Health Wire

Merck’s campus in West Point, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

How Merck extended its monopoly on a blockbuster diabetes drug

December 23, 2023, 5:59am Business

Merck’s monopoly on a blockbuster diabetes drug that has generated about $50 billion in global sales seemed like it might be coming to an end over the past couple years. Read story

FILE - A flu vaccine is readied at the L.A. Care and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plans' Community Resource Center in Lynwood, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. Health officials say flu and COVID-19 infections are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks, Friday, Dec. 22, 2023, fueled by holiday travel and gatherings, low vaccination rates, and a new COVID variant that seems to spread more easily. (AP Photo/Mark J.

Flu and COVID infections are rising and could get worse over the holidays, CDC says

December 22, 2023, 1:09pm Health

Look for flu and COVID-19 infections to ramp up in the coming weeks, U.S. health officials say, with increases fueled by holiday gatherings, too many unvaccinated people and a new version of the coronavirus that may be spreading more easily. Read story

FDA says fake Ozempic shots are being sold through some legitimate sources

December 22, 2023, 8:39am Business

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has seized “thousands of units” of counterfeit Ozempic, the diabetes drug widely used for weight loss, that had been distributed through legitimate drug supply sources. Read story

Aaron Posey, a Bloodworks Northwest executive, donates blood at the blood center’s Seattle headquarters on Dec. 14, 2023. New federal guidelines that dropped an abstinence requirement before gay men in monogamous relationships can give blood are opening a new pool of potential donors. Posey, whose own life was saved by a transfusion when he fell down a set of stairs and broken glass sliced an artery, welcomed the new guidance, saying hospitals and patients need access to a new pool of donors.

For years, he couldn’t donate at the blood center where he worked. Under new FDA rules, now he can

December 22, 2023, 8:01am Health

Over the last six years, blood center employee Dylan Smith was often asked how frequently he gave blood himself. His answer was always the same: As a gay man, he couldn’t. Read story

Washington U.S. District Court judge tells Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to include gender affirming care

December 22, 2023, 7:47am Business

A U.S. District Court judge in the Western District of Washington instructed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) to end discriminatory exclusions on gender-affirming health care and to reprocess claims for gender-affirming care that BCBSIL health plans previously denied. Read story

Rift over when to use N95s puts health workers at risk again

December 21, 2023, 9:02am Health

Three years after more than 3,600 health workers died of COVID-19, occupational safety experts warn that those on the front lines may once again be at risk if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes its committee’s advice on infection control guidelines in health care settings, including hospitals, nursing… Read story

Health Wire

How Merck extended its monopoly on a blockbuster diabetes drug

Flu and COVID infections are rising and could get worse over the holidays, CDC says

FDA says fake Ozempic shots are being sold through some legitimate sources

For years, he couldn’t donate at the blood center where he worked. Under new FDA rules, now he can

Washington U.S. District Court judge tells Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to include gender affirming care

More people are calling Washington’s 988 suicide crisis hotline

Rift over when to use N95s puts health workers at risk again

A fifth of U.S. hospitals have been warned over secretive prices

Flavored tobacco ban for Multnomah County set to start on Jan. 1

Methamphetamine, fentanyl drive record homeless deaths in Portland, annual report finds