On health care's cliff: More meds isn't necessarily good medicine

There’s a pill for every ill.

Are online pharmacies legitimate?

If you think that you'll get a bargain from an online pharmacy, think again. According to a 2012 analysis of nearly 1,000 online pharmacies by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), which accredits online pharmacies and represents state pharmacy boards all over the United States, only around 3 percent appear to be legitimate. The NABP found that 85 percent of the online drugstores it looked into do not require a valid prescription from the consumer's physician, and nearly half provided foreign drugs or medications not approved by the FDA. While there are Canadian online pharmacies that are legitimately regulated, many websites that purport to be Canadian are not. Worse yet, you may not even get the drug you ordered.

Pfizer maneuvers to protect Lipitor from generics

TRENTON, N.J. - Lipitor is so valuable that Pfizer is practically paying people to keep taking its blockbuster cholesterol medicine after generic competition hits the U.S. market this week.

Feeling feverish?

We have all been educated to think that 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average body temperature of humans and that anything above that reading indicates a fever. However, it's not really that simple. Rectal temperature, which most accurately reflects true internal body temperature, varies from 97.9 degrees F. (morning) to 100.4 degree F. (late afternoon). Oral, armpit and ear temperatures, which are less accurate and can be influenced by external factors, can be as low as 94.5 degrees F. To determine your personal "normal" temperature, take three readings (morning, noon and night) at any one of the four sites, and calculate your average temperature for each of the three times of day. Use those numbers as your base temperature.

An across-the-board solution

Drug stops HIV among heterosexual couples, not just gays

ATLANTA - An AIDS drug already shown to help prevent spread of the virus in gay men also works for heterosexual men and women, two studies in Africa found. Experts called it a breakthrough for the continent that has suffered most from AIDS.

US regulators lift in-person restrictions on abortion pill

About 40% of all abortions in the U.S. are now done through medication

At what cost?

Constantly changing online prices stump shoppers

NEW YORK - Online shopping has become as volatile as stock market trading. Wild, minute-by-minute price swings on everything from clothes to TVs have made it difficult for holiday shoppers to "buy low."

Cheap antidepressant shows promise treating early COVID-19

Cheap antidepressant shows promise treating early COVID-19

FDA approves first rapid, take home HIV test

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first over-the-counter HIV test, allowing Americans to test themselves for the virus that causes AIDS in the privacy of their homes.

‘We can’t arrest our way out of this’

Police shine light on deadly fentanyl crisis in North Idaho

Police shine light on deadly fentanyl crisis in North Idaho

No headline

After being asked and not knowing, I decided to do some investigating about why people are panic-buying toilet paper.

New phase in AIDS fight

Government expected to endorse pill to prevent infection

OTC medications at wholesale prices

Diabetes is an awful disease.

Calling attention to medical orphans

Aside from being associated with Mother's Day and Memorial Day, the month of May has also increasingly come to be known as Awareness of Medical Orphans Month.

UK central bank intervenes in market to halt economic crisis

The Bank of England said it would buy long-term government bonds over the next two weeks to combat a recent slide in British financial assets

Preemie birth preventive spikes from $10 to $1,500

ATLANTA - The price of preventing preterm labor is about to go through the roof.

Apply for unclaimed controlled hunt tags by Aug. 15

For a wide variety of reasons, some of the lucky hunters who drew tags in the deer, elk, antelope and bear controlled-hunt drawing did not buy their tags.

Does zinc shorten colds?

Head colds seem to be the bane of our existence. With a real cure continuing to elude us, we continue to try all variety of medications that will relieve head-cold symptoms and shorten the illness' duration. In this latter category of over-the-counter medications, it has been suggested that zinc lozenges or syrup would be effective. To find out, researchers recently analyzed data of 17 trials involving more than 2,000 individuals. They found that those taking zinc were able to reduce the duration of their colds by about a day and a half (compared with those taking placebos). Moreover, larger doses of zinc were found to work even better, especially among adults (compared with children).

Smiling along with us

Heading in the wrong direction

Gasoline prices get early start on spring surge

NEW YORK - Gasoline prices are getting an early start on their annual spring march higher.