Category: Drugs
Courts forcing states to provide costly hepatitis C treatment
Courts have ruled states cannot withhold potentially life-saving but expensive medications from Medicaid beneficiaries and prison inmates who have hepatitis C.
Workers Overdose On The Job, And Employers Struggle To Respond
Many employers — ill-equipped or unwilling to confront an issue they are at a loss to handle — turn a blind eye to addiction within their workforce.
Most Hospital ERs Won’t Treat Your Addiction. These Will.
Despite an overdose epidemic that is killing nearly 200 Americans a day, the vast majority of hospitals do not offer addiction treatment to ER patients.
Blacks, Native Americans left out of cancer drug trials
Black people and Native Americans are under-represented in clinical trials, even when the drugs are aimed at a cancer that disproportionately affects them.
Day-Tripping To The Dispensary: Seniors In Pain Hop Aboard The Canna-Bus
Among the fastest growing group of pot users are people over 50, with especially steep increases being seen among those 65 and older.
Fewer Trying Heroin, But Pot Use Up
The survey found a small increase in the number of people with substance use disorders who receive specialty treatment, but 92% do not.
New rule would require Medicare Advantage patients to take cheaper drugs first
Under the new rules, these private Medicare insurance plans could require patients to try cheaper drugs first.
1 in 4 Older Patients Stay on Risky Sedative Too Long
Prescriptions for sedatives known as benzodiazepines may lead to long-term use among 1 in 4 older adults who receive them.
Is ‘Precision Medicine’ The Answer To Cancer? Not Precisely.
Doctors and hospitals love to talk about patients saved with precision medicine, and reporters love to write about them, but success is, in fact, rare.
Why you might want to get a hepatitis A vaccine
The hepatitis A vaccine is safe and effective; it is given as 2 shots, 6 months apart. Both shots are needed for long-term protection.
Flu plane: are we really ready for a global pandemic?
The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed 50-100m people. A major influenza pandemic on this scale will happen again, and we’re unprepared.
Insulin’s High Cost Leads To Deadly Rationing
His family thinks their son was rationing his insulin — using less than he needed — to try to make it last until he could afford to buy more.
Daily use of marijuana among non-college young adults hits all-time high
More than 13% of young adults not in college report daily, or near daily, marijuana use. Alcohol use is more common among college students.
Five of the scariest antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the past five years
Antibiotic resistance risks returning us to an age where even simple cuts and scrapes can become deadly.
Suicide By Opioid: New Research Suggests Overdoses Should Be Classified As Self-Harm
Suicide rates have been steadily climbing, but their numbers are likely even higher.