The number of anti-vaccine bills filed in Texas has risen, yet many Texans support vaccine policy. Fellow Kirstin R.W. Matthews and nonresident scholar Rekha Lakshmanan examine the stakes of legislative engagement in public health initiatives and provide a call to action for Texans to embrace public health as an act of freedom.
Decades of bad policy have heightened the risks of drug use and created barriers to treatment. And while some states are now trying to reduce the harms caused by the drug war, Texas is doubling down on ineffective policies.
The rapid adoption of telemedicine is one of the few positive developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris. She explains why the DEA’s recent proposal to change the rules for prescribing drugs via telemedicine would harm patients and increase demand for and exposure to unregulated and more dangerous drugs.
Drug companies that bypass distributors and offer generics directly to patients, like the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, could disrupt the pharmaceutical supply chain and ultimately save thousands of lives.
"Creating a global norm for PPA transparency is a zero-cost step to help provide energy for everyone and deliver on the low carbon future we all need," write the authors. Read their post about power purchase agreements on the Baker Institute Blog.
This article originally appeared in the Forbes blog on June 1, 2022.
"This is a moment to prioritise health over short-term political calculations," write fellow Peter Hotez, Rekha Lakshmanan and nine other experts in a Lancet commentary. Click here for their call for action against anti-vaccine rhetoric and COVID-19 misinformation, and five short-term recommendations.
Rekha Lakshmanan, Peter J. HotezSeptember 17, 2021
Texans served by regulated electricity markets, especially by electric cooperatives, were much more satisfied with their providers’ performance during Winter Storm Uri than those in deregulated markets. In this post for the Baker Institute Blog, the authors offer possible explanations for the contrast in favorability.
Mark P. Jones, Pablo M. Pinto, Renee Cross, Kirk P. WatsonMay 11, 2021
Scenes of insurrectionists rummaging through offices and computers in the Capitol highlight the urgent need for Congress to up its IT security game. The authors recommend steps to adopt modern IT management and cybersecurity processes that are already used throughout the federal government.
The death of George Floyd has accelerated calls for police reform. Although decriminalizing drugs and the people who use them will not end police violence, it is part of the structural change needed to fix the problem, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.