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Cascade of costs could push new gene therapy above $1 million per patient

Outrage over the high cost of cancer care has focused on skyrocketing drug prices, including the $475,000 price tag for the country's first gene therapy, Novartis' Kymriah, a leukemia treatment approved in August.

17 Oct 2017

Researchers use new model to predict intergenerational predisposition to C-section

During the last decades, rates of Caesarean section have multiplied; by now it is one of the most frequently performed surgical treatments worldwide. Even if many of these C-sections are not strictly medically indicated, human childbirth is complicated and risky compared to that in other primates.

17 Oct 2017

Stunner on birth control: Trump’s moral exemption is geared to just 2 groups

Few people were surprised last week when the Trump administration issued a rule to make it easier for some religious employers to opt out of offering no-cost prescription birth control to their female employees under the Affordable Care Act.

16 Oct 2017

Trump acting solo: What you need to know about changes to the health law

Apparently frustrated by Congress' inability to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, President Donald Trump this week decided to take matters into his own hands.

13 Oct 2017

New research reveals negative consequences of coffee cultivation in Uganda

New research led by Kelly Austin, associate professor of sociology at Lehigh, explores unequal exchange in the coffee industry. She cites a range of negative consequences that coffee cultivation contributes to, including: malaria vulnerability, decreased participation in schooling, gender inequalities, and environmental degradation in Bududa, Uganda.

11 Oct 2017

Giving birth is hard enough. Try it in the middle of a wildfire.

Days before there was any sign of fire, Nicole and Ben Veum of Santa Rosa, Calif., had been waiting and waiting for their baby to arrive. Nicole's due date came and went. Her doctor called her into the hospital — Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital — to induce labor. That was Friday.

11 Oct 2017

Epidural analgesics have no effect on the duration of the second stage of labor, study reveals

A study, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, indicated that epidural analgesia had no impact on the duration of the second stage of labor, fetal position during birth, prevalence of episiotomy, normal vaginal delivery rate, or any other fetal well-being measures investigated by researchers.

11 Oct 2017

Epidural medication has no effect on duration of labor, study shows

Epidural analgesia – a mix of anesthetics and narcotics delivered by catheter placed close to the nerves of the spine – is the most effective method of labor pain relief. In widespread use since the 1970s, epidurals have long been thought to slow the second stage of labor – defined as beginning when the cervix is completely dilated and ending when the baby is delivered.

10 Oct 2017

New law challenges ‘evils’ of pharma profits, California governor claims

California Gov. Jerry Brown defied the drug industry Monday by signing a sweeping drug price transparency bill that will force drugmakers to publicly justify big price hikes.

9 Oct 2017

Eyes fixed on California as governor ponders inking drug price transparency bill

Insurers, hospitals, and health advocates are waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown to deal the drug lobby a rare defeat, by signing legislation that would force pharmaceutical companies to justify big price hikes on drugs in California.

6 Oct 2017

Increased fFN testing could help provide better care for women with symptoms of preterm labor

A new study found that women with symptoms of preterm labor who were discharged from the hospital without a fetal fibronectin (fFN) test were more likely to deliver their baby prematurely within three days compared to women who were discharged with an fFN test, Hologic, Inc. announced today.

6 Oct 2017

Study captures economic burden of frontotemporal degeneration in the United States

You may not have heard of it, but frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) accounts for 20 to 50 percent of dementia cases in people under the age of 65. FTD ravages an individual's quality of life by dramatically altering their language, personality, behavior, cognition and motor function. But it doesn't end there.

4 Oct 2017

Flat-fee primary care helps fill niche for Texas’ uninsured

Darrell Kenyon had been punting for years on various medical issues — fatigue, headaches, mood swings. The 43-year-old uninsured carpenter was particularly worried about his blood pressure, which ran high when he checked it at the grocery store. Then he heard about a different type of physician practice, one that provided regular primary care for a monthly fee.

3 Oct 2017