Content about Medicine

BOSTON A biotech developer owned by the University of Massachusetts Medical School has granted drug maker Merck exclusive U.S. rights to its tetanus and diphtheria vaccine, Merck announced Wednesday.

BARRINGTON, Ill. —Merix Pharmaceutical unveiled its new Fast-Results! genital herpes treatment March 1. The only over-the-counter treatment for genital herpes, Fast-Results! answers an unmet need of people who suffer painful symptoms associated with genital herpes outbreaks, and it can be used in conjunction with a prescription therapy for genital herpes.

WASHINGTON Vitamins and calcium supplements appear to reduce the risk of breast cancer, according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting 2010, the association announced Sunday.

"It is not an immediate effect. You don't take a vitamin today and your breast cancer risk is reduced tomorrow," stated Jaime Matta, professor in the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico. "However, we did see a long-term effect in terms of breast cancer reduction."

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT To borrow from the great Mark Twain, it would appear that the reports of the demise of retail clinic growth have been greatly exaggerated. Drug Store News has a two-word answer for why retail clinics will continue to grow for a very long time: health reform. And there are 32 million reasons why that growth will be quite dramatic.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. As trees blossom and shed their pollen, and grasses and weeds germinate in yards, MinuteClinic is reminding allergy sufferers that it can help them take control of their seasonal allergies this spring.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. Take Care Health Systems has announced that it now is offering free blood pressure screenings at all of its 359 Take Care Clinics nationwide through May 31.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. Some patients stop taking their prescribed medications because they think it interferes with personal priorities or compromises social aspects of their lives, according to the results of a CVS Caremark study.

To examine why some patients who said they want to be adherent to their medications still stop taking them, CVS Caremark enlisted psychologists and selected Minds at Work of Cambridge, Mass., to conduct a study.

ST. LOUIS Vaccines likely would work better in protecting children from flu if they included both strains of influenza B instead of just one, a St. Louis University press report stated last week, citing research conducted through its Center for Vaccine Development.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Patient-centric healthcare solutions offer a glimpse of what health reform eventually could look like by the time it is fully implemented. It’ll be a system where consumers are more in control of managing the levers that determine cost.

(THE NEWS: PricewaterhouseCoopers: Government, health leaders seek customer-centric healthcare solutions. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The fact that CVS Caremark presented research highlighting the benefits that pharmacy benefit management tools can have on improving medication adherence is important on several different levels.

(THE NEWS: CVS Caremark research highlights methods for improving medication adherence. For the full story, click here)

PITTSBURGH Patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in Pittsburgh were more likely than similar patients nationwide to receive A1c, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, ophthalmologic or urine glucose tests than those in other areas, but best-performing regions use the same management services at a higher rate, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pittsburgh Business Group on Health.