(Reuters)—U.S. drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp said on Sunday it had agreed to acquire U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc. for $69 billion, seeking to tackle soaring healthcare spending through lower-cost medical services in pharmacies. This year’s largest corporate acquisition will combine one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) and pharmacy operators with…
Articles by Natasha Yetman
Healthcare Prices Hard to Find Online
(Reuters Health)—Consumers who search online for prices of common medical procedures may be disappointed by what they find, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers used the search engines Google and Bing to check the cost of common services like cholesterol tests, hip replacements and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in 8 cities: New York; Los Angeles;…
Consumers with High-Deductible Health Plans Could Be Smarter Shoppers
(Reuters Health)—Even when consumers have health plans that require them to pay a high amount out-of-pocket for care, they often don’t talk to doctors about the price of treatments or shop around to get the best deal, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers focused on high-deductible health plans, which typically have lower monthly premiums than other…
Patient Satisfaction Plummets When Doctors Say ‘No’ to Requests
(Reuters Health)—Patients may become less satisfied with their care when doctors refuse their requests for things, such as prescriptions or lab tests, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on 1,141 patients with a total of 1,319 doctor visits. Overall, about two-thirds of these visits included at least one patient request for the doctor to…
Obesity’s Effects on Inflammatory Markers in Patients with RA
New research has examined the effect of obesity on inflammatory markers, specifically C-reactive protein (CRP) level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Researchers found higher BMIs were associated with higher CRP levels in women both with and without RA, suggesting the phenomenon is related to adiposity and not an indication of disease activity. For men with RA, low BMI was associated with higher CRP levels, which proved to be RA-specific but not a direct causal effect of adiposity…
Trump Administration Proposes Medicare Rules Aimed at Opioids, Drug Costs
(Reuters)—The Trump administration on Thursday proposed changes to Medicare drug plans including limits on opioid prescriptions and rules aimed at reducing drug costs for seniors, such as requiring health insurers to pass on discounts to consumers. To help combat overprescription and abuse of addictive painkillers, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said…
U.S. Approves Digital Pill that Tracks When Patients Take It
(Reuters)—U.S. regulators have approved the first digital pill with an embedded sensor to track if patients are taking their medication properly, marking a significant step forward in the convergence of healthcare and technology.1 The medicine is a version of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd’s established drug Abilify for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, containing a tracking…
Trump to Tap Ex-Pharma Executive Azar as U.S. Health Secretary
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—President Donald Trump on Monday said he will nominate former pharmaceutical executive and industry lobbyist Alex Azar to serve as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, saying Azar would push to lower the price of medicines. If confirmed, Azar also would take the lead in implementing Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Affordable Care…
Psoriasis Tied to Higher Risk of Serious Liver Disease
(Reuters Health)—People with chronic inflammatory disorders, such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), may have an increased risk of developing serious liver damage, a recent study suggests. These inflammatory disorders are often treated with methotrexate, a medication linked to an increased risk of liver disease. For the current study, researchers followed more than 1 million…
Kentucky Accuses Endo of Contributing to Opioid Epidemic
(Reuters)—Kentucky accused units of Endo International Plc. on Monday of contributing to drug overdoses by deceptively marketing its painkiller Opana ER, in the latest lawsuit by state or local governments against the drugmaker amid an opioid epidemic. Kentucky Attorney General Steve Beshear said the lawsuit would seek to hold Endo responsible for illegally building a…
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