Risk of dementia is falling, researchers not sure why

February 12, 2016 Three decades worth of data from the Framingham Heart Study could challenge conventional assumptions about dementia rates. While the incidence of the disease is predicted to climb as people live longer, numbers from the Framingham investigation...

HHS considering action on drug patents over high prices

February 12, 2016 In an effort to combat soaring drug prices, HHS is considering issuing guidelines about so-called “march-in rights,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Wednesday. Burwell, speaking at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, had been...

UPMC using genetic testing as potential guide on medication

February 12, 2016 The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is offering voluntary genetic testing to help determine whether some people with heart problems have a certain genetic mutation. Studies show that clopidogrel (Plavix—Bristol-Myers) is ineffective in...

New opioid use high among older adults with COPD

February 12, 2016 Canadian researchers have documented a disturbing trend of new opioid use—and, potentially, overuse—among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) living in elder care settings. From 2003–12, they tracked 107,109 community-dwelling...

Are states obligated to provide expensive hepatitis C drugs?

February 12, 2016 Federal lawsuits against states that have restricted expensive hepatitis C drugs to Medicaid patients and prisoners could cost states hundreds of millions of dollars. The handful of class actions have all been filed in the last 8 months in federal...