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The U.S. Medicaid program is likely paying far more than necessary for medications and not offering patients the most effective ones available, by ignoring international evidence-based lists of safe and effective medications, according to a new study by researchers at University of California, San Francisco. The study, which compared the Medicaid program's Preferred Drug Lists in 40 states nationwide against the World Health Organization's 2009 Essential Medicines List, found that the medications that are automatically paid for by the state-run Medicaid programs vary widely from state to state, with few consistent protocols or rationales for their selection, including cost, safety...

 1" thick armor... gun turrets... built-in battering rams (!) What to do when RPG's, AR-15s, and land-mines can't kill your rivals fast enough? When the mass-graves and gory piles of severed heads don't spook 'em like they used to? How about some narco tanks, vato...? In a multi-lateral conflict that keeps getting worse as Mexican drug cartels war over control of lucrative smuggling routes, government forces have captured two jerry-rigged "tanks" in separate incidences: built on American truck chassis and protected by heavy, sloping armor and bulletproof glass, the media in Mexico has been quick to dub them the "Monsters". Although they more...

Federal authorities have seized bottles and drums of elderberry juice concentrate from a Kansas winery, contending that the company's claims of its benefits for treating various diseases make the product a drug. (snip) The government contends the juice concentrate is an unapproved and misbranded drug because the winery claims it is used to treat diseases such as the flu, cancer and AIDS. "Products with unapproved disease claims are dangerous because they may cause consumers to delay or avoid legitimate treatments, Dara Corrigan, the FDA's associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, said in a news release. "The FDA is committed to protecting...

I've followed with great interest the debate raging in Florida over the new law signed by Governor Rick Scott that mandates drug testing for welfare recipients. The ACLU is, of course, challenging this law because according to the ACLU welfare babies should get anything and everything they want without strings attached! They also make several strawman arguments in opposition to the law: * "Welfare recipients are no more likely to use drugs than the rest of the population." This isn't the point. If even ONE person is receiving public aid and using that aid to purchase drugs, it's one person...

HHS this month sent a letter to 83-year-old Forest Labs CEO Howard Solomon, announcing it would henceforth refuse to do business with him. What earned Mr. Solomon the blackball? Well, nothing that he did—as admitted even by HHS. In any case, the federal complaint contained no suggestion that Mr. Solomon was involved with, or even aware of, misconduct. And the question of his continued leadership was never part of the plea deal. Only after a federal court ratified the deal in March did HHS drop its intent-to-ban bomb. Mrs. Sebelius unearthed a dusty provision in the Social Security Act that...

N. Korea detains 2 Japanese for suspected drug smuggling BEIJING, April 20, Kyodo North Korean authorities are currently detaining two Japanese men, apparently on suspicion of drug smuggling, it was learned Wednesday. A total of three Japanese men were initially taken into detention in mid-March, but one of them has since been released and returned to Japan, sources familiar with the case said. Japanese officials have knowledge about the matter and are prudently examining the situation, the sources said.

The other day it was announced that a well known, mega-company discovered a new way to destroy antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as MRSA. Using nanoparticle technology – which is 50,000 times smaller than a hair’s width – the company’s researchers were able to target an electrical charge on the bacteria’s surface, bursting the membrane open to bring about its demise. According to the Wall Street Journal, “if successful, [the discovery] would offer a fresh strategy against a worrisome public-health problem of possibly deadly bacteria evolving to become impervious to antibiotics.” Nearly 19,000 people in the U.S. each year die from...

Legalization of drugs in Mexico would not only lead to lowered violence and drug consumption but also boost its economy, former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday during a speech to a convention of newspaper editors from the United States and Latin America. “Things are going very badly for Mexico with the issues of organized crime and violence,” Fox said in Spanish. “We’re losing large volumes of tourists, if not in the interior, then at the border. We’re losing a great number of investments.” Fox — a member of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN — made history in...

On the eve of his execution, a Texas death row is saying that he does not want to be the state’s guinea pig for the use of a new drug for lethal injection. Cleve Foster, who is accused of murdering Sudanese refugee Nyaneur Pal in 2002, is set to be executed on Tuesday, but he doesn’t want to be the first Texan to be executed with the new drug pentobarbital.

