As medicine and law enforcement fight different parts of a nationwide battle against the abuse of prescription opioids and the popularity of heroin, they’ve discovered a terrifying effect of new synthetic drugs used to make heroin cheaper and more powerful. People who have taken fentanyl or carfentanil sometimes need multiple doses of the life-saving drug naloxone to be revived, and the drug is expensive. [More]
Pharma Medicine
FDA Warns: Don’t Use These Potentially Contaminated Liquid Supplements And Medications
By 8.11.17
The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers and medical professionals not to use liquid supplements and medications made by Pharmatech, including some products marketed for use by babies and small children. These products — distributed under multiple brand names, including Rugby, Major, and Leader — may be contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria. [More]
Health Insurers Looking To Charge Higher Individual Premiums In 2018. Which Americans Will Be Hit Hardest?
By 8.10.17
Health insurance companies that sell individual coverage plans through state exchanges are currently in the process of setting the rates they will charge customers for 2018. And the uncertainty over the state of America’s health care laws and President Trump’s repeated threats to summarily cut off billions of dollars in federal subsidies to insurers has many of these companies asking for significant increases. But not everyone would have to pay those higher prices, and some could actually end up with slightly lower premiums than they pay now. [More]
New Hampshire Accuses OxyContin Maker Of Stoking Opioid Epidemic Through Deceptive Marketing
By 8.9.17
As much of the nation deals with the effects of opioid addiction and overuse, some states are attempting to hold the makers of these drugs accountable. Once again, Purdue Pharma, the company behind OxyContin and other opioid painkillers, finds itself in the crosshairs of allegations that it has continued to contribute to this epidemic by deceiving patients and physicians about the safety and efficacy of these drugs. [More]
FDA Warns Fertility Doc: Stop Advertising Service That Creates ‘3-Parent’ Baby
By 8.7.17
Last year, you may have heard of an impressive medical accomplishment, where the gametes of three people were combined to make one healthy baby. The doctor behind that procedure has now been warned by the Food and Drug Administration for advertising the still-unapproved procedure. [More]
31 Senators Ask Trump Administration To Not Strip Nursing Home Residents, Families Of Their Legal Rights
By 8.7.17
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the U.S. have faced increasing criticism for shoddy care and bad business practices. At the same time, many of these facilities have begun using contractual language that explicitly prohibits residents or their loved ones from filing lawsuits when things go wrong. Now dozens of senators are calling on the Trump administration to rethink its decision to let this practice continue. [More]
Washington State: Any Trump Administration Crackdown On Marijuana Would Be “Unacceptable”
By 8.4.17
Washington state was one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, and now has quite a bit to lose if the Trump administration chooses to crack down on states with retail pot operations. With U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions hinting that federal intervention may be in the offing, his counterpart in Olympia is drawing a line in the soil, saying that any effort by the White House to interfere with the state’s marijuana regulations would be “unacceptable.” [More]
Maybe We Don’t Need To Take So Many Prescription Drugs
By 8.3.17
Do you take any prescription drugs? If so, you’re in the majority in this country. Drugs are life-saving or life-lengthening interventions most of the time, but can also interact with each other and cause further health problems. [More]
New York AG Says States Will Do “Whatever We Have To” To Make Sure Obamacare Subsidies Continue
By 8.2.17
A federal appeals court recently allowed a coalition of more than a dozen states to intervene in a long-running lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of billions of dollars in federal subsidy payments to insurance providers. But regardless of what happens in that case, President Trump has repeatedly dangled the threat that he could pull the plug on those payments at any time. The states coalition says it is preparing for that possibility and is ready to take the White House to court if necessary. [More]
Obamacare Repeal Effort Falls Flat As GOP Can’t Muster Votes In Senate
By 7.27.17 — Updated: 7.28.17
After three days of debate and several fruitless votes on amendments, the Senate Republicans were unable to obtain enough support to pass their so-called “skinny” repeal of the Affordable Care Act. [More]
Amazon Reportedly Has A Secret Team Working On Virtual Doctor Visits, Other Medical Services
By 7.27.17
Two months after Amazon was rumored to be thinking of getting into the pharmacy business by offering customers the option of ordering their prescription drugs through the e-commerce giant’s supplier channel, the company is taking its desire to be doctor a step further, reported developing a team focused on virtual medicine. [More]
First Attempt At Repeal-Only Of Obamacare Falls Short In Senate
By 7.26.17
After falling far short of the votes needed to move forward with its sweeping measure to repeal and replace large parts of the Affordable Care Act, the Senate took another vote this afternoon, this time on a bill that simply repeals key aspects of the ACA without including any replacement. [More]
Body Health Atomic And Xplode Recalled For Banned Appetite Suppressant
By 7.25.17
Sibutramine, marketed as Meridia, was a weight loss drug on the market in the United States from 1997 to 2010, pulled from the market because it was linked to heart problems in patients. The drug is still available, it turns out: You just have to buy certain “herbal” weight loss supplements. Two of these supplements have now been recalled, since they contain undeclared prescription drugs. [More]
Reminder: Studies Posted On ClinicalTrials.gov Are Not Government-Approved Or Screened
By 7.20.17
When facing an illness, you might turn to a clinical trial for treatment that isn’t available eleswhere. The best place for patients to find trials is the site ClinicalTrials.gov, which is a site administered by the National Institutes of Health and is exactly what it sounds like. The site has trials where researchers are testing experimental drugs or procedures that may help them. The problem is that not all “clinical trials” are exactly what they seem. [More]
The Cleveland Clinic Is An Oasis Of Prosperity In A Poor City
By 7.17.17
What obligations do prosperous businesses have to the neighborhoods surrounding them? What if those businesses are nonprofits that are supposed to have a higher purpose? The Cleveland Clinic is an institution in a deteriorating urban neighborhood where residents feel like they’re on a different planet, and the world-renknowned institution is gobbling up more of the surrounding neighborhood as it empties out. [More]
Healthcare Fraud Crackdown Leads To Charges Against Hundreds, Including Doctors and Nurses
By 7.14.17
More than 412 individuals were charged for their part in healthcare fraud schemes that have resulted in approximately $1.3 billion in losses to consumers and the government. [More]
Endo Pharmaceuticals Agrees To Remove Opioid Painkiller Linked To HIV Outbreak From The Market
By 7.7.17
Weeks after the Food and Drug Administration said opioid painkiller Opana ER should be removed from the market amid concerns about the potential for abuse, Endo Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pull the drug, which has been linked to serious outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C. [More]
What Was All That Ice Bucket Challenge Money Actually Used For?
By 7.5.17
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014? The charity campaign combined donating to potentially life-extending medical research with pouring a large bucket of ice water over one’s head during the month of August. Three years ago, the Challenge raised more than $100 million worldwide for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but what did that money actually do? [More]
