Markets Provide Care for an Aging Population

Raymond March
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Markets Provide Care for an Aging Population

A recent a WIRED article followed Arlyn Anderson, who was struggling to find care for her aging father Jim. At 91 years old with Alzheimer’s, Jim was no longer able to care for himself but still wanted to maintain his independence. When Arlyn urged him to consider relocating to a nursing home, Jim refused. Arlyn wanted to respect her father’s wishes, but between a 40 minute drive to check on him and Jim’s quickly deteriorating health, something had to change.

Situations like these are common. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2017 about 19 percent of households were composed of at least two adult generations. Further, between 2010 and 2030, the percent of the population at least 80 years old is expected to increase 79 percent while the number of family caregivers is only expected to rise one percent.

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FDA Greenlights Testing ‘Ecstasy’ for PTSD Therapy

Raymond March
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FDA Greenlights Testing ‘Ecstasy’ for PTSD Therapy

DMA, more commonly called “ecstasy” or “Molly,” is an illicit substance often taken to induce euphoria. The Controlled Substance Act considers MDMA a Schedule 1 controlled substance, which has no known medicinal benefits and a high likelihood of abuse.

Penalties for using or distributing MDMA are considerably high even for a Schedule 1 substance. In 2001, the U.S. federal government increased penalties for people convicted of dispensing over 50 grams of MDMA to a four-year prison sentence and up to $4 million in fines. These penalties could double if the buyer was harmed from the exchange. Similarly, possessing 5 grams of MDMA can result in a prison sentence ranging from 4 to 50 years.

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New Blood-Pressure Guidelines Raise Concerns about Interest-Group Lobbying

Raymond March
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New Blood-Pressure Guidelines Raise Concerns about Interest-Group Lobbying

On November 13, millions of Americans had high blood pressure for the first time. It wasn’t even Thanksgiving.

That day the American College of Cardiology (ACC), working with the American Heart Association (AHA), released new guidelines regarding what constitutes high blood pressure. Since 2003, a reading below 140/90 was considered normal. Now, any blood pressure over 120/90 is considered hypertension.

These changes mean nearly half of Americans have high blood pressure, a considerable increase from about 30 percent under the old guidelines. If hypertension rates before these changes were described as an epidemic and a silent killer, the new rates will likely replace the silence with alarm and calls to action.

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The FDA Cannot Hire Staff with Starting Salaries of $160,000

John Graham
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The FDA Cannot Hire Staff with Starting Salaries of $160,000

Would a starting salary of just above $160,000 turn you off? Well, maybe if you had a scientific PhD and had to wait four months before the employer could decide whether to hire you or not, you would find a spot elsewhere.

This is the situation the Food and Drug Administration finds itself in, according to the Washington Post:

The Food and Drug Administration has more than 700 job vacancies in its division that approves new drugs, and top officials say the agency is struggling to hire and retain staff because pharmaceutical companies lure them away.

“They can pay them roughly twice as much as we can,” Janet Woodcock, who directs the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), said at a rare-diseases summit recently in Arlington, Va.

(Sidney Lupkin & Sarah Jane Tribble, “Despite ramped-up hiring, FDA continues to grapple with hundreds of vacancies,” Washington Post, November 1, 2016.)

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