Aaron Mitchell
@thewonkologist.bsky.social
1.1K followers 320 following 220 posts
Medical oncologist and health services researcher. Focusing on health care costs, physician-industry COI, and oncology reimbursement reform. Opinions mine.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
thewonkologist.bsky.social
I'll be presenting our new findings at @ascocancer.bsky.social Quality this weekend!

I was surprised to find an apparent lack of association between private equity ownership and low-value (but high-profit) cancer care:

meetings.asco.org/abstracts-pr...
@reshmagar.bsky.social
Program Guide – ASCO Meeting Program Guide
meetings.asco.org
thewonkologist.bsky.social
I'll be presenting our new findings at @ascocancer.bsky.social Quality this weekend!

We found substantial health system-level variation in the appropriate use of bone agents to prevent fractures in prostate cancer:
meetings.asco.org/abstracts-pr...
@mjmorrismd.bsky.social
Program Guide – ASCO Meeting Program Guide
meetings.asco.org
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
larrylevitt.bsky.social
New: Broad support across the political spectrum for extending enhanced ACA premium tax credits.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
adamserwer.bsky.social
The wounded knee thing is really Trumpism distilled to its essence. It’s not enough to be able crush people who can’t fully defend themselves, it’s not enough to actually crush them, you also have to love and admire those who do the crushing otherwise the Trumpists’ delicate feelings are injured
thewonkologist.bsky.social
I’m not following the question? No relevance of these policies to surgery as far as I’m aware
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
mdaware.org
and another thing,
rvengefulobster.bsky.social
No I do not want to sign into software.

90% of software should just run on your computer and do the thing it's built to do.

Not everything needs to be signed into.

There's no reason I should have to sign into Adobe Acrobat reader!
thewonkologist.bsky.social
You know Merck and Bristol Meyers lobbied hard for this!

There is no reason to delay price negotiation on these drugs rather than a desire to transfer a few $billion more from taxpayers and patients to pharma. Opdivo and Keytruda among the highest-selling drugs globally

www.kff.org/medicare/peo...
People with Medicare Will Face Higher Costs for Some Orphan Drugs Due to Changes in the New Tax and Budget Law | KFF
This brief analyzes changes in the new tax and budget reconciliation law that modify which drugs will be selected for Medicare drug price negotiation, which will lead to higher Medicare spending and h...
www.kff.org
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
davidcorn.bsky.social
This ought to be engraved somewhere.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
jtimmer.bsky.social
Just a reminder that the head of the NIH was up on stage today as Trump spewed item after item that science has already convincingly demonstrated are false. And he has done nothing to get the American public more accurate information.
thewonkologist.bsky.social
“But fewer worry about accepting modest gifts and say engagement helps educate on treatments”

Those are concerning trends, especially because those views are contrary to the evidence.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
justinwolfers.bsky.social
Think of an economy as like baking a cake. H1-B visas exist so that if you're out of a specific ingredient, you can Instacart it and keep baking. Add a $100k delivery charge and you'll choose to:
1. Quit baking; or
2. Use an inferior recipe; or
3. Import cake instead of making it
thewonkologist.bsky.social
3yo:
“i’m not very good at taking care of people but i’m a doctor so i just let people rest and go away and work on my computer”
🤣🤣🤣

Are we that transparent though? 🤔
thewonkologist.bsky.social
Modified millennial complaint: why is 2025 music worse than 2005 iTunes?
thewonkologist.bsky.social
I guess it became “Music” but I still hold Music to its standards
thewonkologist.bsky.social
Why does iTunes keep getting worse?
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
joho.bsky.social
Hoping to use the Streisand effect, I’ve recovered and organized my lost YouTube videos to explain how COVID disinformation that began in spring 2020 led directly to this moment.

It’s the video version of Everyone Else is Lying to You.

Here’s a summary and preview.

I hope you find it valuable.
Everyone Else is Lying to You: Table of Contents
Enjoy content without interruptions!
rumble.com
thewonkologist.bsky.social
All analyses by rockstar resident Dr. Judy Wang at Weill Cornell. She will be on the oncology fellowship match circuit in the near future for all you PDs out there!

5/

vivo.weill.cornell.edu/display/cwid...
Wang, Judy
vivo.weill.cornell.edu
thewonkologist.bsky.social
Price DECREASES, when they occurred, were largely driven by generics and biosimilars. For indications with a new entrant, median cost decrease was –57% (IQR, –78% to –44%).

4/
thewonkologist.bsky.social
The price INCREASES were concentrated in NEW indications - new patient subgroups that the NCCN has included since 2017. Think, biomarker subsets and patients receiving targeted drugs.
For these, median monthly cost was $21,524 per month vs. $17,936 for other indications.

3/
thewonkologist.bsky.social
We looked over 4 years, 2017-2021.

For indications that were present in both years, prices were surprisingly (to us!) stable. Some increases, but overall offset by inflation. The median change in price for these indications was –2% (IQR, –39% to +9%).

2/
thewonkologist.bsky.social
BREAKING:
Republican leaders are shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that confirming appointees hand-picked to enact antivax policy has led to antivax policy being enacted.
Reposted by Aaron Mitchell
gregggonsalves.bsky.social
@kasie.bsky.social: wow. Thank you. Great work.
bunnibytz.bsky.social
KASIE HUNT: Over the summer you said, “There’s no vaccine that’s safe and effective”. Do you still believe that?

RFK JR: “I never said that.”

KASIE HUNT: “Play the clip.”

RFK JR (clip): “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” (March 2024)

ht: @cwebbonline.com