Medicine and Health
220 Bone Marrow HIV cure
25 March 2019
Houston chemical fire: Residents ordered to “shelter-in-place” due to benzene danger
By Jacob Crosse, 22 March 2019
Residents of Deer Park and Galena Park, east of the Texas city, have been the most affected by the fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company.
US studies: More misery brought to you by Big Pharma
Sharp rise in fentanyl overdose deaths, ADHD-drug-induced psychosis, prescription drug rationing due to cost
By Kate Randall, 22 March 2019
A week rarely passes without the publication of a major study documenting the misery unleashed on Americans by the US pharmaceutical industry and its rapacious drive for profits.
Report: British Columbia mental health problems on the rise
By Penny Smith, 1 March 2019
The annual report by the province’s health officer found that perceptions of mental wellbeing among BC residents were among the lowest in the country.
Rise in drug abuse among women and heterosexual men diagnosed with syphilis
By Benjamin Mateus, 27 February 2019
Many of those affected lack steady employment, health care and stable housing, and face an abusive penal system.
Study links abuse-deterrent OxyContin with rise in hepatitis C infections
By Brian Dixon, 11 February 2019
According to a new study published in Health Affairs, Purdue Pharma’s switch to a new abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin in 2010 led to a rise in hepatitis C infections as addicts switched to injecting heroin.
FDA advisor criticizes agency’s response to opioid epidemic
By Brian Dixon, 6 February 2019
The chair of the FDA’s opioid advisory committee claimed the agency is manipulating data in favor of the pharmaceutical companies seeking approval for new opioid painkillers.
Boston jury hears testimony of how Insys Therapeutics pushed opioid painkiller and killed hundreds
By Kate Randall, 5 February 2019
Prosecutors told jurors that Insys executives were guilty of running a kickback and conspiracy scheme that bribed doctors to routinely subscribe Subsys, a highly addictive fentanyl nasal spray.
US: Measles outbreak in Washington state prompts state of emergency
By Kate Randall, 30 January 2019
In addition to the US, there has also been an uptick of people contracting measles in Canada and across Europe due to people foregoing the vaccine.
British Columbia’s opioid crisis hits construction workers hard
By Penny Smith, 29 January 2019
The disproportionately high death rate from opioids among construction workers underscores the precarious working conditions facing tens of thousands of workers in an industry that has produced multi-million dollar profits for real estate developers and property speculators.
Thousands face loss of mental health coverage in the US
By Matthew Taylor, 29 December 2018
Congress has eliminated the Medicaid-sponsored program in line with the larger push by the ruling class to dismantle social programs.
Federal judge in Texas rules Affordable Care Act unconstitutional
By Kate Randall, 17 December 2018
The ruling was opposed by healthcare groups and, if upheld, threatens to throw insurance markets into chaos and strip coverage from tens of millions of Americans.
West Virginia: Task force concludes without a “fix” for public workers’ insurance
By Clement Daly, 17 December 2018
Throughout the strike and pro-forma hearings, teachers and public service workers demanded that health care be funded through increased taxes on the state’s oil and gas industry.
Detroit Medical Center doctors fired after speaking out for patient safety
By Joseph Lorenz, 9 October 2018
In a statement announcing his resignation from the medical staff, Dr. Ted Schreiber said, “Unfortunately, the current focus of some in health care is on profits and stock holder value.”
Faulty vaccines spark public outrage in China
By Gary Alvernia, 8 August 2018
The scandal is the result of cost-cutting measures aimed at boosting profits and subordination of healthcare to the capitalist system.
Trump administration proposes more cuts to drug discount program for safety net hospitals
By Kate Randall, 28 July 2018
The Trump administration and pharmaceuticals’ opposition to the 340B program is based on boosting the profits of the drug companies and clawing back any government regulations on them.
New Zealand nurses speak to WSWS opposing sellout deal
By Tom Peters, 7 July 2018
Nurses denounced the union-backed proposed agreement, which keeps wages low and maintains severe under-staffing of hospitals.
Trump administration supports lawsuit challenging Obamacare’s pre-existing conditions protections
By Kate Randall, 15 June 2018
The action is the latest effort to chip away at the legislation after two failures to repeal it outright.
