Medicare has been told to reassess a significant premium increase it had announced that largely stemmed from the expensive new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s directive, which was announced on Monday, comes shortly after Aduhelm maker Biogen cut the price of the drug by about half, from $56,000 to…  read on >  read on >

Swabs that come with at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests should be used in the nose and not the throat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. It issued the warning on Twitter in response to reports that some people are using swabs intended for nasal samples to take samples from their throats and posting their…  read on >  read on >

Vaccination is still the best way to protect someone from COVID-19, but new research suggests that immune system activation of T-cells by common colds may offer some cross-protection. The study might also provide a blueprint for a second-generation, universal vaccine that could prevent infection from current and future variants, the research team said. “Being exposed…  read on >  read on >

As the Omicron variant blankets America and demand for COVID-19 tests climbs, so, too, does price gouging. High prices for over-the-counter antigen tests are being seen around the country, CBS News reported. “The danger in health care is that for any lifesaving product — it’s vulnerable to price gouging because most people would pay [an]…  read on >  read on >

It’s a COVID phenomenon that had, until now, gone relatively unnoticed: You can be infected with COVID-19 and the flu at the same time. Thanks to the internet, it even has a name — “flurona.” And it will likely happen much more often this particular winter, as the flu season kicks into gear and the…  read on >  read on >

Cervical cancer is the only gynecologic cancer that can be prevented, yet there were more than 4,000 deaths in the United States in 2021 and nearly 14,500 new cases, the American Cancer Society says. The best way to prevent this is to make sure you and your children get their human papillomavirus vaccines, experts noted.…  read on >  read on >