http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes are two to three times more likely to use expensive brand-name drugs than a comparable group of patients treated within the VA Healthcare System, according to a nationwide study by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and Dartmouth College. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-medicare-beneficiaries-substantially-brand-name-drugs.html Health Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:30:22 EST news290104213 Replacing the combination of brand-name, antiretroviral drugs currently recommended for control of HIV infection with soon-to-be-available generic medications could save the U.S. health care system almost $1 billion a year but may diminish the effectiveness of HIV treatment. A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, appearing in the January 15 Annals of Internal Medicine, examines the potential impact of such a change. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-hiv-treatment-strategy-billion-annually.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:00:01 EST news277381002 Generic medications currently account for over 70 percent of prescriptions dispensed. However, while generic drugs are clinically bioequivalent to the brand-name version, they often differ in their physical characteristics, such as color and shape. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have found that some patients who receive generic drugs that vary in their color are over 50 percent more likely to stop taking the drug, leading to potentially important and potentially adverse clinical effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-differences-pill-characteristics-essential-medication.html Medications Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:00:01 EST news276174392 Despite U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations requiring generic medications to carry identical warnings to those on corresponding brand-name products, a study by Regenstrief Institute researchers has found that more than two-thirds of generic drugs have safety-warning labels that differ from the equivalent brand-name drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-regenstrief-drugs-incorrect-safety.html Medications Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:44:24 EST news274628656 The cost of medications through Medicare's subsidized prescription drug program varies from region to region across the United States largely due to the use of more expensive brand-name drugs and not because of the amount of drugs prescribed, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). The authors said that more efficient prescribing practices could have saved the Medicare program and its beneficiaries $4.5 billion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-drug-volume-regional-differences-medicare.html Health Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:40:02 EST news247944401 The financial burden Americans face paying out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs has declined, although prescription costs remain a significant challenge for people with lower incomes and those with public insurance, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-financial-burden-prescription-drugs.html Health Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:41:15 EST news247941667 As the nation seeks to expand health care coverage to more citizens without adding burdensome costs, researchers from Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark reported that preventative health care may be significantly less costly than previously thought, due to expanded use of cost-effective generic medications for the treatment and prevention of chronic disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-medications-economics-chronically-ill-patients.html Health Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:12:40 EST news229255945 (Medical Xpress) -- In a new report released by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the results show that over 78% of the almost four billion prescriptions written in the U.S. in 2010 were for generic drugs. The top 10 prescribed drugs for the year were all generic medications, and there were only three brand name drugs which made the top 25 list. This information is good for consumers as it means medication costs are lowering, however not as good for the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-americans-medication.html Medications Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:54:29 EST news222695519