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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, struggling to convince Americans that he's improved their lives as he runs for reelection, hailed his administration's Tuesday announcement that several drugs would be targeted for Medicare's first-ever price negotiations. The drugs include the blood thinner Eliquis, diabetes treatment Jardiance and eight other medications. The negotiation process was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed last year, capping decades of debate over whether the federal government should be allowed to haggle with pharmaceutical companies. Any lower prices won't take effect for three years, and the path forward could be further complicated by...

A weight-loss drug has been proven to also reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack, according to a new trial. The makers of Wegovy, Novo Nordisk, say its latest study shows it cuts risk of a cardiovascular event in overweight people with heart disease by a fifth. The firm hailed it a "landmark trial", saying it would change the way obesity is regarded and treated. While the findings still have to be fully reviewed, experts agreed the results were potentially significant. The injection is popular in places like the US, and was approved for weight loss in the...

Big Pharma did not like Donald Trump, but they certainly like Joe Biden – especially now. In an ongoing frenzy to undo everything Trump did over the last four years, Joe Biden froze a December rule aimed at lowering prescription drug prices for insulin and epinephrine. On Thursday, Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services announced the new rule would be put on hold, along with several other Trump-era orders pending a 60 day review, The Federalist reports. Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain directed federal agencies on Wednesday to pause orders that had been signed and published by Trump’s...

Per-person spending on insulin doubled in a recent five-year period, according to a report released Tuesday. Individuals with type 1 diabetes spent an average of $5,705 on insulin in 2016, compared to $2,864 in 2012, according to a study from the Health Care Cost Institute. The dollar amount represents the combined amount paid by a patient and their insurer, and doesn't include discounts given later. The spending jump is largely driven by price increases, the authors wrote, and not because more people are using insulin. Between that period, average daily insulin rose a modest 3 percent, the report says. For...

Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk has agreed to pay a $9 million fine for giving kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government through the United Nations oil-for-food program. The Justice Department says Novo admits that it paid $1.4 million to the Iraqi government between 2001 and 2003 to get contracts to provide insulin and other medicines. As part of the scheme outlined in a filing Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, Novo covered the costs by inflating the price of the contracts by 10 percent before submitting them to the United Nations. Novo then falsely recorded the kickback payments as "commissions"...

Note: The following text is a quote: Novo Nordisk Agrees to Pay $9 Million Fine in Connection with Payment of $1.4 Million in Kickbacks Through the United Nations Oil-for-food Program Novo Nordisk A/S (Novo), a Danish corporation based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, has agreed to pay a $9 million penalty for illegal kickbacks paid to the former Iraqi government. Novo agreed to pay the fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department. The matter is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. A criminal information was filed today against Novo in U.S. District...

Mayaguez, Puerto Rico--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)--May 16, 2007--Most people don’t stop bad habits until they have had a serious health scare. Such was the case for presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2002. After his personal success at shedding 100-plus pounds, he has found a platform to share his secrets to creating better health habits in Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork. Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, today announced the availability of 35,000 Spanish-translated copies of this best-selling book, which can be ordered free...

Dubai _ Muslim governments, clerics and parliamentarians are raising their voices in protest against the Danish government for not acting against cartoons published in a Danish newspaper portraying Islam's Prophet Mohammed as a terrorist. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's largest Islamic political group made up of 57 member states, on Saturday called on Muslims to stick to peaceful protests and said Denmark should ''categorically condemn'' the cartoons published last September in Jyllands-Posten, in which the Prophet is shown wearing a turban shaped as a bomb. Islam does not allow the depiction of Prophet Mohammed, even if...

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark warned its citizens on Monday to avoid Saudi Arabia, and gunmen in Gaza said any Scandinavians there risked attack, as Muslim fury mounted over newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. ADVERTISEMENT Denmark has defended the newspaper Jyllands-Posten's right to publish the satirical drawings that seemed to portray the Prophet as a terrorist and which a Norwegian paper has run too. Some Muslims, who deem images of prophets disrespectful and caricatures blasphemous, have threatened Danes and demanded an apology. Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy from Denmark and its religious leaders called for a boycott of Danish...

Hemophilia Drug Sharply Lowers Risk of Death or Severe Disability, Study Indicates A Therapysharply cuts the chances that victims of the most devastating type of stroke will die or be severely disabled, providing the first possible treatment for brain hemorrhages, researchers reported yesterday. An international study involving 400 patients found that a single infusion of the drug, a synthetic version of a naturally occurring protein, given within three hours after onset cut by about one-third the risk of death or severe disability among patients in the midst of a bleeding stroke. This type of stroke hits about 80,000 Americans each...