UK: Students protest cuts to mental health services and increase in youth suicide rate
By Thomas Scripps, 6 June 2018
As of 2017, one in four adults in the UK each year could expect to suffer some form of mental illness; three quarters of these begin before a person reaches his or her 18th birthday.
More US states imposing Medicaid work requirements
By Kate Randall, 14 April 2018
Some states are considering expanding Medicaid while at the same time imposing work requirements, premium payments and drug testing of recipients.
Mississippi governor signs the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion measure
By Shelley Connor, 24 March 2018
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed into law the toughest restrictions on abortion currently seen in the US, banning all abortions past 15 weeks gestation.
“Financial toxicity” affects poorer cancer patients in Australia
By Margaret Rees, 23 March 2018
High medical payments and reduced income while patients are being treated or recovering from cancer are causing distress and avoidable deaths.
Trump demands death penalty for drug dealers as answer to opioid overdose crisis
By Niles Niemuth, 20 March 2018
Trump blamed the crisis on America’s supposedly lax drug laws and pointed to countries which have “zero tolerance” policies, including the death penalty for dealers and traffickers.
Cluster of 125 people infected with HIV and syphilis discovered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
By Benjamin Mateus, 12 March 2018
While health advocates have called the outbreak an epidemic requiring immediate attention, city officials have been slow to respond to the situation.
Mental health crisis descends on Puerto Rico’s working class
By Ali Abu Elhassan, 9 March 2018
Suicides have increased by 30 percent on the island of Puerto Rico since Hurricane María made landfall almost six months ago.
UNICEF: Social inequality costs the lives of 7,000 newborns daily
By Shelley Connor, 22 February 2018
According to a UNICEF report released on Tuesday, 2.6 million newborns die annually. Most of these deaths are preventable and most of them are due to social inequality.
The human cost of the destruction of the National Health Service
By NHS FightBack, 3 February 2018
The following statement by NHS FightBack is being distributed today at marches and rallies in defence of the National Health Service in London and other towns and cities.
Insights into a new class of HIV retroviral drugs
By Benjamin Mateus, 30 December 2017
Recent investigation into the process of the HIV virus capsid maturation suggests a new method of disrupting its ability to infect.
Hepatitis A outbreak continues to impact Southeast Michigan
By Muhammad Khan, 29 December 2017
Michigan had the highest per capita rate of hepatitis A infections in the United States with more than 500 cases recorded in 2017.
Sugar industry withheld evidence linking sucrose to bladder cancer for five decades
By Bryan Dyne, 28 November 2017
Internal documents also reveal that the sugar industry suppressed research linking sucrose and heart disease.
Youth suicides at a record high in the UK
By Alice Summers, 14 October 2017
Economic and academic pressures on young people are exacerbated by a systemic decrease of funding for mental health counselling.
Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for discoveries on the circadian rhythm
By Benjamin Mateus, 4 October 2017
The three scientists explored the molecular processes through which the body adapts physiologically to the Earth’s rotation, including the sleep-wake cycle and much more.
San Diego death toll from hepatitis A outbreak rises to 16
By Kevin Martinez, 25 September 2017
City officials knew that a public health crisis was brewing years before the current outbreak but rejected preventive measures as too costly.
FDA recommends approval of new leukemia treatment
By Benjamin Mateus, 23 September 2017
This is the first time that white blood cells have been successfully engineered to fight off a cancer.
Study highlights health epidemic: More than one in four US adults is obese
By Kayla Costa, 6 September 2017
Adult obesity rates for 2016 hit over 30 percent in 25 US states, and, in five states, topped 35 percent, the highest levels in the world.
Inherited genetic disorder corrected in human embryos
By Benjamin Mateus, 2 September 2017
New research in the study of the human genome has provided a new way to reduce or potentially eliminate inherited genetic disorders by correcting harmful genetic mutations while the subject is still an embryo.
Serious outbreaks of syphilis and hepatitis underscore social crisis in America
By Genevieve Leigh, 30 August 2017
Among drug users and the homeless in the US, diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis are making a dangerous comeback.
