Category Archives: Science

Drug Prices Driven Lower for Americans

By David Arnett

Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to bring the prices American taxpayers pay for prescription drugs in line with those paid by similar nations. At the signing event, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said several of his family, who were Bernie Sanders supporters came to tears upon hearing that President Trump would do today what many candidates for President have promised for generations.

A fact sheet accompanying the signing outlines details:

  • The Order directs the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the United States.
  • The Order instructs the Administration to communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal.
  • The Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish a mechanism through which American patients can buy their drugs directly from manufacturers who sell to Americans at a “Most-Favored-Nation” price, bypassing middlemen.
  • If drug manufacturers fail to offer most-favored-nation pricing, the Order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) propose rules that impose most-favored-nation pricing; and (2) take other aggressive measures to significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs to the American consumer and end anti-competitive practices.
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Cuts in science funding?

By Jane Orient, M.D.

Public Health Watch: What Is the State of American Science?

Are you worried that the U.S. will lose its preeminence in science if DOGE manages to achieve massive cuts in spending?

Universities are loudly lamenting the termination of grants and the slashing of the “overhead” portion that goes to the institution rather than to the researcher. “The weeks ahead may be the greatest test the US scientific community has ever faced,” writes editor-in-chief H. Holden Thorp (Science 2/28/25).  But is the threat to science a loss of funding—or the lock that the system places on innovation or discoveries that disrupt the status quo, as shown below.

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Medicaid Expansion Harms Continue

By Jonathan Small

A key plank of Obamacare (the federal “Affordable Care Act”) allowed states to expand Medicaid programs to include able-bodied adults and not just the medically needy.

When expansion was narrowly approved by a public vote in Oklahoma in 2020, everyone knew it would require the diversion of up to $300 million annually in state tax dollars. But advocates called that a bargain since federal tax dollars would cover 90 percent of costs.

Obviously, it meant little to the average citizen if they pay for expansion with taxes paid to the state or taxes paid to the federal government, but that’s the kind of argument that too often passes for logic in politics.

But now the folly of buying that argument is becoming apparent.

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Breast Cancer: African American Women

By Steven C. Quay, MD, PhD

Breast cancer is one of the most pressing health challenges faced by women across the United States, but the burden is not shared equally. African American women face higher rates of death from breast cancer, are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive forms of the disease, and experience significant disparities in access to care. The fight against breast cancer must be a priority, not just during African American History Month, but throughout the year, as understanding and addressing these disparities can save lives.

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