The Drug Facts Box: Improving the Communication of Prescription Drug Information

Communication about prescription drugs ought to be a paragon of public science communication. Unfortunately, it is not. Consumers see $4 billion of direct-to-consumer advertising annually, which typically fails to present data about how well drugs work. The professional label—the Food and Drug Administration\u27s (FDA) mechanism to get physicians information needed for appropriate prescribing—may also fail to present benefit data. FDA labeling guidance, in fact, suggests that industry omit ben

Cost of saving natural gas through efficiency programs funded by utility customers: 2012–2017

This study estimates the cost of saving a therm of natural gas from energy efficiency programs funded by utility customers during the period 2012 to 2017. Berkeley Lab researchers compiled and analyzed efficiency program data reported by investor-owned utilities and other program administrators in a dozen states representative of the four U.S. Census regions — Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Utah. Depending on the year, the dataset accounts for about 50 percent to 70 percent of annual national spending on natural gas efficiency programs. The estimated cost of saving natural gas during the study period is $0.40 per therm. The analysis also includes estimates of the program administrator cost of saved energy for three core sectors for natural gas: commercial and industrial, residential, and low-income households. It aggregates these sectors to provide regional and national values. Our metrics include savings-weighted averages, unweighted medians, and interquartile ranges (25th and 75th percentiles) of the levelized program administrator cost of saving gas, in constant 2017 dollars. In addition, the study analyzes cost trends during the study period, finding that average program costs trended downward. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office supported this work

Applying Non-Energy Impacts from Other Jurisdictions in Cost-Benefit Analyses of Energy Efficiency Programs: Resources for States for Utility Customer-Funded Programs

Avoided energy and capacity costs are the primary yardstick utilities use to determine which energy efficiency programs are cost-effective for their customers. But sometimes "non-energy impacts" — not commonly recognized as directly associated with energy generation, transmission and distribution — represent substantial benefits, such as improving comfort, air quality and public health.Considering whether and how to include non-energy impacts is an important part of cost-benefit analyses for these programs. This report offers practical considerations for deciding which non-energy impacts to include and how to apply values or methods from other jurisdictions.Researchers reviewed studies quantifying non-energy impacts used in 30 states and applied a five-point system to indicate transferability of a value or method from each study for 16 categories of non-energy impacts:Water resource costs and benefitsOther fuels costs and benefitsAvoided environmental compliance costsEnvironmental impactsProductivityHealth and safety Asset valueEnergy and/or capacity price suppression effectsAvoided costs of compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standard requirementsAvoided credit and collection costsAvoided ancillary servicesComfortEconomic development and job impactsPublic health impactsEnergy security impactsIncreased reliabilityThe U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office supported this work

Giving Legs to Restless Legs: A Case Study of How the Media Helps Make People Sick

To get a sense of how the media works in the context of a major disease promotion effort, the authors examined news coverage of restless leg syndrome

Influence of medical journal press releases on the quality of associated newspaper coverage: retrospective cohort study

Objective To determine whether the quality of press releases issued by medical journals can influence the quality of associated newspaper stories

Barbiturate and picrotoxin-sensitive chloride efflux in rat cerebral cortical synaptoneurosomes

AbstractThe effects of various barbiturates and picrotoxin in modifying the efflux of chloride (36Cl−) was studied in a novel subcellular preparation from rat cerebral cortex, the ‘synaptoneurosome’. Dilution of synaptoneurosomes pre-loaded with 36Cl− resulted in rapid efflux of 36Cl− that could be measured as early as 10 s following dilution. In the presence of barbiturates such as pentobarbital and hexobarbital there was a significant increase in 36Cl− efflux which was not observed with the pharmacologically-inactive barbiturate, barbital. The effect of barbiturates in enhancing 36Cl− efflux was also stereospecific [(−)-DMBB > (+)-DMBB] and reversed by picrotoxin. By contrast, picrotoxin alone significantly inhibited 36Cl− efflux. These data demonstrate pharmacologically relevant Cl− transport for the first time in a subcellular brain preparation

Incorporating Tailored Interactive Patient Solutions Using Interactive Voice Response Technology to Improve Statin Adherence: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial in a Managed Care Setting

Abstract The current study presents the impact of a behavior change program to increase statin adherence using interactive voice response (IVR) technology. Subjects were affiliated with a large health benefit company, were prescribed a statin (index) and had no lipid-lowering pharmacy claims in the previous 6 months, and were continuously enrolled in the plan for 12 months prior and 6 months post index statin. Potential subjects (1219) were contacted by the IVR system; 497 gave informed consent. Subjects were asked to respond to 15 questions from the IVR that were guided by several behavior change theories. At the conclusion of the questions, subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group (n=244), who received generic feedback at the conclusion of the call and were then mailed a generic cholesterol guide, or an experimental group (n=253), who received tailored feedback based on their cholesterol-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and perceived barriers to medication adherence, and were mailed a tailored guide that reinforced similar themes. Subjects in the experimental group had the opportunity to participate in 2 additional tailored IVR support calls. The primary dependent variable was 6-month point prevalence, defined as claims evidence of a statin on days 121-180 post index statin. Subjects in the experimental group had a significantly higher 6-month point prevalence than the controls (70.4% vs. 60.7%, P<0.05). Results of this study suggest that a behavioral support program using IVR technology can be a cost-effective modality to address the important public health problem of patient nonadherence with statin medication. (Population Health Management 2009;12:241-254)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78104/1/pop.2008.0046.pd

Cost of Saving Electricity Through Efficiency Programs Funded by Customers of Publicly Owned Utilities: 2012–2017

This report finds that energy efficiency programs for customers of publicly owned utilities saved electricity at an average cost of 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from 2012 to 2017. Utilities use such cost performance metrics to assess effectiveness of efficiency program portfolios, determine what programs to offer customers, and, more broadly, ensure electricity system reliability at the most affordable cost as part of electric utility resource adequacy planning and resource procurement processes. The study analyzed efficiency program data reported by 111 program administrators for 219 publicly owned utilities in 14 states — about 90 percent of the municipal utilities and public utility districts that report the data to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The data represent 88 percent of all spending and 75 percent of all savings that publicly owned utilities reported to EIA in those years. Berkeley Lab used data from several sources, including data provided directly by American Public Power Association members, publicly available annual reports and regional data collections

Panel Discussion On The Clinical Management Of Blood Dyscrasias In The Older Age Group†

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111245/1/jgs00338.pd