Plus, Antarctica's 'Doomsday' glacier is melting, how an artificial barrier could help

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Good morning,

There’s a new internet trend: Fridgescaping—or turning your fridge into something between an art show and an up-scale grocery store. Think: flowers and picture frames in your fridge.

Potential drawbacks to the mega reorganization is that the desired aesthetic may not optimize for functionality or health.
- Take meat— it should go on the bottom shelf in sealed containers. Or when highly perishable items like milk are transferred to glass containers, there’s a risk of bacterial contamination.
- And those picture frames— make sure they don’t break and get glass all over your food.
But on the plus side, a clean fridge can get people excited about eating healthier and makes meal prep much easier.

Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!

📌 Drugmaker Testifies On Why Weight-Loss Drugs Cost 15x More In The US Than Overseas

In a congressional hearing Tuesday, Senators pressed Novo Nordisk’s CEO— the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy— on why the medicines cost so much more in the United States than they do in other countries.

The popular diabetes and weight loss drugs were between nine to 15 times more expensive in the US than the UK.
- BY THE NUMBERS: Looking at ALL drugs, brand name and generic, sold in the US in 2022, a Department of Health and Human Services report in February found Americans paid nearly three times more compared to other wealthy countries.
- As for the weight loss drugs: Wegovy costs $140 a month in Germany and $92 a month in the UK. For the exact same drug, Americans pay $1,349 a month.

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen says the problem isn’t with his company, it’s with the American healthcare system.

BLAME GAME
Regardless, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who chairs the committee, demanded that Jørgensen ‘stop ripping Americans off.’

Jørgensen on the other hand shifted the blame for the drugs’ high prices to the pharmacy benefits managers or PBMs— intermediaries hired by insurance companies to negotiate prices with pharmacies and drug manufacturers. The PBMs take a percentage of a drug's listed price, and frequently do not offer lower-cost medications.
He said that Ozempic and Wegovy could potentially no longer be offered by the middlemen (PBMs) if they had a lower list price.
- PBMs work for health insurance companies to negotiate discounts on drugs, but have been criticized for pushing patients to higher-priced drugs.
- Jørgensen claimed that for every dollar Novo Nordisk makes, it gives 75 cents to PBMs and insurance companies.
Bottom line: Jørgensen tried to persuade lawmakers that the higher prices ensure that a PBM will cover Novo Nordisk’s drugs. Sanders wants more answers.
- Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said while he supported the focus on the pharmaceutical industry, “we’re letting PBMs get away scot-free.”

TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE
At the hearing, Sanders said that he recently received commitments in writing from “all the major PBMs"— UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx, CVS Health’s Caremark and Cigna’s Express Scripts— that they will not take Ozempic and Wegovy off the list of drugs they offer if Novo Nordisk substantially reduced the list price.

Jørgensen agreed to work with the PBMs and lawmakers to lower the prices. However, he noted that "Last year, we lowered the insulin pricing and had our products dropped.”
Sanders has taken up the cause, saying it’s literally life and death for many Americans. “Hundreds of thousands of people in this country who desperately need this product will not be able to afford it,” he said.
- 54% of adults who have taken Ozempic and Wegovy or a drug like them— including those with insurance— report the cost was "difficult" to afford.

It comes as new CDC numbers show that, for the first time in over a decade, the US did not see a rise in the obesity rate. That means about 40% of American adults are obese— still much higher than the UK, at about 26%, and 30% for Canada.

📌 THE FUTURE OF THE DOOMSDAY GLACIER

The speed at which the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “Doomsday” glacier, is thawing has scientists warning that its total collapse could happen in the coming decades, resulting in the flooding of millions of communities in low-lying coastal areas around the world (think Miami, London, NYC). They also warn the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet could be gone within 200 years—by the 23rd Century. It could happen anytime between now and then.

However, there also is some hope: Other researchers are working toward solutions to prevent Thwaites and its neighboring glacier from collapsing.

THE NUMBERS
New research from over 100 scientists in the UK and US tracked, for six years, the speed at which water flows into the sea from the Antarctic glaciers.

They found that the glaciers have doubled their loss from the 1990s to the 2010s.
- Thwaites alone holds enough water to increase sea levels by more than 2 feet globally.
  - THE BIGGER IMPACT: “Because it also acts like a cork, holding back the vast Antarctic ice sheet, its collapse could ultimately lead to around 10 feet of sea level rise, devastating coastal communities from Miami and London to Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands.” per CNN.

It’s unclear if the glaciers’ futures are doomed or if some human intervention can help. Some computer models suggest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement may mitigate the glacier’s retreat, but the outlook for the glacier remains “grim,” according to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration report. Effectively, it is not a matter of if but when the glacier totally collapses.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
A major part of the accelerating loss is that warming sea water is being pushed, at high pressure, under the ice. Glaciologist John Moore says the solution might be erecting 50 miles of plastic or fiber curtains tethered to concrete foundations in the Amundsen Sea.

The giant undersea curtains, in theory, would seal off the glaciers from the warm Antarctic current.
- It would be 50 miles long and 2,000 feet high from the sea floor to the surface.
The first experiments for the idea are expected to begin within a few weeks at Cambridge University’s Centre for Climate Repair using a large lab tank. Real-world experiments could begin “within two years,” Moore says.
Show me the $: While Moore anticipates the undersea curtains to cost $80 billion, he says is much less than the trillions of dollars that might be needed to protect coastlines from rising tides caused by the loss of the two glaciers.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Harris backs eliminating Senate filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade (AXIOS)

📌 In a blow to Trump, Nebraska governor will not call a special session to change state's electoral votes (NBC NEWS)

📌 Arizona Democratic campaign office damaged by gunfire (AP)

📌 Son of Ryan Routh, accused in Trump assassination attempt, arrested for child pornography (ABC NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Israel and Hezbollah renew fire after deadliest day for Lebanon in decades, thousands flee south (TIME)

📌 Hurricane John dissipates into a tropical depression after hitting Mexico’s Pacific coast, killing 2 (AP)

📌 After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement (CNN)

📌 Russia, Iran and China are using AI in election interference efforts, U.S. intelligence officials say (NBC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 US DOJ to sue Visa over debit card market monopoly (FOX BUSINESS)

📌 FTX fraudster Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison, ordered to forfeit $11 billion (CNBC)

📌 Longshoremen from Maine to Texas appear likely to go on strike, seaport CEO says (AP)

📌 The state of Maryland sues Dali ship owner and manager over the Key Bridge collapse (NPR)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Woman accuses Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and bodyguard of drugging and assaulting her in 2001 and filming it (CNN)

📌 Jail Buddies: Sean 'Diddy' Combs moved to same section of New York City jail housing as Sam Bankman-Fried (NBC NEWS)

📌 Ryan Murphy defends Menendez brothers Netflix series after Erik Menendez blasts it as 'blatant lies' (DEADLINE)

📌 Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi cast in Wuthering Heights film, critics unimpressed (BBC)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: SEPTEMBER 25

1789: The first US Congress adopted the amendments that became the Bill of Rights.
1968: Will Smith is born (and raised) in West Philadelphia. 🎶 On the playground is where he spends most of his days. 🎶
1981: Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court.
2001: Michael Jordan announced that he would return to the NBA as a player for the Washington Wizards.