Adding fuel to an already raging debate about right-to-try drugs, a company called Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics is developing an experimental drug for terminal patients who have Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and that drug won’t be cheap. The new drug is called NurOwn. The…
About one in five prison or jail inmates used heroin or opioids regularly before being locked up, Kaiser Health News reports. That places those institutions in a unique position to steer inmates toward rehabilitation, and a new program by the Department of Justice is taking steps in that direction.…
Scientists have created a powerful new tool to calculate a person’s inherited risks for heart disease, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and atrial fibrillation. By surveying changes in DNA at 6.6 million places in the human genome, investigators at the Broad Institute…
The FDA has approved pegvaliase-pqpz (Palynziq, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.) for adults with a rare and serious genetic disease known as phenylketonuria (PKU). Patients with PKU are born with an inability to break down phenylalanine (Phe), an amino acid present in protein-containing foods and high-intensity…
Twenty-four states have passed 37 bills so far this year in an effort to curtail prescription drug costs and to force drug companies to disclose and justify their price increases. Not surprisingly, the drug companies are fighting back, claiming they should not be compelled to explain their price increases…
The FDA has approved an additional indication for tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Pfizer). The drug is approved for administration at 10 mg twice daily for at least eight weeks, followed by 5 mg twice daily or 10 mg twice daily, for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative…
The FDA has approved the Eversense continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system (Senseonics, Inc.) for use in people 18 years of age and older with diabetes. This is the first FDA-approved CGM system to include a fully implantable sensor to detect glucose, which can be worn for up to 90 days. People with…
Untreated mental health conditions adversely affect patients’ physical health. To address that situation, Integral Care in Austin offers some patients with mental health problems easier access to physical care and chronic disease management. Public health centers such as Integral Care are taking the…
U.S. lawmakers fear the FDA is not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States as the country works to combat the opioid epidemic, Reuters reports. Republican and Democratic members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee questioned whether the FDA’s criminal investigators…
Researchers with the University of California looked at states that expanded Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The expansion of Medicaid under the ACA made it easier for beneficiaries to fill prescriptions for diabetes medications, according to a Health Affairs study…
A new study from University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) researchers suggests that more than one-third of U.S. adults may be using prescription medications that have the potential to cause depression or increase the risk of suicide, and that because these medications are common and often have nothing…
Mayo Clinic comes in first, the Cleveland Clinic takes the second spot, and Johns Hopkins Hospital sits at number three in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of the nation’s hospitals. No real surprise, there. The three have been among the top performing hospitals for decades. …
An impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was found in several of products containing valsartan, which is used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure. But not all products containing valsartan are being recalled. And the FDA said that because valsartan is used to treat serious medical…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed significant changes to the Home Health Prospective Payment System to strengthen and modernize Medicare, drive value, and focus on individual patient needs rather than volume of care. “Today’s proposals would give doctors more time…
The move comes even though some of the pharma company’s rivals have promised to raise prices only once a year. The price for Pfizer’s lung-cancer treatment Xalkori, its blood-pressure pills Norvasc, and its pain capsules Lyrica will be going up, along with about 40 other of the company’s drugs,…
