Shots

Tuesday November 24, 2009

Health Inc.

Taxpayers May Pick Up Tab For Drug Ads

November 24, 2009 • Researchers suggest that drug companies passed advertising costs on to taxpayers by hiking the price they charge Medicaid programs for the drug.

Health Inc.

Ventilator Rationing Guidance Gets Little Notice

November 24, 2009 • A guidance proposing an ethical "framework" for rationing scarce ventilators in the event of a severe influenza pandemic arrived yesterday in relative silence.

Wednesday November 18, 2009

Health Inc.

Fact Check: Could Skipping Insurance Mandate Lead To Jail Time?

November 18, 2009 • GOP criticism that people who skip a health insurance mandate would be jailed doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The charge is based on a rigid reading of a tax law, under which only 500 people were incarcerated last year.

Monday November 16, 2009

Health Inc.

Doubts Grow About Zetia, Vytorin In Wake Of Niacin Test

November 16, 2009 • A head-to-head study of cholesterol treatments gave the edge to a prescription-strength B vitamin over a medicine that blocks cholesterol absorption.

Health Inc.

Drug Companies Hike Prices On Brand-Name Medicines

November 16, 2009 • An analysis for the AARP found that prices on brand-name drugs rose 9 percent in the last year, an amount estimated to add about $10 billion in costs.

Friday November 13, 2009

Health Inc.

Osteopaths' Group Lures Media With Twitter Gifts

November 13, 2009 • The American Osteopathic Association is offering journalists $10 iTunes gift cards in exchange for following the group's media-only Twitter feed.

Thursday November 12, 2009

Health Inc.

Google Has A Plan For Safer, More Useful Online Drug Ads

November 12, 2009 • Consumers are clicking on Internet ads for prescription drugs less often in the wake of an FDA crackdown that led companies to scrub the ads of information.

Friday November 6, 2009

Health Inc.

Step Right Up And Get Your Genome Here

November 6, 2009 • The cost of decoding a human's genes has fallen to just a few thousand dollars, making the long-promised era of personal genomes feasible.

Tuesday November 3, 2009

Health Inc.

Johnson & Johnson To Cut 7,000 Workers

November 3, 2009 • The health-care conglomerate says the cost-cutting moves will position it better for growth.

Monday November 2, 2009

Health Inc.

Genome Work Paves Way For Benlysta Lupus Drug

November 2, 2009 • An experimental drug showed promise in a second big clinical test against lupus.

Health Inc.

Holtz-Eakin Faces End Of His Health Coverage

November 2, 2009 • Doug Holtz-Eakin, once head of the Congressional Budget Office, is still unemployed a year after his gig as Sen. John McCain's top health guru dried up. Holtz-Eakin's COBRA coverage is about to expire, and a preexisting condition makes him hard to...

Wednesday October 28, 2009

Health Inc.

Companies Race To Bring Diet Drugs To Market

October 28, 2009 • Hopes are rising for three experimental drugs that may help people lose weight, but historic problems in the field temper the enthusiasm for new medicines to combat obesity.

Monday October 26, 2009

Health Inc.

Senate To Include Public Option In Health Overhaul Bill

October 26, 2009 • Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada says the public option is back in a Senate plan for health overhaul.

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Health Inc.

Stimulus Funds Could Widen Digital Health Divide

October 26, 2009 • Hospitals that care for the poor may have trouble getting their share of federal stimulus money to support electronic medical records.

Wednesday October 21, 2009

Health Inc.

Massachusetts Docs Like Universal Coverage

October 21, 2009 • Doctors in the state generally approve of the health insurance mandate enacted there three years ago.