Is Legislation to Safeguard Americans Against Superbugs a Boondoggle or Breakthrough?
While supporters cheer the PASTEUR Act as an essential strategy to stem the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, critics call it a multibillion-dollar giveaway to Big Pharma.
Pfizer’s Covid Cash Powers a ‘Marketing Machine’ on the Hunt for New Supernovas
While sales of its covid vaccines are falling, Pfizer plans to triple the price of the shots and use its bonanza from government contracts to buy and develop new blockbusters.
$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug
Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. It’s sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals — which may pay nearly as little for the drug — charging so much more to administer it?
Pharma-Funded FDA Gets Drugs Out Faster, But Some Work Only ‘Marginally’ and Most Are Pricey
Since pharmaceutical companies started funding their FDA drug applications 30 years ago, the agency’s reviews have gone much faster — perhaps too fast.
Big Pharma Went All In to Kill Drug Pricing Negotiations
For more than a century, the drug industry has issued dire warnings of plunging innovation whenever regulation reared its head. In general, the threat hasn’t materialized.
Qué significa el caso de Nueva York para el fin de la polio
Para 2015, la polio se había erradicado casi por completo en todas partes excepto en Pakistán y Afganistán. Pero para 2020 se habían reportado casos en 34 países.
What the Polio Case in New York Tells Us About the End of Polio
The Rockland County case isn’t expected to cause a major outbreak, but it shows how even this rare disease can pop up in undervaccinated communities.
¿Ponerse el refuerzo ahora o esperar? Muchos se preguntan cómo navegar la próxima ola de covid
Aproximadamente el 70% de los estadounidenses de 50 años o más que recibieron una primera vacuna de refuerzo contra covid, y casi la misma cantidad de personas de 65 años o más, no han recibido un segundo, según datos de los CDC.
Boost Now or Wait? Many Wonder How Best to Ride Out Covid’s Next Wave
As the country faces a rise in new infections driven by the omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus, about 70% of people 50 and older who got a first covid-19 booster shot haven’t received the recommended second one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many undervaccinated Americans have lost interest, and others aren’t sure whether to get boosted again now or wait for vaccines reformulated to target newer strains of the virus.
As Big Pharma Loses Interest in New Antibiotics, Infections Are Only Growing Stronger
Existing drugs still treat most infections. But that has discouraged investment in new drugs that will be needed when — not if —the old ones fail.
Cómo Pfizer le ganó a la pandemia, alcanzando influencia y ganancias descomunales
Su éxito en el desarrollo de medicamentos contra covid le ha dado a la farmacéutica un peso inusual en la determinación de la política de salud de Estados Unidos. Algo que preocupa a expertos.
How Pfizer Won the Pandemic, Reaping Outsize Profit and Influence
The drugmaker has the best-selling vaccine to prevent covid and the most effective drug to treat it. Its success has overshadowed the government’s covid-fighting strategy.
Novavax Missed Its Global Moonshot but Is Angling to Win Over mRNA Defectors
After years of failure, the Maryland company aims to attract the vaccine-hesitant with an alternative to mRNA shots. But will it find a market?
Why Cheap, Older Drugs That Might Treat Covid Never Get Out of the Lab
The hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin fiascoes have soured many doctors on repurposing drugs for covid. A few inexpensive old drugs may be as good as some of the new antivirals, but they face complex obstacles to get to patients.
Por qué adultos mayores de minorías no reciben la vacuna de alta dosis contra la gripe
Esta vacuna reforzada contra la influenza, podría ser más efectiva contra el virus, pero es más costosa. Y no suele estar disponible para las poblaciones más vulnerables.
Why Black and Hispanic Seniors Are Left With a Less Powerful Flu Vaccine
Federal health officials haven’t taken a clear position on whether a high-dose influenza vaccine — on the market since 2010 — is the best choice for people 65 and older. Many in that group already opt for the costlier enhanced shot. Those who get the standard vaccine are disproportionately members of ethnic and racial minorities.
Pfizer CEO Pushes Yearly Shots for Covid. Not So Fast, Experts Say.
A corporate CEO’s call for a fourth mRNA shot struck those closely watching the pandemic as self-serving. It creates public pressure for a fourth dose of vaccine before government experts have time to assess the evidence and settle on the best course forward.
Inside the Tactical Tug of War Over the Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug
An epic battle is playing out behind the scenes over whether the government should pay for Aduhelm, an FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drug that scientists say has not been proven to work.
How LA, Calling the Shots on School Vaccine Mandates, Can Lead the Way on Covid Rules
In the middle of a measles outbreak in 1977, the Los Angeles school system required students to be inoculated or stay out of class. Other school systems followed the practice. Will it work again now that the county is insisting that teens have their shots against covid?
Stranded by the Pandemic, He Had Only Travel Insurance. It Left Him With a $38,000 Bill.
Although it’s possible to buy travel insurance that provides some health coverage, the devil is in the fine print. Obama-era laws that prevent refusal of payment for preexisting conditions don’t apply to travel insurance.
