The Biden Administration, already locked in a long battle with the coronavirus and committed to a “moonshot” campaign against cancer, has announced it will tackle yet more persistent harms to the health of regular folks in this country — hunger, poor nutrition, and pernicious (but heavily marketed and highly profitable) foods. The White House rolled up….
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Hollywood puts appearances above all in fad injections of diabetes drug
Troubling but perhaps predictable news is traveling from a vanity trend-setting capital of this country: Hollywood stars have made the taking of a relatively new prescription drug, targeted for the treatment of diabetes, into a fad. The injectable drug semaglutide, whose brand name is Ozempic, has become a must-have among A-listers because of one of its….
Continue ReadingRollout will take time for Democrats’ big act on health, climate and taxes
President Biden and congressional Democrats have embarked on a major political experiment, testing the public’s willingness to delay gratification on seeing big benefits of a landmark measure with important elements to improve their health and wellbeing. Is it more persuasive to regular folks that one political party is trying to tackle huge problems, or will relentless….
Continue ReadingDiabetes drugs that cause weight loss find plus-size online demand
They’re expensive and often uncovered by health insurance. They’re unfamiliar for now to many doctors, especially those in primary care. But — as expected — patients are hearing a lot about the effectiveness of new prescription medications aimed at treating diabetes and how these drugs have another positive outcome: They help users lose weight, potentially….
Continue ReadingBig Pharma, hit for tenfold price hikes, also faces FTC middleman probe
While U.S. patients are seeing their finances blown up by skyrocketing prescription drug prices, the members of Congress continue to wring their hands, ponder responses — and do nothing. The Federal Trade Commission, though, has at least launched an investigation of one part of Big Pharma to see if pharmacy benefit managers, the industry middlemen….
Continue ReadingNewer diabetes drugs can lead to weight loss. Wish it was that simple.
As medical scientists increase the understanding of diabetes and the role that hormones can play in treating the disease and clinical obesity, doctors, drug makers, insurers, and others in U.S. health care are running smack into familiar, significant problems. These include issues with public perceptions about weight, diet, and appropriate prescribing of powerful medications, as….
Continue ReadingBig Pharma donates big to GOP lawmakers as drug costs keep rising
While regular folks howl about the need to slash skyrocketing prescription drug costs, Big Pharma is showering lawmakers on Capitol Hill with campaign contributions and favoring Republicans in the House and Senate who show political promise — and an aversion to efforts to ensure the affordability of medications for the sick. The crushing costs of drugs….
Continue ReadingWarnings rise that nation’s younger people are far sicker than they should be
Lights are flashing and alarms are blaring. A health care nightmare is growing before us and threatens the future of the nation: Younger people — those under age 40 or even age 50 — are sicker than they should be, and their conditions are worsening, not improving, especially with the destructive coronavirus pandemic. An independent….
Continue ReadingSpiking deaths, health crises, and amputations: Diabetes is ‘out of control’
More than 100,000 people in this country died last year due to diabetes. That’s 17% more than the year before. And in younger age groups, it’s even worse: deaths from diabetes climbed 29% last year among those ages 25-44, federal data show. The figures should raise huge alarms that diabetes, as exposed by the coronavirus….
Continue ReadingPanicked over prediabetes? For older patients, more evidence to say: Not to worry
It’s not an invitation to pile on the ice cream, cake, and candy. But older adults may get to say pshaw to the finger-wagging they may have endured from doctors and loved ones about their raised blood sugar levels and the condition that specialists ginned up to caution them about it: prediabetes. As the New….
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