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The cost of an intravenous drug used to treat lead poisoning has skyrocketed after a 2700% price increase by Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Experts worry that its high price and the lack of alternatives will place it out of reach for hospitals that need it. This is not the first time Valeant has been criticized for its price-raising practices.

Gaining too much weight during pregnancy can bring serious health consequences.

What we’re reading, October 13, 2016: researchers, Alzheimer’s patients, and their families anxiously await the results of a clinical trial that could help slow the disease’s progress; many breast cancers detected by mammograms are overtreated even though they likely would not be fatal on their own; stock prices fall for Humana and Cigna as CMS says a minority of their patients are in plans rated 4 stars or higher.

The partnership is expected to improve the quality of care and the overall care experience for Aetna members who seek care at Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) clinics in New Jersey and Maryland.

Radiomic combines imaging and computational technologies and can identify patients with recurrent glioblastoma who may benefit from using angiogenesis inhibitors.

As the public grows increasingly outraged over the rising cost of prescription drugs, the cost of hospital inpatient drugs has been overlooked. According to a new report, inpatient drug spending increased 23.4% annually between 2013 and 2015.

A survey by Avalere Health found that only 19% of drug makers publicly post policies about their compassionate use programs.

The pay-for-performance deal comes as Januvia faces increased competition from newer drug classes, especially SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists.

What we're reading, October 12, 2016: a US senator calls for a limit to prescription fentanyl; healthcare costs aren't skyrocketing, despite claims; IBM's Watson will identify cancer treatment and clinical trials for IBM employees.

A pilot analysis published online in JAMA Cardiology has concluded that Twitter offers promise as a data source for studying public communication about cardiovascular disease.

A study from Tufts University School of Medicine found that at age 10, obesity rates among children on the autism spectrum are not that much higher than children outside the spectrum, but rates diverge sharply as children get older.

A retrospective study in breast cancer patients suggests that patients can lower their out-of-pocket costs by speaking with their oncologist about alternate treatments that may be equally effective and understanding the drug coverage policy of their insurance plan.

Innovation in oncology treatments has reduced the mortality rate for cancer, but it comes at a price. At the 5th Annual Patient-Centered Oncology Care, experts will discuss cost-sharing models, as well as updates in cancer care treatment, such as precision medicine and immuno-oncology.

The study found that in diabetic mice, a common sweetener appears to travel straight to the liver, where it causes fat to accumulate.

Coupons seem like a good deal for consumers, but they mask the true costs of drugs and force up premiums for everyone.

Medicare beneficiaries still face huge out-of-pocket expenses because of uncapped cost sharing in the catastrophic coverage phase. This is especially true for beneficiaries who take specialty drugs.

Though symptom checking apps and websites have been touted by some as the future of clinical diagnostics, a recent study has found that they are far less accurate than actual physicians at identifying the correct diagnosis when given a clinical vignette.

The use of low-value care and the associated cost is a significant concern in the US healthcare system. However, solutions to measure, identify, and eliminate low-value care are challenging and complex.

What we're reading, October 11, 2016: USPSTF recommendations maybe shouldn't be tied to insurance coverage; growing dispute over homeopathy research; and the harm of pharmaceutical companies' copay assistant programs.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a clinically relevant patient-centered tool that can measure a patient’s risk for financial stress.

The findings are consistent with earlier work that show how soda companies spend heavily to promote their brands and thwart efforts to regulate or tax their products to address diabetes or obesity.

The second presidential debate, which took place Sunday night at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, allowed candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to spar over a multitude of issues, including the future of healthcare in America.

A letter from CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt that was made public said that Mylan had been warned repeatedly that it was not using the right classification for the EpiPen, at taxpayers' expense.

What we're reading, October 10, 2016: Anthem will not cover Exondys 51, the first drug approved for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; big soda has sponsored 96 health and medical groups; and new Illinois program seeks to fill care gaps for working poor.

While previous studies have revealed concerning issues regarding workplace wellness programs, the industry has now crossed a line. The program chosen as the industry's best actually harmed employees.

While nivolumab failed to surpass the outcomes of chemotherapy as first-line treatment in programmed death ligand-1—expressing patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), pembrolizumab bettered chemotherapy in improving survival in a similar cohort.

As part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's new clinical guidelines for myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of rare blood cancers, Jakafi has been recommended for the treatment of myelofibrosis.

A large majorities of Americans favor a wide range of policy changes to curb prescription drug costs, including those that give government a greater role in negotiating or limiting drug prices, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll.

Although hospitals in Medicare’s Value-Based Purchasing program already receive patient experience points based on achievement, improvement, and consistency, placing more emphasis on improvement points could benefit hospitals serving minority patients

Cost sharing for hospitalizations among nonelderly adults increased 37% between 2009 and 2013, more than the rate of medical inflation, according to a review of national hospital claims from 3 major commercial insurance plans.