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 Inc.

Tuesday April 26, 2011

Faith-Based Groups Share Burden Of Health Costs ... With Limits

Faith-based groups that share health-care expenses struggle with the question of how much of the burden to share. Stan Rohrer/iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Stan Rohrer/iStockphoto.com

Health Inc.

Faith-Based Groups Share Burden Of Health Costs ... With Limits

KFF Health News

April 26, 2011 • Members of health care sharing ministries pay monthly shares and pool their money to cover each others' expenses. Under the new health law, ministry members are exempt from the mandate to buy individual coverage. But they may not be covered for expensive pre-existing conditions.

Wednesday April 20, 2011

Health Inc.

3 In 4 U.S. Prescriptions Are Now For Generic Drugs

April 20, 2011 • As more brand-name drugs lose patent protection, use of inexpensive generic medicines continues to rise. Later this year cholesterol-fighter Lipitor will become available as a generic in the U.S., a change that will add more fuel to the trend.

Thursday April 14, 2011

Latest Smelly Johnson & Johnson Recall: Topamax

Wooden pallets like these appear to be the source of an offensive odor on a Johnson & Johnson medicine. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

Health Inc.

Latest Smelly Johnson & Johnson Recall: Topamax

April 14, 2011 • A chemical from wooden shipping pallets is believed to have tainted 57,000 bottles of Topamax, a medicine for epilepsy and migraines. Johnson & Johnson says the contaminant does not present a health hazard but can be offensive.

Tuesday April 12, 2011

Plan Aims To Cut Down On Hospital Infections

A nurse uses an alcohol-based hand gel. A new $1 billion proposal from Health and Human Services aims to cut down on preventable hospital infections and patient readmissions. Dave Weaver/Associated Press hide caption

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Dave Weaver/Associated Press

Public Health

Plan Aims To Cut Down On Hospital Infections

April 12, 2011 • Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday pledged "up to $1 billion" for a new initiative that aims to reduce preventable hospital infections and patient readmissions after discharge. Many in the health industry are praising the proposal — but GOP lawmakers aren't, perhaps because it's paid for by the health overhaul law.

Thursday April 7, 2011

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli fields questions during a 2009 news conference about Pfizer agreeing to pay $2.3 billion in penalties over unlawful prescription drug promotion. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

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Evan Vucci/AP

Health Inc.

Drugmakers Hooked On Shady Promotion

April 7, 2011 • Pharmaceutical companies find ways to market medicines for uses that haven't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Despite stepped up federal enforcement, a doctor who has analyzed the practices says they are unlikely to fade away.

Friday April 1, 2011

Health Inc.

Bowing To Pressure, KV Cuts Price Of Preterm Labor Drug

April 1, 2011 • The maker of a drug to prevent premature births said it will cut the price by more than half. But the medicine, called Makena, will still cost 30 times more than the handmade versions available at some pharmacies.

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

Health Inc.

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

Health Inc.

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

Health Inc.

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

Health Inc.

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

Health Inc.

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.

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

Health Inc.

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

Tuesday April 26, 2011

KFF Health News

Wednesday April 20, 2011

Thursday April 14, 2011

Tuesday April 12, 2011

Thursday April 7, 2011

Friday April 1, 2011

Wednesday March 30, 2011

Tuesday March 29, 2011

Monday March 28, 2011

Wednesday March 23, 2011

Monday March 21, 2011

Friday March 11, 2011

Tuesday March 8, 2011

KFF Health News

Friday March 4, 2011