jesse_the_k | Entries tagged with drug research

I adored Ann Patchett's early fiction — The Magician’s Assistant, The Patron Saint of Liars, Bel Canto, and Run. I was fascinated by the parallel experiences of reality gained from Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face in conversation with Patchett’s meditation on their friendship, Truth & Beauty.

But she fell off my radar. Then this outstanding 20,000 word essay fell into my eyes

These Precious Days in January 2021 Harper’s Magazine

It’s got a big twist, just like she enjoys writing in her novels. It takes its form from the current moment, so there’s lockdowns and air travel and Tom Hanks and more air travel. Along the way Ann encounters Hanks’ assistant Sooki. Ann recognizes that Sooki radiates beauty and competence, and offers her a place to stay during cancer treatment. In return, they develop a true friendship. It’s heartening to learn these magic moments can still lie ahead.

A few quotes: ( 400 words )

https://harpers.org/archive/2021/01/these-precious-days-ann-patchett-psilocybin-tom-hanks-sooki-raphael/

alternative backup

cross posted to the wonderful podcastjoy community

An Arm and A Leg is a podcast focused on the cruel cost of U.S. health care. Experienced radio producer Dan Weisman personally crashed into this issue, looked around for help, and realized this was a beat that needed covering. He does original reporting and boosts the knowledge of dedicated fact-hunters and advocates from around the U.S.

Even though the topic is dire, the show is funny and well-edited. What If This Podcast Were A Musical is indeed a musical about the cost of health care!

The Why Are Drug Prices So Random episode turned on a very bright lightbulb for me re pharmacy benefit managers. PBMs are the 41 for-profit companies which determine how much U.S. folks pay for a prescription, no matter whether we have health insurance.

I’ve poked Dan about his wanton use of "crazy" as an all-purpose negative adjective and the lack of transcripts for An Arm and A Leg, and he promises to do better.

In the meantime, a sober evaluation of PBMs from STATnews:

( 350 words about PBMs )

99% invisible is #1 on my podcast list—I listen as soon as it drops. This week's program exemplifies why I love the show. Its mission is "about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world."

It's beautifully produced, and their website provides complete transcripts with additional visual resources.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/orphan-drugs/

Episode 329, Orphan Drugs, fills thirty minutes with a very U.S. story:

- why drug companies systematically ignored effective medicines for rare diseases
- the woman who campaigned for change
- an affected, influential individual who noticed a small press mention
- the popular TV show that amplified a policy issue with effective drama
- the Orphan Drug Act legislation that provided Big Pharma with financial incentives to sell low-incidence medicines
- the unintended consequences: needed medicine for the end users, and huge profits for Big Pharma

I’ve been hypothyroid for a long time, and happily, simple hypothyroidism is treatable. I’ve been taking thyroid meds–levothyroxine (T4) and lyothyronine (T3) .

Up until yesterday, hypothyroidism has been inexpensive to treat. Lyothyronine was synthesized in the 1950s, and was first approved by the US Food & Drug Administration in 1954.

( sticker shock )

Two pieces of good news: I can afford to pay for it, and I can finally spell lyothyronine.

My doc just told me about a double-blind RCT study showing combo aspirin & acetaminophen was as effective as oral morphine (and both better than placebo) for post-surgical dental pain.

( I'm doing it now and it helps )

Current Location: in the lab

While yet unable to write of myself, or others, or reading or whatever of genuine interest, I have been reading the net like a turtle trapped at the base of a waterfall. So I can still fling links with the best of them:

Join me in being educated by "Jubilation," a new blog about life as a therapist with mental illness.

Here the blogger meditates on the stereotyped bright, tall wall between "professionals who help" and "those people."
( Myth of Them and Us )

( That drug doesn't do what you think it does )
Argh, that was a particularly rich article and hard to excerpt; if you or anyone you know deals with an "orphan disease," it's useful reading.

All pet owners know that terrible feeling, when their loved one is laid low and something important is missing. ( They ate what? )

Turns out there are little words which tie us together. ( But not those three little words )

I have learned a lot from reading other people's experience of living with chronic pain. Every one of us develops idiosyncratic coping methods. I've borrowed some, and admired many.
( Riese's Eloquent Discourse on Constant Pain )

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Inside the Little Plastic Castle

adventures with Jesse the K

Entries tagged with drug research

Ann Patchett's excellent meditation on friendship, cancer, pandemic and psilocybin

These Precious Days in January 2021 Harper’s Magazine

boost: Why Drugs Are So Expensive in the US

Orphan Drug Act: Policy Design on 99% invisible podcast

1900% Drug Price Increase

NSAID & Acetaminophen = Better Pain Relief

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June 2025

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