By: Lisa Chedekel A Derby nurse practitioner identified as the state’s highest Medicare prescriber of potent narcotics has admitted taking kickbacks from a drug company in exchange for prescribing pain medication. Heather Alfonso, 42, of…
By: Lisa Chedekel Ten Connecticut prescribers, including a Derby nurse practitioner who is under investigation by the state, were responsible for more than 22 percent of the state’s Medicare spending on potent narcotics in 2013,…
By: Lisa Chedekel A Derby nurse practitioner whose prolific prescribing of potent narcotics was the subject of a February story by C-HIT has surrendered her state and federal licenses to prescribe controlled substances and is…
By: Lisa Chedekel Connecticut patients who pick up a prescription for Percocet at their local pharmacy pay an average of 58 cents a pill. But the same pill, dispensed by a physician, costs more than…
By: Lisa Chedekel US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday that while he is pleased that the state has cut its rate of antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes, he wants to see more progress. He made…
Payments from pharmaceutical companies touch hundreds of thousands of doctors. The 17 companies we’ve tracked spent $1.4 billion in 2013 alone. Here are our top five takeaways from following all that money. (David Sleight/ProPublica) This…
By: Karen Weintraub What if an aspirin a day could keep cancer away? A growing body of scientific research suggests that aspirin can prevent some cancers of the digestive system, and maybe even breast and…
A federal court has found that marketers of bogus remedies for treating and preventing diabetes violated Section 5 of the FTC Act, and has ordered them to pay nearly $2.2 million. The FTC will use…
By: Rochelle Sharpe At Able Care Pharmacy & Medical Supplies in Enfield, Ashraf Moustafa often tries to avert disasters involving drugs displayed on his store’s shelves. Moustafa, the pharmacy manager, recently spoke to an elderly…
By: Lisa Chedekel Connecticut seniors on Medicare are more likely to take sedatives for insomnia and medications for depression than their counterparts across the country, according to a new report by Dartmouth researchers. An analysis…
Written by Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Jennifer LaFleur A screen shot of Bystolic’s website. This story was co-published with NPR. When the blood pressure drug Bystolic hit the market in 2008, it faced a…
Written by Rob Garver and Charles Seife, Special to ProPublica Retired FDA investigator Patrick Stone (Katie Hayes Luke for ProPublica) On the morning of May 3, 2010, three agents of the Food and Drug Administration…
Whether you have health insurance or not, you could save lots of money on generic medicine by being a smart consumer. Consumer Reports secret shoppers contacted more than 200 pharmacies around the country for pricing…
Despite efforts to educate the public about the financial benefits of generic drugs over brand-name medicine, a study released this week shows that many doctors continue to honor patient requests for the more expensive ones…
Consumer Reports is advising those 65 or older to get the regular flu vaccine instead of the Fluzone High-Dose shots. “With four times the amount of antigen as in a regular flue vaccine, the Fluzone…
While most think a glass of grapefruit juice for breakfast maybe a healthy way to start the day, but evidence shows that combining the juice with scores of common prescription drugs can cause serious illness…
Hate having to fast at least eight hours before your blood test for cholesterol, lipoproteins and triglycerides? According to the New York Times the latest major studies show there is little difference between test results…
Are you one of the millions who take over-the-counter omega-3 supplements to improve your heart health? If so, you might want to eat more fish instead and get real omega-3. “Researchers looked at 20 studies…
Third of a series If you want to save on your prescriptions, you have to first know the games drug firms and retailers play. Rule number 3, according to Consumer Reports “on Health” is that…
Second of a series If you want to save on your prescriptions, you have to first know the games drug firms and retailers play. Rule number 2, according to Consumer Reports “on Health” is that…