Author: Evan O'Connor

Medication Adherence, Medicine Safety, Prescription Drugs
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Thank a Pharmacist for Keeping Your Community Healthy

National Pharmacist Day, celebrated annually on January 12, honors pharmacists across different specialties and in every setting by recognizing the impact they have in healthcare. There were approximately 316,500 pharmacists in the United States as of the most recent census, many of whom have been vital to the public’s health and wellbeing — long before the ongoing pandemic.   Pharmacists are a vital part of healthcare teams and often rank among the most trusted professions, with survey respondents rating the honesty and ethical standards of pharmacists as “high” or “very high.” Pharmacists not only check and dispense medications for patients; […]

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Affordable Care Act, COVID-19
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How the Pandemic Affects Insurance Rates and Costs

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of our lives. While the economy has been a frequent topic of fallout throughout the ongoing pandemic in the United States, the reality for lives of workers who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic is often overlooked or erroneously blamed on an unwillingness to work.    Roughly 9.6 million American workers lost their jobs in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the unemployment rate from 3.8% in 2019 to 8.6% in 2020. Not only did 23% of those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic not […]

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Awareness, Vaccinations
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Get a Flu Shot for National Influenza Vaccination Week

This week is National Influenza Vaccination Week in the United States. Established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2005, this week highlights the importance of continuing flu vaccination through the holidays and beyond. Vaccines against the flu are the best defense against the virus and developing flu-related complications.   We have previously explored how vaccines work. The influenza vaccine contains elements of killed or inactivated viruses. The dead virus still contains the antigens they had when active, and a person’s immune response is similar to the immune response from an infection. Despite misconceptions, the flu shot […]

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COVID-19
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The Costs of Coronavirus – Part 5

Since our last update on the costs associated with COVID-19 in May, new variants have swept across the country, booster shots have been recommended for most vaccine recipients, and inoculations have been approved for children as young as 5 years old​​. Americans are still struggling from unexpected pandemic-related healthcare costs.   Major systemic failures to meaningfully address the coronavirus pandemic throughout 2020 had dire consequences that the nation and the world are still recovering from. The U.S. contains only 4% of the world’s population, but 20% of global cases and deaths from the pandemic. As many as 40% of American […]

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Health, Mental Health, Safety
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Healthy and Safe Travels this Holiday Season

We are in the beginning of the holiday season in the United States and throughout the world. Many people travel to visit family during these months, including some who may be traveling with a chronic illness — all of which have added complications due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We at NeedyMeds have some tips for healthy travel over the holidays along with suggestions for staying safe and mitigating the spread of coronavirus. Getting fully vaccinated and/or receiving boosters of available COVID-19 vaccines is the best way to protect yourself from infection while travelling. Be sure to bring your vaccination […]

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About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.