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Prescription drug bumetanide could help treat autism

A new drug called bumetanide, which is used to treat edema, shows promise in treating some symptoms of autism in young children, while not showing significant adverse effects. The study was published in January 2020 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

26 Jan 2020

APRNs have expanded roles in national response to opioid crisis

As we enter a new year and a new decade, many states have enacted legislation affecting the roles of advanced practice registered nurses in terms of practice authority, reimbursement, and prescriptive authority, according to the 32nd Annual Legislative Update in the January issue of The Nurse Practitioner, published by Wolters Kluwer.

24 Jan 2020

Weight-loss drug Belviq increases risk of cancer, FDA warns

The popular weight loss drug, called Belviq, also called Belviq XR (lorcaserin), has been found to increase the risk of developing cancer, warns the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

16 Jan 2020

Daily chronic pain, opioid use disorder add to the challenges of relieving pain among patients

The combination of more Americans reporting daily chronic pain and the rapidly increasing prevalence of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder (OUD) adds to the challenges of relieving patients' pain effectively and safely.

14 Jan 2020

Study: Less than 2% of people at risk for opioid overdose are prescribed life-saving drug

Only a tiny minority of people at risk for an opioid overdose actually are prescribed a drug that could save their lives, a new study suggests. And the odds of having a dose of the rescue drug were very low among some of the most at-risk groups, including those who had already survived a previous opioid overdose.

8 Jan 2020

Study: Children with public insurance are more likely to receive unnecessary medical care

Children with public insurance are slightly more likely to receive medical services that they don't need than those with private insurance, a new study finds.

7 Jan 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: ACA still under a cloud after court ruling

The fate of the Affordable Care Act continues to be in doubt after a federal appeals court ruling in New Orleans.

19 Dec 2019

New assessment quantifies the financial impact of Medicare Part D program

A new assessment of the Medicare Part D program based on a proposal from the West Health Policy Center finds that Medicare beneficiaries would save $29 billion if drug manufacturer rebates were used to reduce their out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter through the Part D benefit - as long as these rebate savings are not also used to reduce Part D manufacturer liability.

19 Dec 2019

Border fight: Trump’s plan to import cheaper drugs from Canada faces hurdles

In a historic shift, the federal government Wednesday proposed allowing states to import drugs from Canada. Officials said they believe it can be done safely and save significant money for Americans.

18 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Legislate-a-palooza

The House overwhelmingly passed a 2020 National Defense Authorization that included a provision that would give 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.

12 Dec 2019

Study: Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. are actually multiple opioid epidemics

The United States is suffering from several different simultaneous opioid epidemics, rather than just a single crisis, according to an academic study of deaths caused by drug overdoses.

9 Dec 2019

Methamphetamine undermines success in treatment for opioid-use disorder

Judith Tsui, a UW Medicine clinician specializing in addiction treatment, was seeing more and more patients she was treating for opioid-use disorder also using methamphetamines, a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system.

8 Dec 2019

Website errors raise calls for Medicare to be flexible with seniors’ enrollment

Saturday is the deadline for most people with Medicare coverage to sign up for private drug and medical plans for next year.

6 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: We spend how much on health care?

Health spending in the U.S. grew to $3.6 trillion in 2018, according to a new report from the federal government. The rate of growth — 4.6% — was up slightly from 2017's 4.2%, despite the fact that nearly a million more Americans lacked insurance.

5 Dec 2019

Pharma’s take on the Pelosi drug-pricing bill: Fair warning or fearmongering?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's flagship proposal to curb prescription drug prices, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act" - H.R. 3 - could come up for a vote in the chamber this month.

5 Dec 2019

HHS hands out free HIV prevention drugs. Do you qualify?

The Trump administration Tuesday unveiled a plan to distribute HIV prevention medication free to individuals who do not have prescription drug insurance coverage.

4 Dec 2019

New PA program in Massachusetts to provide knowledge, skills to prescribe opiates safely

Morbidity and mortality from prescription and synthetic opioid use and abuse continues to be a U.S. public health issue. In an effort to help curtail this crisis, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine describe an approach to ensure Physician Assistant (PA) students graduating from any PA program in Massachusetts will have the knowledge and skills to prescribe opiates safely.

3 Dec 2019

Researchers propose aspirin as possible treatment option for patients with migraine

Migraine headache is the third most common disease in the world affecting about 1 in 7 people. More prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined, migraine headaches are among the most common and potentially debilitating disorders encountered by primary health care providers.

3 Dec 2019

A young immigrant has mental illness, and that’s raising his risk of deportation

When José moved his family to the United States from Mexico nearly two decades ago, he had hopes of giving his children a better life.

26 Nov 2019

New California law may expand use of HIV prevention drugs, with caveats

Kellen Willhite was 24 when he learned he'd been exposed to HIV. What followed was, as he describes it, a second trauma: trying to obtain the drugs that could save him before it was too late.

20 Nov 2019