Statins are among the most widely prescribed drugs, but discontinuation rates are relatively high. A new study in The Annals of Internal Medicine shows that in the large majority of cases where statins were stopped due to perceived adverse effects, the drug once re-started provoked no recurrent problems.

Pharmaceutical companies have long argued that the incentive for creating new drugs is that they retain exclusive rights to sell their inventions for a period of time that s long enough to recover the cost of their investment, and then make a profit off the venture.

Financial incentives are used by about 67 percent of employers in order to encourage employees to adopt healthier habits. According to a new study, financial incentives may result in greater weight loss in obese employees. Further, group-based incentives had a larger impact on weight loss than individual incentives.

Although Mayor Bloomberg s ban on large-sized sugary drinks was thrown out by a state court judge last month, he intends to continue the government war on obesity. There remains a lively debate about how best to accomplish reducing obesity s toll, and to what extent government measures can influence personal behavior.

The Food and Drug Administration is admitting it s been too cautious by mandating certain warning labels on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products such as the patch and nicotine gum and perhaps the labels have even deterred people from trying the cessation aids.

In a new op-ed written by ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, he discusses a new first-line therapy for multiple sclerosis, Biogen-Idec's Tecfidera. This drug has been shown to significantly reduce the number of patients who relapse as well as reducing lesions in the brain.

There has been a drastic rise in the number of diagnosed cases of ADHD Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in American children over the last decade, according to new data released by the CDC.

More Americans now die from drug overdoses than from car accidents and the numbers just keep going up, as you can see from chart below from the CDC.

There were 42,917 poisoning deaths in 2010, with drugs accounting for most (38,329) of those. Opiate analgesics such as oxycodone (Percocet) accounted for 43 percent of all drug overdose deaths, the CDC says.

In a new study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found no association between receiving too many vaccines too soon, and autism. Despite the evidence, one third of parents are still concerned that vaccines may play a role in causing autism, and one in ten parents delay vaccinations or refuse to vaccinate their children.

A new study linking breast cancer and the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is both concerning and comforting, but, without carefully studying the data it is not easy for most women (or their doctors ) to know what to make of this. Upon closer examination, however, the study actually helps clarify the controversial and sometimes contradictory issue what are the risks and benefits of HRT?