Americans are paying too much for prescription drugs. It is a common, longstanding complaint. And the culprits seem obvious: Drug companies. Insurers. A dysfunctional federal government. But there is another collection of powerful forces that often escape attention, because they operate in the bowels of the health care system and cloak themselves in such opacity…
If you’ve ever had trouble getting a prescription drug, chances are you’ve run into a pharmacy benefit manager. These companies, known as P.B.M.s, play a crucial but often hidden role in deciding which drugs you can get and how much you will personally have to pay. They are middlemen in the maddeningly complex American health…
Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment. It tinkers with the immune system to attack malignancies that have evaded the body’s natural defenses. This advance offers an alternative to treating cancer with surgery or chemotherapy and radiation, which can attack healthy tissue and cause extreme side effects. The treatment is not only scientifically complex but also expensive.…
As Alexis Major walked down the aisle to a violinist’s rendition of John Legend’s “All of Me,” she could see her beloved, Karim Butler, seated beneath the ceremonial white floral arch, crying. She settled into the chair across from him, wiped the tears from his face, and the traditional Muslim wedding ceremony commenced. From the…
When my wife proposed that we stop being monogamous, she said it would make us stronger. I said it would make us divorce. We were both right. She had planted the seed seven years into our marriage as I was finishing seminary. At the time, I was exiting a phase of my life perhaps best…
To James Arthur Dolce, the possibility of crossing paths with Ashley Lee Tyrner was, as he put it, a “one in a million situation.” After all, they lived 3,000 miles apart. In reality, however, the two were orbiting the same circles before they even met. They discovered that they had each been dining at the…
As someone who worked in public relations, Elise Audie Nikolaisen was amazed by Bailey Wright Carlin’s “ability to make things go viral,” she said, on the social media platform then known as Twitter. Celebrities like Chrissy Teigen would comment on his posts. The website Delish even reported on a fruit-throwing debate that he began online.…
Jonathan Randall Kay, a foodie with a sweet tooth, could not resist. As soon as Marc Elliot Rofsky mentioned during their correspondence over social media that he was going to Portugal the next day, Mr. Kay suggested he try the flaky, buttery Portuguese egg tarts, or pastéis de nata at Pastéis de Belém 1837 in…
When Kendrick Lamar made his entrance to his sold-out show at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Juneteenth, he did so with a bang. He performed “Euphoria,” a track he released in April during his well-documented feud with Drake, adding a new lyric: “Give me Tupac ring back and maybe I’ll give you a…
Research on how the drug affects female arousal is sparse. But doctors have been prescribing creams and pills anyway.