Mary K. Caffrey

The policy change is aimed at curbing the state's obesity rate as well as comorbidities such as diabetes

The study was released Thanksgiving week. The Wednesday before the holiday has become one of the most dangerous nights of the year, with the number of violations for driving under the influence higher than Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

The Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll periodically gauges public opinion on important health issues. It found 56% of Americans had some connection to the painkiller epidemic and 16% knew someone who had died.

Terms of the deal with the second-largest pharmacy benefit manager were not disclosed. Pricing for the PCSK9 inhibitor class has been a source of controversy since the cholesterol-fighting drugs were approved this summer.

John Bel Edwards was elected Governor of Louisiana Saturday after promising to expand Medicaid. Hospitals have been eager to see expansion; in the spring, they supported a fee to pay the state's share once the federal government stops paying 100% of expansion costs.

Three years after Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center refused to add Zaltrap to its formulary due to cost, value is part of the national conversation in cancer care. The new question is what will happen when physicians assume risk.

The findings suggest that addressing heart patients' social needs is the first step toward getting them to exercise more.

A panel that discussed the prospect of FDA regulation of diagnostic tests in oncology helped open Patient-Centered Oncology Care November 19, 2015, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Steven M. Goldman, a former NJ insurance commissioner, sued the department he once led on behalf of a group of hospitals, saying officials had abdicated their duty in approving Horizon's tiered network plans.

The study population took part in the landmark ORIGIN trial, which evaluated hypoglycemia effects in persons with high CV risk and diabetes.

The hiring of William J. Castner, Jr., comes after St. Peter's Hospital won the right to a hearing where the insurer will have to give more details on why it left the hospital out of its OMNIA network. However, a spokeman for the insurer said the hiring is due to a restructuring.

The study found that 1 in 10 Americans struggles with a drug use disorder at some point in their lives.

The action by NICE highlights discussion on both sides of the Atlantic about the cost of PCSK9 inhibitors, which lower LDL cholesterol.

Critics say there's little documentation for the $51.3 million in savings the Branstad administration says it will achieve in the first 6 months of 2016.

Research at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences could lead to human trials in the next 2 to 3 years.

The VEGF inhibitors have been a game-changer in treatment of ocular conditions in diabetes.

Some takeaways from the most important blood pressure study in 40 years.

The nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager has presumably negotiated discounts to cover both cholesterol-lowering drugs.

St. Peter's Hospital in New Brunswick won the right to a hearing, where New Jersey's largest insurer will have to say why the Catholic hospital was not included in a preferred network set up alongside a major population health initiative.

Studies at the American Heart Association show very different approaches to exercise for type 2 diabetes patients.

The study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Session adds to the evidence that SGLT2s are beneficial in treating hypertension.

Test results presented have implications for patients if they require emergency surgery.

New results don't automatically change guidelines for systolic blood pressure, as an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine notes.

The study by the well-known health system could not even test some children because they were too large for the MRI machine.

Results show that bleeding was the most common reason patients stopped taking the drug in this study of long-term tolerability.

Getting people to take better care of themselves has been a focus of the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

Commentators called the study the most important blood pressure research in 40 years. Treating systolic pressure to a target of 120 mm Hg did not cause problems for patients with existing chronic kidney disease although there were some signals for those who did not have the disease at baseline.

More details are revealed on the first diabetes drug shown to have a cardioprotective benefit, but Yale's Silvio Inzucchi was cautious about assuming the effect applies to the entire SGLT2 inhibitor class.

Studies that measure the effect of walkable communities in Canada and taking the train in Japan show that added steps to one's routine can have positive effects on heart health.

The venture will select a project leader in early 2016. AHA said this is the largest single research investment in its history.