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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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Thursday September 30, 2010

Johnson & Johnson Concedes Mistakes On Motrin

Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon (left) and Colleen Goggins, chairman of the company's consumer unit, (right) testify at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Thursday. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption

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Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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Johnson & Johnson Concedes Mistakes On Motrin

September 30, 2010 • Executives testified they would handle a recall of Motrin differently, if they had it to do over. A Food and Drug Administration said it wasn't aware of the surreptitious way the recall was carried out until long afterward.

McDonald's Threatens To Cut Skimpy Health Plans

Do you want fries with that health care plan? M. Spencer Green/AP hide caption

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M. Spencer Green/AP

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McDonald's Threatens To Cut Skimpy Health Plans

September 30, 2010 • It's been widely publicized that the new health law would require businesses offering insurance to spend at least 80 percent of their funds on medical care and eliminate caps on coverage. But it takes a threat from McDonalds to get people talking.

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Johnson & Johnson Execs Face More Questions On 'Phantom Recall'

September 30, 2010 • A second House hearing will zero in on Johnson & Johnson's handling of quality problems affecting children's medicines and adult-strength Motrin. A key question centers on whether the company hushed-up recalls of affected products.

Wednesday September 29, 2010

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FDA Tells Mouthwash Makers To Spit Out Gum Disease Claims

September 29, 2010 • Fluoride can help fight cavities. But the Food and Drug Administration told three companies they've gone too far with claims their fluoride mouthwashes can prevent gum disease.

Monday September 27, 2010

Ben & Jerry's Takes 'All Natural' Claims Off Ice Cream Labels

Ben & Jerry's CEO Jostein Solheim, scoops it out at the Ben & Jerry's shop in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Toby Talbot/AP hide caption

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Toby Talbot/AP

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Ben & Jerry's Takes 'All Natural' Claims Off Ice Cream Labels

September 27, 2010 • Ben & Jerry's ice cream and frozen yogurts containing alkalized cocoa and partially hydrogenated soybean oil will no longer say "natural" on the label. The move was prompted by a consumer group's complaint.

Pomegranate Juice May Not Be So 'Wonderful,' Says FTC

POM Wonderful

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Pomegranate Juice May Not Be So 'Wonderful,' Says FTC

September 27, 2010 • The maker of a popular pomegranate juice gets slapped by another regulator for making health claims the government says the company can't back that up. A red flag: POM claim its products are 40 percent as effective as Viagra.

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A Birth Control Pill For Those Times Birth Control Fails

September 27, 2010 • Bayer can now sell a birth control pill that contains a B vitamin shown to reduce the risk of certain kinds of birth defects. Called Beyaz, this version of the pill is the latest to be touted for reasons beyond preventing pregnancy.

Thursday September 23, 2010

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Does Avandia Decision Signal New FDA? Or Same Old Agency?

September 23, 2010 • The different paths taken by European and American regulators on diabetes drug Avandia raise questions about where the Food and Drug Administration is headed.

FDA Keeps Avandia On Market; Europeans Pull Plug

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

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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FDA Keeps Avandia On Market; Europeans Pull Plug

September 23, 2010 • Despite mounting concerns about heart risks from the diabetes pill, the Food and Drug Administration has decided it can stay on the market. European regulators determined the risks outweigh the benefits and will pull the drug.

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Experimental Heart Valve, Without Surgery, Shows Promise For The Elderly

September 23, 2010 • A heart valve that doctors can implant with a catheter may help patients too frail to undergo open-heart surgery to repair a defective aortic valve.

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Novartis Pill For Multiple Sclerosis Wins Approval, But At What Cost?

A microscopic view of the effects of multiple sclerosis on nerve tissue. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Wikimedia Commons

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Novartis Pill For Multiple Sclerosis Wins Approval, But At What Cost?

September 22, 2010 • The first pill that can slow the progression of multiple sclerosis goes on the market next month. It won't be cheap, though. Analysts figure it will cost around $30,000 a year.

Tuesday September 21, 2010

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Generic Drugs Mean Savings For Private Medicare Plans

September 21, 2010 • Despite predictions the federal health law would ruin Medicare Advantage plans, the latest data show rates are down a little for 2011 and benefits are steady. Still, the insurance industry warns trouble lies ahead when government cuts take hold.

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Health Insurers Skirt New Coverage Requirement For Kids

September 21, 2010 • By stopping all new children-only coverage before the effective date of a federal mandate guaranteeing coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, the companies are sidestepping one of the first planks of the federal health law.

Thursday September 16, 2010

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J&J CEO To Testify About Quality Problems

September 16, 2010 • Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) has asked J&J's Bill Weldon to testify about the company's handling of quality problems with over-the-counter medicines, including Children's Tylenol. A spokesman said Weldon will comply.

Diet Pill Drama Continues, As FDA Weighs Old And New Drugs

The prospects for new diet pills appear to be slipping away. Milos Luzanin/iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Milos Luzanin/iStockphoto.com

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Diet Pill Drama Continues, As FDA Weighs Old And New Drugs

September 16, 2010 • A panel of experts looks at lorcaserin, an experimental diet pill, the day after splitting on whether to leave the controversial weight-loss medicine Meridia on the market despite heart risks.

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