Sarah Karlin-Smith
@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social
Research Director at Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program. Former journalist covering intersection of pharma, health policy & politics. On Signal at SarahKarlinSmith.34 Views are mine.
My mom saved her her copy of the first edition of Ms. Magazine for me. I think (hope) its still in her possession and I've never read it. But it was those tiny things I was aware of growing up that shaped me.
Amy Maxmen, PhD@amymaxmen.bsky.social · 4h agoGloria Steinem, on her life and our times, in her own beautiful words. 💔https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/09/everything-we-do-matters/688514/?gift=iAUUzU4FFGQU_gadwPiEPtPNYVsQijBOJR7PWbidB1w
Investment bank says Trump’s MFN policy is reshaping global pharma, not prices (h/t @politico.com) think.ing.com/articles/mfn...
Trump’s MFN policy is reshaping global pharma, not prices
Trump's latest MFN deals are unlikely to yield substantial savings for US patients
think.ing.com
"Ordinary nonsevere thunderstorms average peak total-lightning rates near 10 flashes per minute, while highly electrical severe storms often exceed 30 per minute. The DC storm averaged about 68 flashes per minute during its most active 15-minute period"
Capital Weather@capitalweather.com · 6h ago⚡ 68 lightning flashes PER MINUTE. That’s what we measured at the peak of Thursday night’s DC storm — more than 1 per second. Add 60-70 mph winds and blinding rain. We explain why it got so intense — and whether it was a derecho: www.capitalweather.com/how-thursday...
I lost count of how many large broken tree limbs or broken trees I passed this morning. Think it was close to ten from last nights storm.
I belong to a women's group here in Birmingham and it wasn't till a decade ago that women who are President were referred to in the official records by their name and not "Mrs Gregory Jones." *2015*
Leah McElrath@leahmcelrath.bsky.social · yesterdayWhen Gloria Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine in 1972, the honorific “Ms.” was virtually unheard of. Unmarried women were referred to as “Miss [father’s last name]” and married women as “Mrs. [husband’s last name].” “Ms.” was an assertion of individual identity. Women who used it were widely mocked.
Imagine what would happen if Medicare was charged with coming up with fair & appropriate prices for medications, Poulsen said. We might not have to ration medications if we could make them more affordable. We could maximize benefit for everyone who could use them effectively. #healthpolicy
Sarah Karlin-Smith@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · yesterdayGregory Poulsen of MedPac: we are spending a lot of focus, not inappropriately about how we distribute the money we spend between Medicare, beneficiaries and plans …but the fact of the matter is we are still spending a lot. He says we are approaching drug price negotiation "too tenderly"
Gregory Poulsen of MedPac: we are spending a lot of focus, not inappropriately about how we distribute the money we spend between Medicare, beneficiaries and plans …but the fact of the matter is we are still spending a lot. He says we are approaching drug price negotiation "too tenderly"
Oncology gross spend went from $43b in 2024 to $56 billion in 2025. Oncology meds are a protected class in Part D which means there is little rebating. @dusetzinas.bsky.social worries that Republican changes to negotiation program will also mean many won't qualify for negotiations.
Sarah Karlin-Smith@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · yesterdayDrug classes causing most spending growth in Medicare Part D ... 577% increase in gross spending between 2024 and 225 for anti-obesity agents which also doesn't capture GLP-1s increasing growth in antidiabetics agent space.
when trump talks about how he lowered seniors' drug prices, he's literally just taking credit for biden's signature drug reform
Sarah Karlin-Smith@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · yesterdayThe IRA's Part D Redesign Has Lowered Seniors Out-of-Pocket drug costs.
Drug classes causing most spending growth in Medicare Part D ... 577% increase in gross spending between 2024 and 225 for anti-obesity agents which also doesn't capture GLP-1s increasing growth in antidiabetics agent space.
The IRA's Part D Redesign Has Lowered Seniors Out-of-Pocket drug costs.
I lost my Mom to pancreatic cancer. It’s insidious, painful and almost always diagnosed far too late. This new drug offers much needed hope to patients and families… but almost no one can afford a half million dollar price tag Shameful. Survival shouldn’t be for the rich only
New pancreatic cancer drug carries a $39,800 monthly list price: What to know
The FDA has approved a new pill for one of the most common forms of pancreatic cancer. What to know about managing the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis.
finance.yahoo.com
“Nepal cannot reduce the world’s emissions on behalf of the polluters. It cannot protect the Himalayas through adaptation alone while the world continues to burn more fossil fuels...And it should not have to take on more debt to protect its people from a crisis overwhelmingly created elsewhere.” 🎯
Amanda Kolson Hurley @amandakhurley.bsky.social · 2d agoNepal is demanding climate compensation from the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. “Nepal must hold its head high internationally and turn this into a matter of justice,” said Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
How Trump’s latest pharma deals may undermine efforts to rein in drug costs. www.statnews.com/2026/09/02/t...
How Trump’s latest pharma deals may undermine efforts to rein in drug costs
Analysts say private deals involve drugmakers agreeing to lower prices in Medicaid, where prices are low, in return for no price cuts in Medicare.
statnews.com
Pharma spends just 18 CENTS of every dollars in revenue on R&D. www.csrxp.org/wp-content/u...
csrxp.org
Now more than ever, we owe children invitations to interrogate structures & expectations that require them to silence their own thoughts & voices or to accept narratives that limit their belief in their own capacity & in the possibilities of their own future. Let’s embrace a little rebelliousness!