Bills would require welfare applicants to take, pay for drug testsTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune Updated: 03/24/2011 12:05 pm TALLAHASSEE - Bills are advancing in both houses of the Florida Legislature requiring applicants for welfare benefits to take and pay for drug tests, despite Democratic and even some Republican opposition. In House committee hearing Wednesday, the bill's sponsor revised it to make it tougher, applying to all applicants, not just those with criminal records for drug offenses. That brings it in line with the Senate version of the bill, which already applied to all applicants,...

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Authorities have determined a man who was stabbed and beheaded in a suburban Phoenix apartment was killed for stealing drugs from a Mexican cartel, in a gruesome example of drug cartel violence spilling over the border. The cartel found out Cota-Monroy had actually stolen the drugs and hired men to kidnap and kill him in Nogales, Mexico. But Cota-Monroy was able to talk his way out of being killed, saying he'd pay back the money and use his house for collateral, the report says. But the house wasn't Cota-Monroy's and he fled to the Phoenix area, leading...

PhRMA’s quiescence on Obamacare badly hurt the industry — and all those who depend on medical innovation. With the release of the president’s budget, it is now beyond dispute — Beltway spin notwithstanding — that the decision by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to support the health-care bill was one of the worst self-inflicted wounds in the history of lobbying. For biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the president’s budget repudiates one of the most important benefits of their “deal” with the White House: the ability to market biotech drugs without generic competition for twelve years. The president would...

While it is common knowledge that the health care industry is not happy with the rules and regulations of the health care law, the National Review brings up this question: Will the implementation of ObamaCare stifle the creation of new drugs and treatments? To answer this question, the National Review observes that Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) made a deal with the Obama Administration that they would be able to market their drugs without generic competition for 12 years. The administration reneged on that deal and reduced the 12 years to 7 years. And there are many more...

A drug derived from the curry spice turmeric may be able to help the body repair some of the damage caused in the immediate aftermath of a stroke. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are preparing to embark on human trials after promising results in rabbits. Their drug reached brain cells and reduced muscle and movement problems. The Stroke Association said it was the "first significant research" suggesting that the compound could aid stroke patients. "This is the first significant research to show that turmeric could be beneficial to stroke patients by encouraging new cells to grow and...

Any constitutional issues here? While Johnson's car was parked in the casino parking lot, Defendant John Hurla—then a K-9 officer in the Pottawotomie1 Tribal Police Department (PTPD)—deployed a drug dog to Johnson's vehicle and the dog indicated the presence of illegal narcotics. Based on the probable cause arising from the drug dog's deployment, Johnson was stopped, his vehicle was searched, and he was arrested... Johnson was charged under tribal law for possession of narcotics, but in February 2008, Kansas dismissed the charges. In March 2008, the United States unsealed an indictment against Johnson, charging him with violating 21 U.S.C. §...

Admittedly, the Egyptian uprising, the nullification of Obamacare and the ongoing ramifications of "Snowpocolypse 2011" could render the controversy about an MTV original program insignificant by comparison. After all, MTV is only out to destroy an entire generation. No big deal. Every adult - not just parents - should take the time to learn about the MTV show "Skins," a new "teen drama" that the Parents Television Council (PTC) has deemed "the most dangerous show on TV." Be careful when you go hunting for information about "Skins" lest your spouse conclude you've developed an interest in child pornography. The publicity...

Surveillance video appears to show drug smugglers using a catapult to transport narcotics over the border between Mexico and Arizona near Naco. (Video courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Executions of Florida death-row inmates could be on hold for months in the wake of a decision last week by an Illinois drug company to stop producing an anesthetic used in lethal injections here. Though no new executions are scheduled, the halt in production of the drug effectively means that the state will have to come up with a new procedure to kill inmates. And any new drug "cocktail" developed likely will result in legal challenges down the line. The drug in question is sodium thiopental, one of three used by Florida and many other states in the lethal-injection sequence....

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio says it's switching its lethal injection drug to an anesthetic commonly used to euthanize pets as a shortage of the drug normally used for executions has worsened.

What an odd turn of events: A drug company decides to stop producing an anesthetic — and the death penalty system in the U.S. is potentially thrown into turmoil. We say “potentially,” because it hasn’t happened yet. But on Friday, the WSJ’s Nathan Koppel broke the news that Hospira Inc., based in Lake Forest, Ill., has decided to permanently halt production of thiopental sodium, a key drug widely used by states in lethal injections. Hospira’s decision puts a wrench in the nation’s capital-punishment system. States can attempt to use another anesthetic in place of thiopental, but such a switch likely...