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Starting in June, Colorado’s Medicaid agency will cover a breakthrough hepatitis C drug on a case-by-case basis, while it decides who will qualify for the…
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Most attempts at a malaria vaccine have unsuccessfully tried to keep the parasite from breaking into red blood cells. But a new twist that keeps the parasite from escaping the cells may work better.
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New drugs are usually tested in animals before they're tested in humans. But many of those studies aren't done carefully enough, analysts say. So time and money is wasted, and treatments are delayed.
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Allergy shots work, but they're inconvenient and painful. Now there are pills that can help people tolerate grass pollen. But allergies are rarely limited to grass alone.
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Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved a class of drugs that can cure most hepatitis C infections. That's great news for the more than 3 million Americans infected. But the high cost — $84,000 per course of treatment — means some patients could miss out.
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The painkiller OxyContin is already classified as a Schedule II drug because of the "severe" risk of addiction. Now the Food and Drug Administration wants to move Vicodin and other painkillers containing hydrocodone to Schedule II as well, citing soaring rates of addiction and overdose deaths.
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Many stroke patients are getting treatment with a drug that dissolves blood clots. The approach was once controversial. But giving the drug to eligible patients within a few hours of a stroke's first symptoms can prevent disability.
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Doctors have debated for years whether a drug that curbed the growth of some prostate cancers caused more serious ones to grow faster. Now, a long-term study calms those fears and raises the possibility that a cheap, generic pill could be used reduce prostate cancer risk.
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An analysis of 16 recent medical guidelines found evidence of financial ties between key experts and industry. Most of the recommendations expanded the definitions of common illnesses, lowering the threshold for treatment.
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From human growth hormone to EPO, many sports doping products these days come from big drug companies, not rogue chemists. Scientists and body builders warn that new drugs being developed to treat muscle wasting disease will also likely be abused by athletes — with little chance of detection.