A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Anti-vaxxers have revved up the issue with measles transmission, and the CDC data now shows how drastic it is.
The Washington Post put together the graphic above that shows the startling incline and explained the resurgence.
There were 644 new measles cases in 27 states last year, according to the CDC. That’s the biggest annual number we’ve seen in nearly a quarter-century. The vast majority of people who contracted the disease were unvaccinated, including the dozens of cases related to an outbreak at Disneyland in Orange County, California, which is basically Ground Zero in our current epidemic of anti-vaccine hysteria.
Some people are just plain and simple freaked out about vaccines. In 2014 AP-GfK survey indicated that 51 percent of American’s aren’t entirely convinced that vaccines are safe – and believe it or not, that’s close to the amount of people that believe houses are haunted by ghosts.
