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☆ Mehmet Oz: John Fetterman's policies on drugs and crime are illogical
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Dr. Mehmet Oz | Dr. Mehmet Oz Is The Republican Nominee For U.S. Senate In Pennsylvania. He Lives In Montgomery County | Is A Cardiothoracic Surgeon | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Dangerous drugs and violent crime are plaguing the state of Pennsylvania. At a roundtable discussion with community members in Germantown, another Philadelphia neighborhood, I heard numerous stories of individuals losing loved ones to violent crime. Fetterman has made clear his support for Oregon’s measure 110, which decriminalized drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Measure 110 has also been linked to a massive increase in violent crime. The crisis ravaging vulnerable communities like Kensington results from ineffective drug policies pushed by elected officials who care more about caring than fixing.

☆ Omicron subvariants pose a new threat to people with immune deficiencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Troubling recent reports reveal the emergence of new omicron subvariants that not only evade AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, the antibody drug authorized to prevent Covid infection, but also the sole antibody drug that has retained effectiveness as treatment for Covid, Eli Lilly’s bebtelovimab. Doctors have cautioned that should Laura get Covid, this could aggravate her autoimmune disease and lead to catastrophic kidney damage. Evusheld is a long-acting antibody injection given every six months that studies have suggested provides a robust buffer to the immunosuppressed. For now, immunocompromised people are anxiously watching the pandemic forecast to see if the subvariants that research indicates evade monoclonal antibodies will become predominant. “If fewer people are prescribed Evusheld,” she said, “there’s less incentive for drug companies to start developing newer therapeutics.

☆ Here's what you need to know about 2023 Medicare prescription drug plans during open enrollment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Mike Mergen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIf you're a Medicare beneficiary, now's the time to evaluate your prescription drug coverage for 2023. "It's a quality of life issue," said Elizabeth Gavino, founder of Lewin & Gavino and an independent broker and general agent for Medicare plans. Insulin costs will be cappedSome changes to prescription drug coverage, enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, take effect next year. This include a monthly $35 cap on cost-sharing for insulin under Part D, which will start on Jan. 1. Your tax return from 2021 is generally what would be used to determine whether you're subject to those surcharges in 2023.

Sept 28 (Reuters) - A federal judge in New York has frozen the assets of dozens of people and entities accused of operating a massive nationwide scheme to distribute counterfeit bottles of Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) HIV drugs, including two alleged "kingpins." HIV drugs accounted for $7.6 billion of Gilead's $12.6 billion revenue in the first half of the year. read moreThe newly added defendants include alleged "kingpins" Lazaro Roberto Hernandez, who was arrested on drug counterfeiting and money laundering charges in June as part of a related federal investigation and remains under house arrest, and Armando Herrera, who lives in Florida. The Foster City, California-based company first announced it was pursuing counterfeiters in August 2021, shortly after filing its lawsuit. read moreIn addition to the alleged kingpins, the case now includes alleged mid-level leaders and a complex web of shell companies, distributors and pharmacies.

☆ New Alzheimer's drug slows cognitive decline by 27%, clinical trial finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A clinical trial of a new Alzheimer's drug from Eisai and Biogen has shown promising results. The large-scale study saw cognitive decline in patients being slowed by 27% over 18 months. The trial involved 1,795 patients with early-stage Alzheimer's. The companies announced the trial's success in a press release on Tuesday, saying their drug — called lecanemab — was observed to have slowed cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients by 27% over 18 months. The companies noted that around 21% of the patients who received the lecanemab treatment experienced brain swelling that was visible on PET scans.

Shares of Biogen and Eisai were halted, but shares of Eli Lilly & Co , which is also developing an Alzheimer's drug, were up 6.7% in after hours trade. Aduhelm was the first new Alzheimer's drug approved in 20 years after a long list of high-profile failures for the industry. Symptomatic brain swelling was seen in 2.8% of those in the lecanemab group and none of the placebo group, they said. Aduhelm's approval was a rare bright spot for Alzheimer's patients, but critics have called for more evidence that amyloid-targeting drugs are worth the cost. Other plaque-targeting antibodies in late-stage development for Alzheimer's patients include Roche Holding AG's (ROG.S) gantenerumab and Eli Lilly's donanemab.

Globally, the figure could reach 139 million by 2050 without an effective treatment, Alzheimer's Disease International said. Aduhelm was the first new Alzheimer's drug approved in 20 years after a long list of high-profile failures for the industry. read morePatient advocacy groups hailed the news of positive lecanemab trial results. Micro hemorrhages in the brain occurred at a rate of 17% in the lecanemab group, and 8.7% in the placebo group. Aduhelm's approval was a rare bright spot for Alzheimer's patients, but critics have called for more evidence that amyloid-targeting drugs are worth the cost.

☆ What is rainbow fentanyl? Colorful pills drive new warnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

"Colored fentanyl pills have been around for a few years. At the time, the agency said that it and its law enforcement partners seized the brightly colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills across 18 states. While he and his colleagues are aware of rainbow fentanyl warnings, he hasn't heard any patients or parents mention it. When it comes to rainbow fentanyl, "the fentanyl itself is going to be the same issue as the counterfeit pharmaceutical fentanyl. The only difference between rainbow fentanyl and the fentanyl products of the past appears to be the coloring.

