The dangers of ‘step therapy’

Health insurers want you to try cheaper drugs first, but that can hurt you [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 3 January 2019 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Editor's note The high cost of many prescription drugs has led to widespread calls for relief for consumers. Some insurers have responded with a practice called “step therapy.” This requires patients to try lower cost alternative drugs before the insurers will agree to pay for more costly medication. But that [can delay important, timely treatment]( for some patients, writes Sharona Hoffman, professor of health law and bioethics at Case Western Reserve University. Did you know that in most states, there is no [legal minimum age that a child can be sent to juvenile court or detention](? California has a new law on the books that sets the minimum age above that of any other state: 12. But as Natalia Orendain, a neuroscience Ph.D. candidate at UCLA writes, “Rather than focusing on a specific age for juvenile detention, I believe a greater impact would come from ensuring that confinement is truly rehabilitative and developmentally appropriate for all youth.” When it comes to starting your own business, higher education is sometimes seen as an unnecessary step. After all, some say, look at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. None of those tech titans finished college. But the way Penn State President Eric J. Barron sees it, universities are one of the best places for an aspiring entrepreneur to launch a startup. [Drawing from firsthand observations](, Barron writes about how many members of Generation Z – those born after 1995 – are doing just that. Lynne Anderson Senior Health + Medicine Editor Top Stories Physicians often have reasons for prescribing a specific drug. Burlingham/Shutterstock.com [Health insurers want you to try cheaper drugs first, but that can hurt you]( Sharona Hoffman, Case Western Reserve University Insurance companies sometimes try to cut costs by substituting less expensive drugs for a specific drug prescription. That's raising problems in many cases, and actually causing harm. Youth detention center in Atlanta. AP Photo/David Goldman [Should children as young as 12 be sent to juvenile detention?]( Natalia Orendain, University of California, Los Angeles A neuroscientist explains how detention can affect a developing mind, as a new law in California sets the highest age limit in the US for minors to be held criminally responsible, at age 12. Young entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to universities to help launch their businesses. GUGAI/www.shutterstock.com [Post-millennial entrepreneurs view higher education as vital to their startups]( Eric J. 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