Medicaid sees big price hikes for decades-old drugs
By Brad Dixon, 28 August 2017
Medicaid spending on old and commonly used drugs increased by billions of dollars in 2016 compared to the previous year.
070 Generic drug price hikes
21 August 2017
Indiana Medicaid plan under Pence seen as model for attack on health care
By Matthew Taylor, 5 August 2017
In 2015 the state of Indiana introduced a Medicaid expansion plan which converts the entitlement program into a fee-based insurance program.
Rampant dengue epidemic in Sri Lanka
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 25 July 2017
Public health service cuts have resulted in poor sanitation and preventive measures, creating breeding grounds for dengue fever and other diseases.
US: Republican governors call for dramatic changes to Medicaid
By Kate Randall, 27 February 2017
While agreeing in principle with drastic cuts to Medicaid, the governors want input on how to impose them under any Obamacare replacement legislation.
US deaths from cervical cancer higher than previously thought
By Gary Joad, 31 January 2017
Some 12,990 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed last year and 4,120 women died of the disease.
Trump taps anti-vaccine activist to chair vaccine safety panel
By Brad Dixon, 13 January 2017
Robert F. Kennedy has for the past decade promoted the debunked claim that vaccinations are linked to autism, which was also supported by Trump during his campaign.
Former officials at US fentanyl maker charged with bribing doctors
By Brad Dixon, 24 December 2016
Federal agents arrested six former employees of Insys Therapeutics for allegedly bribing doctors to prescribe the company’s highly addictive fentanyl product, Subsys.
$50 million more cut from West Virginia public employees health care
By Naomi Spencer, 13 December 2016
It is the latest in a series of devastating attacks on benefits for one of the lowest-paid public sector workforces in the country.
The Zika pandemic and Washington’s indifference
By Gary Joad, 6 December 2016
According to the Centers for Disease Control, as of late November, 182 people in Florida have been infected with Zika by local mosquitos, and in Massachusetts there are 101 cases of travel-associated Zika.
Surgeon general’s report: One in seven Americans face substance addiction
By Kate Randall, 19 November 2016
One in seven people in the US will become addicted to drugs or alcohol in their lifetimes, but only 10 percent of them will ever receive any treatment.
Obamacare: The reality hits home
By Andre Damon, 27 October 2016
On Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that premiums for health insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will increase on average by 25 percent in 2017, raising health care costs of millions of working people by thousands of dollars.
Two weeks before the US election
Government announces huge Obamacare premium rises for 2017
By Kate Randall, 26 October 2016
The premium increases are part of a sea change in the US health care system, in which corporations and the government are burdening working families with rising health care costs.
Zika virus spreads in Puerto Rico and Florida
By Julio Patron and David Brown, 12 September 2016
The spread of Zika in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States is driven by poverty and will impact the area for years to come.
040 Congress and Zika funding
10 September 2016
047 Congress and Zika
9 September 2016
EpiPen price gouging: Capitalism and the US health care crisis
By Kate Randall, 31 August 2016
The EpiPen scandal has become a focal point of anger over the subordination of health care to huge corporations driven by an insatiable quest for profit.
EpiPen maker Mylan’s other drug price hikes
By Brad Dixon, 26 August 2016
Drugmaker Mylan, which increased the price of the EpiPen by over 450 percent, has raised the prices of other drugs by similar amounts.
Pfizer gobbles up cancer drug maker in $14 billion deal
By Brad Dixon, 25 August 2016
Pfizer will acquire Medivation’s cancer drug Xtandi, which is priced at $129,000 for a year’s treatment.
Mosquito-borne Zika virus spreads to Miami Beach, Florida
By Matthew MacEgan, 22 August 2016
The CDC has issued a travel advisory, warning pregnant women not to visit the area.
Mosquitoes infect pregnant Florida woman with Zika
By Matthew MacEgan, 12 August 2016
Eight more people in Florida, including a pregnant woman, have contracted the Zika virus directly from mosquitoes.
Purdue Pharma and the opioid epidemic
By Brad Dixon, 6 August 2016
Purdue Pharma’s marketing of the painkiller OxyContin has made the company billions, while contributing to the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Youth deaths highlight growth of UK private mental health services
By Dennis Moore, 22 July 2016
Nine young people have died since 2009 while being treated in private mental health units across the UK.
