Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have found that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—organizations that negotiate access to medicines for most patients in the United States—steer patients to use their own pharmacies. However, these pharmacies appear less used in Medicare than in other market segments. These PBMs are part of integrated health care conglomerates that own insurance companies and pharmacies, which may create conflicts of interest.

About The Study: Nearly one-third of survey participants indicated sociopolitical issues influenced their vasectomy decision, despite the fact these policies have targeted female reproductive policy. These patient-reported motivations are consistent with recent research using administrative data that found a rise in vasectomy procedure volume after the Dobbs decision. 

Greenhouse gas emissions in German agriculture could be significantly reduced in a socially equitable way through a climate fee on food, combined with climate dividends. This is the key finding of a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The study suggests that pricing greenhouse gas-intensive foods could help meet climate targets for agriculture while generating over 8.2 billion Euros annually. If these funds were redistributed to households through a lump-sum compensation scheme, it would ease the financial burden on households, especially those with lower incomes and at the same time encourage sustainable consumption.

A new study highlights growing public support in the United States for eco-social policies designed to address the interconnected ecological and social crises of our time. The research, led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) and the London School of Economics (LSE), evaluated public support for four key innovative eco-social proposals: reducing working hours (as low as 28 hours per week), downscaling fossil fuel production, providing universal basic services, and limiting advertising for high-emission goods.

Replacing conventional building materials with materials modified to store carbon dioxide could move the planet closer to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study by Elisabeth Van Roijen and colleagues. The researchers calculate that full replacement of conventional building materials with these CO₂-sequestering alternatives could store as much as 16.6 ± 2.8 gigatons of CO₂ each year – an equivalent to about 50% of the anthropogenic CO₂ emissions in 2021. Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, along with decreasing emissions, is important for slowing global climate warming. In pursuit of this removal, construction materials could provide a substantial CO₂ reservoir due to their widespread use and longevity. Van Roijen et al. calculate the global potential to store carbon in concrete, brick, asphalt, plastic, and wood with alterations such as mixing carbon aggregates in concrete or using bio-based materials in bricks. The researchers note that the carbon storing potential of these changes is more sensitive to the amount of material used (the cement aggregates store relatively little carbon but cement is used everywhere) than the quantity of carbon stored per unit mass of the building material. One challenge to overcome is the reluctance of builders to use new structural materials, fearing liability if these materials fail. Other challenges include finding enough carbon-sequestering minerals to use in these materials and establishing a rigorously monitored supply chain, as Christopher Bataille discusses in a related Perspective.