CVS unveils new pricing model

So CVS has released a new pricing structure for commercial health plans. It’s going to use the Mark Cuban “cost plus” model, charging a fixed markup above cost plus a fee for dispensing the meds. The idea is to make its pricing more understandable (and, you know, get ahead of the whole ‘Regulations a-comin’’ thing).

By making prices clearer, insurers can, in theory, do their own formulary research to see if they’re getting the best deals. But the fact that the announcement was timed with CVS’s earnings call tells you that it’s probably about the company’s bottom line.

Rejection-free islet transplants

If you give a type 1 diabetes patient an islet transplant — letting their bodies make insulin again — they’ll have to take anti-rejection drugs just like with any other transplant. Unless, that is, a group of Canadian and American researchers’ plan works.

Rather than transplanting islet cells into the liver, they put them just under the skin in a little pocket where the immune system mostly leaves them alone.

The Yankees (at Cornell) brought the device — “a removeable polymer thread containing thousands of islet cells, protected by a thin hydrogel coating”— while the Canucks (at the University of Alberta) brought the islet-transplantation expertise.

The result gave mice six months of glucose control, but the engineers hope to create a version that can last several years. Bonus: Implanting the device is simple enough to be an outpatient procedure if it ever comes to humans.

Respect the drip

You might think that mucus is your friend — protecting you from bacteria and viruses and (when strategically deployed) keeping weirdos from sitting next to you. But it turns out that mucus is not only a bacterial host, but, as Penn State researchers discovered, the place they assemble and plan their attacks.

The thicker the mucus, the better it enables bacteria to colonize and mount a coordinated attack on the immune system. It might also help the bacteria build up resistance to antibiotics.

“There are studies demonstrating that collective motion or swarming of bacteria enhances the ability of bacterial colonies to fend off the effect of antibiotics. The onset of collective behavior studied in our work is directly related to swarming.”

They’re hoping their work helps develop ways to fight the bacteria before it’s able to swarm effectively. The best part is that today you can brag that you read about bacterial swarming in thick mucus. You’re welcome.

In sickness and in health

If you want to sound smart, you can talk about “Spousal concordance of hypertension.” If you want to sound normal you say, “Did you know that when an American has high blood pressure, there’s a 38% chance their partner does, too?”

That’s what a study led by Emory University found after conducting a 33,000-couple study in the US, China, England, and India. Interestingly…

[W]omen whose husbands had high blood pressure were 9% more likely to have it themselves in the U.S. and England, yet they were 19% more likely in India and 26% more likely in China.

The researchers think that’s because China and India have cultures that place more emphasis on “sticking together as a family,” leading to shared behaviors and thus shared health outcomes.

Cannabis and pain

There’s been some anecdotal evidence^* that using cannabis can reduce a person’s need for opioids. People often cite using pot to help deal with chronic pain. But now University of Sydney researchers have finished a 20-year study of 615 heroin addicts, and they say there’s no evidence that cannabis use reduces painkiller dependence.

That’s not to say that cannabis doesn’t help with pain. Rather, that “it may not be an effective long term strategy for reducing opioid use” at least among people with addiction issues.

^* Technically that’s an oxymoron, we know.

The Long Read:

The best way unused meds can be put to use: Giving them to people who can’t afford them. (Georgia is one of the 44 states that allow drug donations.) Read how these programs work and how they’re (hopefully) expanding.