Obamacare insurance rates set to spike in California in 2017
By Toby Reese, 21 July 2016
Similar leaps in premiums are expected throughout the nation.
US Congress rejects funding to combat the Zika virus
By David Brown, 1 July 2016
The Zika virus is currently sweeping through Puerto Rico with the potential to spread to the US mainland.
Minnesota nurses demonstrate against health care cuts
By Anthony Bertolt and Matt Rigel, 23 May 2016
Allina Health has demanded nurses give up their current union health care plans and replace them with the company’s more expensive program.
Zika virus threatens 2016 Olympics
By David Brown and Julio Patron, 16 May 2016
Plans to hold the Olympics in the middle of Brazil’s Zika epidemic threaten to greatly increase the global reach of the virus.
Zika, social inequality and capitalism
By Bill Van Auken, 15 April 2016
The criminal indifference of the US Congress to the spread of the Zika virus stands as an indictment of a social system that subordinates the vital needs of humanity to the accumulation of wealth by a tiny oligarchy.
Significant price hikes for insulin and top selling US drugs
By Brad Dixon, 14 April 2016
The activities of Turing Pharmaceuticals and Valeant Pharmaceuticals are merely the most extreme examples of what is a common practice in the pharmaceutical industry.
US drug prices doubled since 2011
By Brad Dixon, 18 March 2016
Since 2008, the prices of brand-name prescription drugs have increased by a whopping 164 percent.
Health experts warn that Zika virus will infect millions worldwide
By Kevin Martinez, 19 February 2016
The mosquito-borne virus is spreading and affecting entire countries and their societies, impacting an already severe economic situation.
US Congress holds hearing on drug prices
By Brad Dixon, 8 February 2016
While there was plenty of political grandstanding by legislators, the primary concern was to protect the profits of the pharmaceutical industry by reining in the most egregious offenders.
US Congressional memos highlight price-gouging strategies of drug companies
By Brad Dixon, 5 February 2016
The practice of hiking prices to enrich shareholders and then obfuscating the issue through PR is endemic to the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.
WHO declares Zika virus a “public health emergency”
By David Brown, 4 February 2016
The WHO held a meeting to assess the “appropriate level of international concern” and to avoid a repeat of the Ebola outbreak, when the WHO was criticized for its slow response.
Survey: One in four US adults burdened by medical debt
By Kate Randall, 8 January 2016
Medical bills are straining family budgets to the breaking point, forcing significant numbers of people to go without basic household necessities or to forgo treatment.
FDA capitulates to pharmaceutical company on drug claims
By Brad Dixon, 28 December 2015
The move marks the latest episode of the drug industry’s attempts to roll back restrictions on “off-label” marketing practices based on “free speech” claims.
Martin Shkreli arrested for securities fraud
By Tom Hall, 18 December 2015
The 32-year-old CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals became infamous this year for price-gouging lifesaving medication.
US Senate holds hearing on rising generic drug prices
By Brad Dixon, 11 December 2015
The price hikes of a number of generic drugs have limited patient access, according to expert testimony at a US Senate hearing.
US Senate report details high prices of Hepatitis C drugs
By Brad Dixon, 7 December 2015
A report released by the US Senate found that the drugmaker Gilead priced its $84,000 hepatitis C drug to maximize revenue, even as it restricted patient access.
Research on antidepressant drugs distorted by pharmaceutical industry
By Brad Dixon, 20 November 2015
Authors with links to industry were 22 times less likely to report negative statements about antidepressant drugs than authors with no industry affiliation.
Drug maker Novartis pays $390 million to settle kickback claims
By Brad Dixon, 14 November 2015
The Novartis settlement is but another example of the rampant criminality and parasitism found throughout the pharmaceutical industry.
US drug makers blocking generic competition to inflate prices
By Brad Dixon, 1 October 2015
Nearly a third of 280 generic drug products widely used by older Americans have increased in price since 2006.
