WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are getting ready to set up and operate new health insurance markets in about half the states, where local officials appear unwilling or unable to do so.The markets, known as exchanges, are a centerpiece of President Obama’s health care law, and running th

A website offering parents advice on vaccines has been ordered to remove information about the MMR jab after claiming it could be linked to autism.Babyjabs.co.uk said the three-in-one jab may be causing “up to 10%” of autism in children in the UK.But the Advertising Standards Authority ruled the cla

Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer announced on Monday that they were halting development of a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug after two clinical trials failed to show that it was effective in patients with mild to moderate forms of the disease.Late last month, results of a large clinical trial of th

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The company said the drug sovaprevir, when given along with the standard therapy of pegylated interferon and ribavirin, showed no detectable virus level in a majority of patients four weeks after the end of the treatment period.Of the 39 patients who received 12 weeks of additional standard therapy

Elderly people would need to spend less time in hospital if care in England were better organised, experts say.A review by the King’s Fund found there was scope to reduce the number of overnight stays by 2.3 million.That would free up 7,000 beds – 6% of the total – saving the NHS nearly £500m a year

An observational study has found evidence that people who sleep less may be less likely to benefit from a vaccine.Scientists gave 125 generally healthy men and women the hepatitis B vaccination — two doses one month apart and then a booster six months later. For the seven days surrounding each of th

PrePex, a bloodless circumcision device for adults, will be tested in at least nine African countries in the next year, according to the backers of the tests.The device, above, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in January, and World Health Organization approval is expected soon. No su

In a warning letter to the company dated February 14, made public on Tuesday, the FDA said the labels on Hershey’s Syrup+Calcium and its Syrup Sugar Free with Vitamin & Mineral Fortification violate federal law.The FDA said the company may not use the terms “plus” and “fortification” on the labe

A drug which can extend the lives of men with incurable prostate cancer has been approved for use in Scotland.Scotland was the only part of the UK where abiraterone was not yet available on the NHS.But the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has now given doctors the green light to prescribe it.The