Does grapefruit juice stymie statin drugs?

If you are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, you should know that some may be vulnerable to an adverse interaction with grapefruit juice. While "statins" such as rosuvastatin (Crestor), fluvastatin (Lescol) and pravastatin (Pravachol) do not interact with grapefruit products, atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor, Altoprev) and simvastatin (Zocor) are susceptible to harm from grapefruit juice.

On the record about off-label drugs

A medication is said to be used "off-label" when it is prescribed to treat a condition which has yet to be approved by the FDA. An example of off-label drug use may be an anti-depressant that is prescribed to treat insomnia or a pain condition. Anti-seizure drugs are also sometimes prescribed off-label to treat neuropathic pain.

Applying for Obamacare

Process could be just as daunting as filing taxes. Associated Press reports

Amazon debuts mobile payment app and card reader

NEW YORK - Amazon is taking direct aim at mobile payment systems such as Square by introducing the Amazon Local Register, a credit-card processing device and mobile app designed to help small business owners accept payments through their smartphones and tablets.

Dell delays buyout vote

Move may signal lack of support

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Michael Dell believes he can revive the company bearing his name if his group of investors can buy it for $24.4 billion. But that deal is in danger of falling apart, increasing the chances that the personal computer giant's founder might not be CEO much longer.

Treating sinus infections

Sinus infections are painful occurrences that often lead physicians to prescribe antibiotics, often upon the urging of uncomfortable patients. In fact, sinus infections (also known as "acute sinusitis"), which produce severe cold-like symptoms of runny nose and headache, are the fifth most common reason for prescribing antibiotics among U.S. adults. Yet, a recent study shows that antibiotics do not help fight most sinus infections. The fact is that doctors cannot tell if a sinus infection is caused by bacteria or by a virus, in which case antibiotics are useless.

Panel OKs Avista natural gas plan

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has accepted a plan by Avista Utilities to meet customer demand for natural gas over the next 20 years.

Big stakes on Black Friday

Stocks notch record as rising oil boosts energy sector

NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market eked out another record close on Thursday as rising oil prices boosted energy stocks.

Consumer prices rise just 0.1 percent in May

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Associated Press-GfK poll: Prices at the pump painful for four in 10 Americans

WASHINGTON - As $4 a gallon gasoline becomes commonplace, drivers have made tough choices: scaling back vacations, driving less or ditching the car altogether. And a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows the impact of sustained high prices is spreading among seniors and higher-income Americans.

U.S. social progress is lagging

Call it further proof that money doesn't buy happiness. Or perhaps a wake-up call. Either way, a look in the mirror for national priorities isn't as flattering as one might assume.

Arsenic and other issues

We taste and have wines on our shelves here at the dinner party that range from the very inexpensive - around $10 per bottle - to prices many of us would find unreasonable to pay for a single bottle of wine. There are customers and markets for all of them. It goes without saying that much more care, attention, and quality goes into premium bottles of wine than the value priced ones. From farming methods and crop levels, to the time wines spend in barrels and fermenters, all have an impact on what a bottle costs to produce, and ultimately the quality of the end product.

Psychology on order

How restaurants get you to spend more

NEW YORK - You may think you're immune to transparent sales pitches like "Do you want fries with that?" But the tactics restaurants use to nudge you into spending a little extra may be subtler than you realize.

Phoning it in

Amazon is about to jump into smartphones

Even a little too much

Much has been made recently of the potential risk posed by taking too much acetaminophen (Tylenol). As a result, the FDA has set the maximum dose of acetaminophen at 4,000 milligrams over a 24-hour period. In addition to the attention being paid to single overdoses (when a person takes too many pills at once), new evidence has emerged that reveals the dangers of so-called "staggered overdoses." This term refers to taking even slightly too much acetaminophen over a period of several days.

Caffeine fix as easy as taking deep breath

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Move over, coffee and Red Bull. A Harvard professor thinks the next big thing will be people inhaling their caffeine from a lipstick-sized tube. Critics say the novel product is not without its risks.

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

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

U.S. sues to lower prices of e-book best-sellers

WASHINGTON - The government says avid best-seller readers who use electronic books have been getting ripped off. Tina Fey's "Bossy Pants," Tim Tebow's "Through My Eyes" and Keith Richards' "'Life" - maybe they should have cost less.