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Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.

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Health News From NPR

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Wednesday March 30, 2011

FDA Fires Shot At Pricey Preterm Labor Drug

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Health Inc.

FDA Fires Shot At Pricey Preterm Labor Drug

March 30, 2011 • The Food and Drug Administration said it's quite all right for pharmacists to go ahead and make their own version of an expensive medicine to help some women avoid preterm delivery of their babies.

Tuesday March 29, 2011

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FDA Chemist, Son Charged With Insider Trading

March 29, 2011 • Armed with confidential information about how the Food and Drug Administration was going to rule on experimental drugs, an agency chemist and his son allegedly made more than $2.27 million by trading in shares of five companies.

Monday March 28, 2011

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Glaxo CEO: Long Road To Win Back Public Trust

March 28, 2011 • Glaxo CEO Andrew Witty says it is clear trust in the pharmaceutical industry has eroded over the past 20 years. He outlined a path to redemption during a recent chat with Shots.

Wednesday March 23, 2011

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Drugmaker Can Be Sued Over Tardy Disclosure Of Adverse Reactions

March 23, 2011 • The ruling could have broad ramifications for the disclosure practices of drugmakers and other corporations.

Monday March 21, 2011

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Health Insurers Look Far Afield For Future Profits

March 21, 2011 • Big insurers are investing in a wide range of businesses that are lightly regulated and growing fast. Prospects for non-insurance enterprises look better in the wake of the big federal health law.

Friday March 11, 2011

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Johnson & Johnson Accepts Government Oversight Of Key Factories

March 11, 2011 • The company's McNeil unit, marketer of such over-the-counter mainstays as Tylenol and Sudafed, has agreed to a consent decree with the federal government that will keep three factories firmly under the government's thumb for years.

Tuesday March 8, 2011

Opinion

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For A Price, The Doctor Will See You Anytime

KFF Health News

March 8, 2011 • Some primary care doctors have decided to bypass the health insurance system entirely and charge patients a monthly fee. By doing so, the physicians say, they can afford to spend more time seeing fewer patients.

Friday March 4, 2011

Labor Strife Can Pay Off Big For Some Nurses

Kevin Wolf/AP

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Labor Strife Can Pay Off Big For Some Nurses

March 4, 2011 • When nurses walk off the job, there's a ready supply of replacement workers provided by companies that specialize in helping management weather labor storms.

Nuns To McDonald's: What Are You Doing About Overweight Kids?

Five-year-old Andy Villatoro plays with a toy he received with a Happy Meal at a San Francisco McDonald's last year. David Paul Morris/Getty Images hide caption

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David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Opinion

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Nuns To McDonald's: What Are You Doing About Overweight Kids?

March 4, 2011 • The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia want McDonald's to report to the world on what it's doing to address concerns about the health effects of fast food. The nuns are particularly concerned about children's health.

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Sending Medical Research Overseas Troubles Scientists

March 4, 2011 • U.S. medical research institutions and pharmaceutical companies are performing more and more human studies overseas. research to developing countries. The trend raises some sticky ethical questions, which are getting more attention.

Tuesday February 22, 2011

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Supreme Court Upholds Liability Shield For Vaccine Makers

February 22, 2011 • In a closely watched case, the high court ruled 6-2 that federal law shields vaccine makers from suits filed in state courts seeking compensation for injuries or deaths allegedly due to design problems with the vaccines.

Tuesday February 15, 2011

Opinion

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Should FDA Hold 'Me-Too' Drugs To A Higher Standard?

February 15, 2011 • An editorial in a leading medical journal argues that society loses when drugmakers make too many medicines that treat illness in nearly the same way. The authors suggest higher standards later drugs.

Thursday February 10, 2011

Is It Time To Dial Back The Drug Ad Arms Race?

A woman talks about the erectile dysfunction drug Levitra in a photo made from a 2004 TV ad that's no longer aired. Anonymous/AP hide caption

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Anonymous/AP

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Is It Time To Dial Back The Drug Ad Arms Race?

February 10, 2011 • A former executive at Merck argues the time has come for drugmakers to slow down on TV ads. Congress could help by making it possible for companies to cooperate on ads that don't feature specific drugs, he says.

Monday February 7, 2011

Avandia Gets Tougher Label, As Glaxo Reportedly Settles Lawsuits

European regulators decided to take Avandia off the market. FDA allowed further sales, with heavy restrictions. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Avandia Gets Tougher Label, As Glaxo Reportedly Settles Lawsuits

February 7, 2011 • New instructions say Avandia, a diabetes drug, should only be used by patients already taking it or new patients who can't get their blood sugar under control with other medicines.

Thursday February 3, 2011

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Female Docs Fall Further Behind On Pay

February 3, 2011 • While more women are choosing medicine as a career, there's a pretty big gender gap in starting salaries, researchers have found. The explanation used to be that women entered less lucrative specialties, but that's not the case anymore.

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