Brand-name drugs increase cost but not patient satisfaction | ProPublica
At a time when lawmakers and industry experts are scrutinizing the value of high priced drugs, an analysis has found that, at least as far as patients are concerned, generics will do just fine. According to a ProPublica analysis of drug reviews for common antidepressants, cholesterol-lowering drugs and schizophrenia treatments posted on the website Iodine, patients rated generics higher than brand-name drugs on value, how difficult the drugs were to take, and how well they worked.
Alarming new 'superbug' gene found in animals and people in China | Reuters
A study in Lancet Infectious Diseases reports that researchers have discovered a bacterial gene resistant to colistin, a drug considered a last line of defense against antibiotic-resistant infections. The gene was discovered in bacteria found in hospital patients, livestock and meat in China, where colistin is commonly used to treat livestock. The gene can be transferred between different bacteria and poses risk of driving antibiotic resistance in other common infections.
A once powerful antibiotic goes the way of all flesh | Wired
Wired runs a tongue-in-cheek, preemptive obituary for colistin, the last-line antibiotic which may be no match for the superbugs of the future.
The algorithm that creates diets that work for you | Atlantic
After analyzing data on the health, activity, diets and gut microbes of 800 cohort participants, researchers in Israel have created a machine-learning algorithm that can design a personalized diet for controlling blood-sugar that they say works better than existing measures like measuring carbohydrates or glycemic index scores.
Ebola cases in 3 family members confirmed in Liberia | New York Times
A 10-year-old Liberian boy, his father and a sibling tested positive for Ebola Thursday, over two months after the World Health Organization declared the country to be Ebola-free. WHO officials suspect the resurgence could be a result of the persistence of the virus in survivors.