Whispers of Defiance
A note to teachers as you begin a new year
notesonhope.net
E-bikes should be thought of not as an alternative to walking but to cars. And the author is welcome to bike my two kids up a hill and see how physically taxing it can be.
Timothy McBride@mcbridetd.bsky.social · 3d agoAre We Engineering Physical Activity Out Of Daily Life? www.forbes.com/sites/bernad...
The company is offering up MFN pricing on its drug Jakafi in Medicaid. Wall Street analysts say Medicaid exposure for those drugs are less than 4.5%.
Sarah Karlin-Smith@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 3d agoIncyte didn't go to the White House yesterday, nor was it listed in the White House's MFN press release as striking a deal but its SEC filing is telling: "The Company does not expect the agreement to affect its 2026 financial guidance or have a material impact on its future financial outlook."
I would like ask JD Vance about Pierre Damas Bel.
Tom Joscelyn@tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 3d ago“A Haitian immigrant who had grown increasingly distraught after losing his protection from deportation and being outfitted with an ankle monitor was run over and killed Monday in what his family believes was a suicide.” www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Incyte didn't go to the White House yesterday, nor was it listed in the White House's MFN press release as striking a deal but its SEC filing is telling: "The Company does not expect the agreement to affect its 2026 financial guidance or have a material impact on its future financial outlook."
investor.incyte.com
macabre = “muh-KAHB” Worcestershire = “WOOSS-ter-sheer” omnipotent = “ahm-NI-puh-tunt” reticent = “RET-uh-sunt” epitome = “ih-PIT-uh-mee” myriad = "MEER-ee-ud" Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading.
🧵 I told you Schwartz was going to be bad news at the CDC, and here we go: The CDC "is excluding two deaths reported by Pennsylvania from its weekly updates of a national measles death tally, a decision that came from new CDC director Erica Schwartz," per... 1/10 Gift 🎁 link: wapo.st/4xb3AtW
New CDC director delays adding Pennsylvania deaths to measles data
The deaths have been at the heart of a bitter political dispute between RFK Jr. and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
wapo.st
In a functioning democracy, the public would be alarmed if the president boasted that he was “able to break the court system a little bit."
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 4d agoQ: “Last month DHS recorded a record number of deportations. What changed to make that possible?” Trump: “We just were able to break the court system a little bit. We had judges that were very hostile.”
1 thing I noticed in today's MFN presser and other social media info coming from team Trump: They keep saying these companies are giving Americans the lowest drug prices. But they've offically said MFN is the 2nd lowest price. They can't get the basics right. www.whitehouse.gov/research/202...
Savings from Most-Favored-Nation Drug Pricing Policy
Savings from MFN Drug Pricing PolicyDownload Executive Summary The Trump Administration has designed a Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) drug pricing policy
whitehouse.gov
President Trump's deals with drugmakers are hard to evaluate since they're not public, but he has made a very public push on drug prices. That said, the current drop in drug prices likely has as much if not more to do with the law passed by Democrats for Medicare drug price negotiation.
Trump wonders why some of his drug pricing "achievements" aren't getting coverage. ...Maybe because his claims aren't true. www.citizen.org/article/four...
Four Reasons Trump’s Drug Pricing Claims Are Bogus - Public Citizen
The consumer pricing index’s measure of prescription drug pricing (CPI-Rx) fell by 3.1 percent over the 12 months ending in…
citizen.org
Trump is expected to announce more "most favored nation" drug pricing deals today. It has been almost a year since Trump first started rolling out these deals and he has almost nothing to show for it. New deals are a distraction from the administration’s failed plan to lower U.S. drug prices.
Trump’s Drug Pricing Deals Are a Farce - Public Citizen
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump is expected to announce more most-favored nation (MFN) drug pricing deals with additional pharmaceutical…
citizen.org
NEW FROM ME: On a hellish third-country removal flight last month, passengers say ICE-contracted guards got drunk, teased and beat them, tied them up, refused to let them use the lavatory. One says he witnessed an ICE agent admit to illegal chain refoulement. prospect.org/2026/08/31/w...
‘What America Did to Me Is Wrong’: Inside One of the Largest Third-Country Removal Flights So Far - The American Prospect
On July 31, an estimated 71 detainees were expelled to various countries on a hellish flight to Africa. Many were then illegally returned to their home countries.
prospect.org
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Susan Rinkunas@susanrinkunas.com · 4d agoNEW: A Texas judge paused a lawsuit seeking to revoke FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone until December 1—or FDA finishes its sham mife "review." Judge Reed O'Connor said Texas and Florida *can challenge drug's original approval* @autonomynews.co storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Nearly 1/2 of children’s injuries happen on roads never designed to mix an unstable, silent, low-visibility vehicle with car traffic. Protected bike lanes, lower urban speed limits, & dedicated micromobility infrastructure reduce the odds that a wobble becomes a collision for adults and kids alike.
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 4d agoPediatricians: Yes, e-scooters can be dangerous but banning them is not the answer. Kids, teens and adults are being injured by an ecosystem failure, not a single bad decision. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @thestar.com