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The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

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Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#71

Post by Centigonal »

from-nibly wrote: post #61
Centigonal wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US healthcare system is a patchwork of policy, local incentives, and unchecked capitalism that barely works, some of the time. You can read intent into it, but it's really just a big mass of inscrutable complexity. That said, a lot of the time, inentionally or not, the answer is "it facilitates the transfer of money to the shareholders of the big private health insurance companies"

> unchecked capitalism Of all the industries in the US Health Care is the MOST regulated. How on earth is that "unchecked"? The problem is the checks are (and always will be) written by the companies.

you're right, I really should have said "poorly regulated capitalism." My comment on "unchecked capitalism" was more of a commentary on the lack of trustbusting for vertically integrated behemoths like UHG/OptumHealth/Optum PBM/OptumRX and for regional near-monopolies like UPMC.

Healthcare has a lot of regulations, for sure, but it adds a lot of complexity doesn't result in a good system for users -- so, bad regulation. OTOH, I think FSI regulations like Glass-Steagall and Dodd-Frank, as well as regulatory agencies like the SEC and CFPB (gasp!), have been huge successes for retail users of banks and financial markets -- so, better regulation.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#72

Post by Jensson »

dave333 wrote: post #47

Medicare should spend 1% of its budget each year to buy pharma stocks. Slowly it will become neutral to drug prices since what it pays for expensive drugs will be returned in the stock value.

> Medicare should spend 1% of its budget each year to buy pharma stocks

People would just raise the price for pharma stocks then.

Maybe that is a good thing since it would make it harder to buy pharma stocks for others, but the government will still pay too mcuh.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#73

Post by dave333 »

Jensson wrote: post #72
dave333 wrote: post #47

Medicare should spend 1% of its budget each year to buy pharma stocks. Slowly it will become neutral to drug prices since what it pays for expensive drugs will be returned in the stock value.

> Medicare should spend 1% of its budget each year to buy pharma stocks People would just raise the price for pharma stocks then. Maybe that is a good thing since it would make it harder to buy pharma stocks for others, but the government will still pay too mcuh.

Like quantitative easing raises the whole market? Govt would dollar cost average at least and can spread out buys to avoid front running. Larger market cap with investors holding for the long term helps increase the R&D spend and timeframes.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#74

Post by Terretta »

bradlys wrote: post #69

If you’re someone who is interested in these drugs, just know that you can get them from China for 1/10th the cost of what telehealth providers want. I’ve since supplied a few of my friends who have been interested in various peptides and it has been great overall. Some thought it would be a scam or bunk but they’re losing the weight with no side effects. It’s been great.

From the article:

You can order GLP-1 peptides from China for cheap. Once you have the peptide, all you have to do is put it in the right amount of bacteriostatic water. In theory this is no harder than any other mix-powder-with-water task. But this time if you do anything wrong, or are insufficiently clean, you can give yourself a horrible infection, or inactivate the drug, or accidentally take 100x too much of the drug and end up with negative weight and float up into the sky and be lost forever. ACX cannot in good conscience recommend this cheap, common, and awesome solution.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#75

Post by maxerickson »

dingnuts wrote: post #65
novemp wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And we had a household income of like $130k or so at the time. Doing fine, not saying we didn’t have alright income, but not that uncommon. Americans with six-figure incomes seriously don't understand the rest of the country lives.

he said household, that could easily be two incomes, both way below six figures

Median household income is ~$80,000.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#76

Post by bradlys »

Terretta wrote: post #74
bradlys wrote: post #69

If you’re someone who is interested in these drugs, just know that you can get them from China for 1/10th the cost of what telehealth providers want. I’ve since supplied a few of my friends who have been interested in various peptides and it has been great overall. Some thought it would be a scam or bunk but they’re losing the weight with no side effects. It’s been great.

From the article: You can order GLP-1 peptides from China for cheap. Once you have the peptide, all you have to do is put it in the right amount of bacteriostatic water. In theory this is no harder than any other mix-powder-with-water task. But this time if you do anything wrong, or are insufficiently clean, you can give yourself a horrible infection, or inactivate the drug, or accidentally take 100x too much of the…

Yeah, I just want to be clear that it’s also way cheaper. This is where the compounding pharmacies are often buying from too btw.

The price for tirzepatide is under $0.50/mg at this point.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#77

Post by Clamchop »

Terretta wrote: post #74
bradlys wrote: post #69

If you’re someone who is interested in these drugs, just know that you can get them from China for 1/10th the cost of what telehealth providers want. I’ve since supplied a few of my friends who have been interested in various peptides and it has been great overall. Some thought it would be a scam or bunk but they’re losing the weight with no side effects. It’s been great.

From the article: You can order GLP-1 peptides from China for cheap. Once you have the peptide, all you have to do is put it in the right amount of bacteriostatic water. In theory this is no harder than any other mix-powder-with-water task. But this time if you do anything wrong, or are insufficiently clean, you can give yourself a horrible infection, or inactivate the drug, or accidentally take 100x too much of the…

Wait, people are buying stuff of unknown quality off the internet, mixing it with water in their kitchens, _and injecting it?_

That's wild. Even the article author seems to have a tongue in their cheek when issuing this "warning" that is definitely not a hint. Is it safer than it sounds?

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#78

Post by tzs »

the_third_wave wrote: post #59
unsnap_biceps wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can afford 1k/month and will if that's what's required. My life is well over 1k/month better with a healthier weight. I preform better at work, I'm happier, and I should live longer. That's worth the money.

Or you eat less and/or healthier food to achieve the same result without the side effects. Spend part of that $1000 (but not too much) on better food which you (or someone in your family) prepares at home, keep the rest for other purposes. For some reason this suggestion, i.e. the suggestion to solve a problem by eliminating the root causes, does not seem to be popular on this forum. I'd very much like to know why th…

This reminds me of Sheldon Cooper's suggestion to Penny on The Big Bang Theory when she was having financial problems: "You know, it occurs to me that you could solve all your problems by obtaining more money".

Weight depends on a complex interaction between many systems of the body. Losing significant weight and keeping it off in healthy way without side effects can be difficult.

There was a good look at much of this in the Nova episode "The Truth About Fat" in 2020. Old Nova episodes are usually behind a paywall if you aren't a member of your local PBS station but occasionally old episodes become free for a while. It might be worth checking occasionally to try to catch it during one of those free periods.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#79

Post by agsqwe »

Clamchop wrote: post #77
Terretta wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: You can order GLP-1 peptides from China for cheap. Once you have the peptide, all you have to do is put it in the right amount of bacteriostatic water. In theory this is no harder than any other mix-powder-with-water task. But this time if you do anything wrong, or are insufficiently clean, you can give yourself a horrible infection, or inactivate the drug, or accidentally take 100x too much of the…

Wait, people are buying stuff of unknown quality off the internet, mixing it with water in their kitchens, _and injecting it?_ That's wild. Even the article author seems to have a tongue in their cheek when issuing this "warning" that is definitely not a hint. Is it safer than it sounds?

It can be relatively safe with proper handling. There are independent laboratories you can send this "product" to for analysis. Often people organize group buys with some random samples tested.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#80

Post by sunflowerfly »

dave333 wrote: post #47

Medicare should spend 1% of its budget each year to buy pharma stocks. Slowly it will become neutral to drug prices since what it pays for expensive drugs will be returned in the stock value.

Monopolies for drugs that received even a penny of government subsidies should not exist. We should simply pay for research and open the patents on the results, or outlaw drug patents outright. Let the drug companies compete on manufacturing.
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