Breaking News

Health

Walmart offers way to turn leftover opioids into useless gel

By Tom Murphy AP Health Writer Walmart is helping customers get rid of leftover opioids by giving them packets that turn the addictive painkillers into a useless gel. The retail giant announced Wednesday that it will provide the packets free with opioid prescriptions filled at its 4,700 U.S. pharmacies. The small packets, made by DisposeRX, contain a powder that is poured into prescription bottles. When mixed with warm water, the powder turns the pills into a biodegradable gel that can be thrown in the trash. It works on other prescription drugs and for pills, tablets, capsules, ...

Has flu season reached its height?

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is now widespread in every state except Hawaii, but the good news is the season appears to already be peaking. It’s been a rough few weeks: Hospitals have set up tents to handle patient overflow. Doctors are putting in double and triple shifts. Ambulances have been sidelined while paramedics waited to drop off patients. “This morning, I couldn’t stand up. I was really weak,” said Margaret Shafer, who went to a Seattle emergency room this week after a bout with the flu was followed by pneumonia. But an update out Friday from the Centers for Disease ...

US OKs first drug aimed at women with inherited breast cancer

By Linda A. Johnson AP Medical Writer U.S. regulators have approved the first drug aimed at women with advanced breast cancer caused by†an inherited flawed gene. The Food and Drug Administration approved AstraZeneca PLC’s Lynparza for patients with inherited BRCA gene mutations who have undergone chemotherapy. The drug has been on the market since 2014 for ovarian cancer, and is the first in a new class of medicines called PARP inhibitors to be approved for breast cancer. PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from fixing problems in their DNA. Lynparza will cost $13,886 per ...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — If you skipped most of your workouts to be more “present” during the holiday festivities and aren’t looking forward to getting back on the treadmill, we feel you. We rounded some of the workouts that have fitness fans talking to keep you motivated. Do them at home, in the studio, on a trampoline or a lake (gasp) — whatever it takes to get moving. IF YOU LOVE WORKING OUT AT HOME There are tons of amazing streaming options out there and the new offering from former SLT star Bethany C. Meyers is worth checking out. be.come is a music driven mash-up ...

Price tag on gene therapy for rare form of blindness: $850K

WASHINGTON (AP) — A first-of-its kind genetic treatment for blindness will cost $850,000, less than the $1 million price tag that had been expected, but it’s still among the most expensive genetic therapies in the world. Spark Therapeutics says it decided on the lower price tag for Luxturna (Lux-turn-a) after hearing concerns from health insurers about their ability to cover the injectable treatment. Consternation over skyrocketing drug prices, especially in the U.S., has led to intense scrutiny from patients, Congress, insurers and hospitals. “We wanted to balance the value ...

In a milestone year, gene therapy finds a place in medicine

By Marilynn Marchione AP Chief Medical Writer After decades of hope and high promise, this was the year scientists really showed they could doctor DNA to successfully treat diseases. Gene therapies to treat cancer and even pull off the biblical-sounding feat of helping the blind to see were approved by U.S. regulators, establishing gene manipulation as a new mode of medicine. Almost 20 years ago, a teen’s death in a gene experiment put a chill on what had been a field full of outsized expectations. Now, a series of jaw-dropping successes have renewed hopes that some one-time fixes ...