, about 58% of respondents said they received no formal nutrition education while in medical school for four years. Those who did averaged about three hours of nutrition education per year. That is woefully short of the goals set by the U.S. Committee on Nutrition in Medical Education back in 1985: that med students should receive a total of 25 hours of nutrition education while in school – a little more than six hours per year. (Nathaniel Johnson and Madeline Comeau, 9/25)
Miami Herald:
Many In Hispanic Community Dying From Hypertension. We Must Stop It
There is a high prevalence of hypertension among Hispanics, with 44% currently living with the condition. We can no longer afford to ignore the urgency of this situation. (Maria Delgado-Lelievre, 9/25)
The New York Times:
The Simple Stories About The Opioid Epidemic Are Wrong
Finally, mercifully, the country’s astronomical drug overdose rate appears to be flattening out — even declining. This spring, national data began to show that overdose death rates were, after more than three decades of very steady increases, no longer growing. (David Wallace-Wells, 9/25)
