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Health Wire

The disability tax: Medical bills remain inaccessible for many blind Americans

December 11, 2022, 6:06am Health

A Missouri man who is deaf and blind said a medical bill he didn’t know existed was sent to debt collections, triggering an 11% rise in his home insurance premiums. Read story

Getting a drug to market a few months sooner and for less expense than usual can translate into millions in profit for the manufacturer.

The business of clinical trials is booming. Private equity has taken notice

Getting a drug to market a few months sooner and for less expense than usual can translate into millions in profit for the manufacturer.

December 11, 2022, 6:00am Business

After finding success investing in the more obviously lucrative corners of American medicine — like surgery centers and dermatology practices — private equity firms have moved aggressively into the industry’s more hidden niches: They are pouring billions into the business of clinical drug trials. Read story

Employers are increasingly using patient financial assistance initiatives set up by drugmakers to offset their own costs.

Employers use patient assistance programs to offset their own costs

Employers are increasingly using patient financial assistance initiatives set up by drugmakers to offset their own costs.

December 11, 2022, 6:00am Business

Anna Sutton was shocked when she received a letter from her husband’s job-based health plan stating that Humira, an expensive drug used to treat her daughter’s juvenile arthritis, was now on a long list of medications considered “nonessential benefits.” Read story

Deborah Sampson, left, a nurse at a University of Washington Medical Center clinic in Seattle, gives a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot to a 20-month-old child, June 21, 2022, in Seattle. The U.S. on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 open doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccines for most children younger than age 5. The Food and Drug Administration's decision aims to better protect the littlest kids from severe COVID-19 at a time when children's hospitals already are packed with tots suffering a variety of other respiratory illnesses, too. (AP Photo/Ted S.

FDA clears updated COVID-19 vaccines for kids under age 5

Deborah Sampson, left, a nurse at a University of Washington Medical Center clinic in Seattle, gives a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot to a 20-month-old child, June 21, 2022, in Seattle. The U.S. on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 open doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccines for most children younger than age 5. The Food and Drug Administration's decision aims to better protect the littlest kids from severe COVID-19 at a time when children's hospitals already are packed with tots suffering a variety of other respiratory illnesses, too. (AP Photo/Ted S.

December 8, 2022, 8:54am Health Free

U.S. regulators on Thursday cleared doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than age 5. Read story

FILE - Surgeon and doctor-turned-refugee, Dr. Tewodros Tefera, prepares a malaria test for 23-year-old Tigrayan refugee Hareg from Mekele, Ethiopia, at the Sudanese Red Crescent clinic in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, near the border with Ethiopia, on March 17, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 more deaths and 13 million more infections. That's according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday Dec. 8, 2022.

WHO: COVID disruption resulted in 63,000 more malaria deaths

FILE - Surgeon and doctor-turned-refugee, Dr. Tewodros Tefera, prepares a malaria test for 23-year-old Tigrayan refugee Hareg from Mekele, Ethiopia, at the Sudanese Red Crescent clinic in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, near the border with Ethiopia, on March 17, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 more deaths and 13 million more infections. That's according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday Dec. 8, 2022.

December 8, 2022, 8:22am Health

The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million more infections globally over two years, according to a report from the World Health Organization published Thursday. Read story

A cyclist passes by household waste inside yellow trash bags marked as medical waste in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of the most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions.

China eases its anti-COVID measures following protests

A cyclist passes by household waste inside yellow trash bags marked as medical waste in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of the most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions.

December 7, 2022, 4:13pm Health

China rolled back rules on isolating people with COVID-19 and dropped virus test requirements for some public places Wednesday in a dramatic change to a strategy that confined millions of people to their homes and sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign. Read story

FILE - A Juul sign hangs in the front window of a bodega convenience store in New York City on June 25, 2022. Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 5,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs related to its vaping products. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. The company has been buffeted by lawsuits and chances that it would seek bankruptcy protection, or a buyer, were elevated last month as Juul announced hundreds of layoffs and secured new financing to continue operations.

Juul reaches settlements covering more than 5,000 cases

FILE - A Juul sign hangs in the front window of a bodega convenience store in New York City on June 25, 2022. Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 5,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs related to its vaping products. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. The company has been buffeted by lawsuits and chances that it would seek bankruptcy protection, or a buyer, were elevated last month as Juul announced hundreds of layoffs and secured new financing to continue operations.

December 7, 2022, 1:00pm Business

Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 5,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs related to its vaping products. Read story

FILE - A sign in front of the Food and Drug Administration building is seen on Dec. 10, 2020, in Silver Spring, Md. Expedited drug approvals slowed in 2022, as the FDA's controversial accelerated pathway came under new scrutiny from Congress, government watchdogs and some of the agency's own leaders. With less than a month remaining in the year, the agency's drug center has granted 10 accelerated approvals -- fewer than the tally in each of the last five years, when use of the program reached all-time highs.

Speedier drug approvals hit slowdown as FDA faces scrutiny

FILE - A sign in front of the Food and Drug Administration building is seen on Dec. 10, 2020, in Silver Spring, Md. Expedited drug approvals slowed in 2022, as the FDA's controversial accelerated pathway came under new scrutiny from Congress, government watchdogs and some of the agency's own leaders. With less than a month remaining in the year, the agency's drug center has granted 10 accelerated approvals -- fewer than the tally in each of the last five years, when use of the program reached all-time highs.

December 7, 2022, 8:01am Business

Expedited drug approvals slowed this year as the Food and Drug Administration’s controversial accelerated pathway came under new scrutiny from Congress, government watchdogs and some of the agency’s own leaders. Read story

FILE - Baby formula is displayed on the shelves of a grocery store in Carmel, Ind. on May 10, 2022. On Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, a panel called for changes at the FDA, the federal agency that oversees most of the nation's food supply, saying revamped leadership, a clear mission and more urgency are needed to prevent illness outbreaks and to promote good health. Experts called the report a strong "first step" to addressing longstanding internal issues that have contributed to problems such as the contaminated infant formula that led to a nationwide shortage this year.

Panel calls for stronger leadership of FDA foods program

FILE - Baby formula is displayed on the shelves of a grocery store in Carmel, Ind. on May 10, 2022. On Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, a panel called for changes at the FDA, the federal agency that oversees most of the nation's food supply, saying revamped leadership, a clear mission and more urgency are needed to prevent illness outbreaks and to promote good health. Experts called the report a strong "first step" to addressing longstanding internal issues that have contributed to problems such as the contaminated infant formula that led to a nationwide shortage this year.

December 6, 2022, 1:41pm Health

A panel on Tuesday called for changes at the federal agency that oversees most of the nation's food supply, saying revamped leadership, a clear mission and more urgency are needed to prevent illness outbreaks and to promote good health. Read story

FILE - A sample plate of the food icon MyPlate, is unveiled at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, Thursday, June 2, 2011. A new study finds that few Americans have heard of MyPlate, the government diet guide that replaced the longstanding food pyramid in 2011, and even fewer have tried to follow its advice.

Few Americans know of MyPlate

FILE - A sample plate of the food icon MyPlate, is unveiled at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, Thursday, June 2, 2011. A new study finds that few Americans have heard of MyPlate, the government diet guide that replaced the longstanding food pyramid in 2011, and even fewer have tried to follow its advice.

December 6, 2022, 6:05am Health

Here’s a quick quiz: What replaced the food pyramid, the government guide to healthy eating that stood for nearly 20 years? Read story