☆ We went inside the lab at Vertex, a company that dodged the market downturn to become one of the best-performing biotechs of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

A mosaic of human cells inside Vertex Pharmaceuticals' cell and gene-therapy laboratory. The four-story, 267,000-square-foot space is home to Vertex's cell and gene-therapy unit, with about 375 people now residing in the modern-industrial building. That has led to going after unrelated diseases like sickle cell, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, kidney disease, and pain. For instance, Vertex's approach to sickle cell is led by its CRISPR gene-editing program. Vertex PharmaceuticalsThe next test of Vertex's strategy will be an experimental treatment called exa-cel, its CRISPR gene-editing program for sickle cell.

☆ Mark Cuban’s pharmacy startup is actually making drugs less expensive. It's still working on solving the real problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-28 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Imatinib, a leukemia medication with a retail price of more than $2,500, is just $14.40 at Cost Plus Drugs. But experts say that Cost Plus Drugs' impact is limited, at least for now, because it hasn't broken into the market driving those exorbitant prices: brand-name drugs. Instead of negotiating prices through those pharmacy benefit managers, Cost Plus Drugs directly negotiates with manufacturers to get generic drugs at wholesale prices. The trade-off: Cost Plus Drugs doesn't accept insurance claims, since insurers don't typically work with pharmacies that avoid pharmacy benefit managers. That gives drugmakers little-to-no incentive to offer rebates to Cost Plus Drugs, Hernandez notes.

The 26-year-old had been recently removed from his parents' health insurance plan and was about $300 short of the $1,300 he needed to pay for his insulin medication, his mother said. Though drugmakers often offer programs that can lower the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for both insured and uninsured patients, the financial burden can still be devastating for some. Why insulin remains unaffordableBut why does insulin — a medication that’s been around for more than 100 years — remain unaffordable for many people in the U.S.? Meanwhile, state and federal lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would lower the out-of-pocket cost for patients on insulin. She is pushing for more states to adopt the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act, which provides an emergency 30-day supply of insulin to patients for $35.

☆ The night the Lord of the Skies got away
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-22 | by ( Noah Hurowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +38 min

It was May 1985, and Ramirez had only been with the Border Patrol for two and a half years. But he also knew that at the end of that road, just before the international port of entry, was a Border Patrol station. The Lord of the SkiesWithin a decade of that traffic stop, Amado would be the most significant drug trafficker in Mexico. It's the border," Ford told me recently when I reached him by phone. Ford and Amado didn't make a deal that night, but Ford said they agreed to "something tentative."

☆ 'Ndrangheta mafia kingpin returns to Italy to serve 30-year sentence
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-06 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Rocco Morabito, the second most-wanted fugitive in Italy and a bigwig in the powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia, was flown to Rome on Wednesday after being extradited from Brazil ending some 28 years on the run. Morabito, who was arrested in Brazil in May 2021, will now serve a 30-year prison sentence for various drug offences. Fugitive Rocco Morabito in an undated photo released by Italian authorities. Italy’s number one fugitive is Matteo Messina Denaro, a boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia who has been on the run since 1993. Morabito, 56, had convictions for international drug trafficking from separate cases in the Italian cities of Milan, Palermo and Reggio Calabria.

☆ Made Men: A photo tour of the most notorious sites of New York Mafia history – and what they look like now
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-23 | by ( Andrew Lichtenstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Andrew Lichtenstein for InsiderManhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, on the western edge of Midtown, got its name from its crowded tenements. On March, 13, 2019, Gambino family crime boss Frankie Cali was shot dead in the driveway outside his Todt Hill home. Andrew Lichtenstein for InsiderThe service road to the Belt Parkway runs through the northern edge of the Brighton Beach neighborhood. John Gotti's Family Home, Howard Beach, QueensThe home where John Gotti, the leader of the Gambino crime family. It's here that John Gotti, the leader of the Gambino crime family and thus the 'Godfather' of the American mafia, lived and raised his family.

☆ Afghanistan is being overrun by crystal meth
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-07 | by ( Ali Latifi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The US is leaving behind a flourishing, violent trade in heroin and crystal meth in Afghanistan. HERAT, Afghanistan — For weeks, Afghan police had been staking out a single-family house they believed was being used as a meth lab. Afghanistan's drug trade generates an estimated $35 million a month for the Taliban and drug gangs. A mysterious grassIn 2017, rumors circulated in western Afghanistan that a mysterious form of grass had been found to contain the key ingredient in crystal meth. "So long as this war continues, the drug trade will continue to grow bigger and bigger.

The cruise ship is the biggest cluster of infected people outside China, with some 285 confirmed cases out of 3,500 passengers and crew. 6:00 pm: First coronavirus death confirmed in Europe, French health minister saysAn 80-year-old Chinese tourist has died of the new coronavirus in a hospital in France, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Saturday, confirming the first fatality from the fast-spreading respiratory virus in Europe. watch nowThe cruise ship is the biggest cluster of infected people outside China, with some 285 confirmed cases out of 3,500 passengers and crew. — Feuer1:21 pm: CDC concerned with report of infected health workers in ChinaA U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said the notice from China's National Health Commission about 1,716 health workers infected with the coronavirus was "concerning." Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters during a press briefing that there are currently no U.S. health workers infected with the virus.

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