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MedPage Today has published a rebuttal to an article published in The Washington Post newspaper where a pair of economists criticize physicians and the expense of medical care in the US. The rebuttal takes issue with the assertion that doctors are “muggers” and co-conspirators in “taking money away from the rest of us,” as well as the ways in which healthcare costs are quantified in The Washington Post article. The author of the rebuttal stresses that there is a lack of respect towards physicians today that is driving many people from medicine.

Is there a link between climate change and poverty? Does hate affect the risk for chronic health conditions? Is telehealth the model for medicine’s future? Or will something much more ancient be reestablished? How will the Millennial worldview affect how medicine is practiced? This archive of top physician TED talks is worth your while.

When will it end! That’s the thought on most people’s minds when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic that’s now in its third year. But getting to a conclusion and knowing exactly when the world is no longer in the midst of a pandemic might not be clear to medical professionals or the general population. A new article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) argues that pandemic endings are not very obvious and tend to occur when social life resumes in a country rather than with the achievement of vaccination, containment, or other medical targets. The BMJ article also argues that the diligent and meticulous tracking of the coronavirus’ spread might actually make it harder to eventually know when the pandemic has, at long last, ended for good.

Some positive news. The 2022 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) have been increased. This year, the maximum HSA contribution limits have been set at $3,650 for an individual and $7,300 for family coverage. People who qualify to make HSA contributions can lower their current-year tax bill. The more money you contribute to an HSA, the bigger your tax break. But not everyone qualifies to contribute. Check out the latest rules and qualifiers.

Prescription drug prices rise each year in January and July. As we start off the new year, GoodRx Health is reporting that a total of 658 branded drugs have just had their prices increased an average of 4.9%, while 11 generic medications have seen their prices rise an average of 10.3%. That’s less than the 832 drugs that saw their price increase in January 2021. Among the biggest movers are Nucynta, paclitaxel, and Prilosec.

CheckRare provides a list of the orphaned drugs that dominate the US pharmaceutical industry to start 2022. Orphan drugs are defined as those medications that remain commercially undeveloped because they’ve been deemed to have limited potential for profitability. However, nearly half of all novel medications approved by the FDA are orphan drugs.