Latest News On Prescription Drugs

Latest KFF Health News Stories

A More Aggressive FTC Is Starting to Target Drug Mergers and Industry Middlemen

KFF Health News Original

Industry analysts are skeptical that Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan can win her first fight against a drug industry merger. It will be reviewed by a judge appointed by then-President Donald Trump.

Una FTC más agresiva persigue las fusiones en la industria farmacéutica y a los intermediarios del sector

KFF Health News Original

La Comisión Federal de Comercio está actuando contra las empresas farmacéuticas y los intermediarios del sector, como parte de la campaña de la administración Biden para reducir los precios de los medicamentos en las farmacias.

Are US Prescription Drug Prices 10 Times Those of Other Nations? Only Sometimes

KFF Health News Original

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ broad statement that some U.S. drug prices are 10 times those of other nations doesn’t paint the full picture. Studies we examined generally found that U.S. prices were two to four times those in other countries, not 10.

California Confronts Overdose Epidemic Among Former Prison Inmates

KFF Health News Original

Individuals newly released from prison are 40 times as likely to die of opioid overdoses than members of the general population, researchers say. In response, California corrections officials aim to arm departing inmates with an antidote that can be used to reverse the effects of opioid poisoning.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Will They or Won’t They (Block the Abortion Pill)?

Podcast

The Supreme Court is considering the future of the abortion pill mifepristone, after GenBioPro sued the FDA over limitations that effectively block generic production of the drug, a major part of the market. Congress is considering proposals that would impose Medicaid work requirements, crack down on pharmacy benefit managers, and more. And President Joe Biden moved to expand health coverage to young immigrants known as “Dreamers.” Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these issues and more.

Redes sociales alimentan obsesión por las drogas para bajar de peso, sin hablar de riesgos

KFF Health News Original

La competencia para hacerse con un mercado que podría valer $100.000 millones al año, solo para los fabricantes de medicamentos, ha desencadenado una ola de publicidad que preocupa a las autoridades sanitarias  y médicos de todo el mundo.

Truly Random Drug Testing: ADHD Patients Face Uneven Urine Screens and, Sometimes, Stigma

KFF Health News Original

Doctors have no national standards on when to order urine tests to check whether adult ADHD patients are properly taking their prescription stimulants. Some patients are subjected to much more frequent testing than others.

Fresh Produce Is an Increasingly Popular Prescription for Chronically Ill Patients

KFF Health News Original

Fresh produce prescription programs are getting a boost in Montana as a way of helping people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The approach may be a model for other rural states to promote healthy eating in food deserts.

¿Ayudan las nuevas guías sobre opioides a los pacientes con dolor crónico?

KFF Health News Original

Las recomendaciones dejaron a muchos pacientes lidiando con las consecuencias para la salud mental y física de la reducción rápida de la dosis o la suspensión abrupta de los medicamentos que habían estado tomando durante años, lo que conlleva riesgos de abstinencia, depresión e incluso suicidio.

New CDC Opioid Guidelines: Too Little, Too Late for Chronic Pain Patients?

KFF Health News Original

In November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for prescribing opioids for pain, allowing physicians more flexibility. But doctors, patients, and advocates wonder if the updated standards will be too little, too late to help chronic pain patients in a country still focused on fighting the ongoing opioid crisis.

¿Por qué cuesta tanto la insulina? Las grandes farmacéuticas no son las únicas que influyen en los precios

KFF Health News Original

La insulina representa lo perverso del sistema sanitario estadounidense, ya que los precios de venta de este medicamento centenario, del que dependen 8,4 millones de estadounidenses para sobrevivir, se quintuplicaron en dos décadas.