Life expectancy plunges for low-income Americans
By Andre Damon, 29 September 2015
The gap in life expectancy between higher and lower-income Americans has soared in recent decades, according to the results of a new study commissioned by the US Congress.
US pharmaceutical industry price-gouging and the case of Martin Shkreli
By Nick Barrickman, 24 September 2015
Shkreli’s actions represent nothing more than an unabashed and especially brazen form of everyday business practice under capitalism.
UK government to cut number of cancer drugs available on the NHS
By Ross Mitchell, 17 August 2015
The Conservatives plan to reduce the list of 65 funded cancer drugs by 37 items, which will severely impact the survival rates of thousands cancer patients.
Surge in prices boosts drug industry profits
By Brad Dixon, 14 July 2015
An investigation by Bloomberg News found that the prices of supposedly competing prescription drugs rose in lockstep.
HIV epidemic in rural Indiana exposes social crisis in US
By Zaida Green, 11 May 2015
Driving the outbreak are high levels of poverty and unemployment, conditions found in small towns throughout the United States.
Patient sheds light on crisis at England’s biggest NHS hospital trust
By Tom Pearse, 24 April 2015
The Bart’s Health National Health Service (NHS) Trust serves more than 2.5 million people across London.
A historic attack on Medicare
By Kate Randall, 17 April 2015
The new Medicare bill, which takes aim at health care for seniors, has been hatched as a conspiracy behind the backs of the American people.
US House passes sweeping new bipartisan assault on Medicare
By Kate Randall, 27 March 2015
The coming together of the Republican and Democratic parties behind the overhaul underscores the unanimity within the ruling class on the need for massive cuts in health care spending.
Swine flu ravages India
By Arun Kumar, 25 March 2015
Almost two thousand people have died from swine flu in India in the past four months and a further 33,000 have contracted the disease.
US measles outbreak spreads to fourteen states
By Kevin Martinez, 4 February 2015
The Centers for Disease Control said Monday that 102 people have become infected with the virus in the US.
Measles outbreak in California spreads to six other states
By Kevin Martinez, 24 January 2015
The disease, declared eradicated in the US in 2000, has made a comeback.
Influenza reaches epidemic proportions in US
By E.P. Bannon, 23 January 2015
Roughly 8.5 percent of all deaths across the country for the week ending on January 10 resulted from influenza or pneumonia.
Mozambique health care workers speak on struggle to control tuberculosis
By Zaida Green, 7 January 2015
In a recent issue of the science and medicine journal PLOS ONE, health care workers in Mozambique described the challenges they face in treating tuberculosis.
Debate in Germany over euthanasia
By Sibylle Fuchs, 4 December 2014
Against a background of widespread poverty among the elderly, the debate over euthanasia is centered on eliminating care rather than providing compassionate treatment.
Canada imposes draconian travel restrictions citing Ebola crisis
By Roger Jordan, 4 November 2014
Canada’s decision reflects the callous indifference of the government to the plight of the growing numbers of people suffering as a result of the spread of Ebola in Africa.
As World Health Organization, drug companies meet
Why is there no vaccine for Ebola?
By Patrick Martin, 25 October 2014
There are several reports that after the US National Institutes of Health developed an Ebola vaccine that worked in monkeys, major drug companies refused to develop it further because it was not profitable.
Ebola crisis: Major powers line up to send troops to Africa
By Jean Shaoul, 23 October 2014
The imperialist powers are using the Ebola outbreak as a cover for re-establishing a military presence in their former African colonies.
Sharp rise of Ebola cases in western Sierra Leone
By Kate Randall, 22 October 2014
There are now 851 confirmed cases of Ebola and an estimated 20 deaths a day in two western Sierra Leone districts.
Pleas to major powers from Ebola-stricken countries, health professionals fall on deaf ears
By Patrick Martin, 20 October 2014
The major imperialist powers and the drug companies are leaving tens of thousands to die.
WHO, CDC heads warn of Ebola epidemic’s dangers
By Niles Williamson, 14 October 2014
The head of WHO described the vast social and economic inequalities highlighted by the Ebola crisis, saying, “The rich get the best care. The poor are left to die.”
Health care workers protest conditions faced in treating Ebola
By our reporter, 14 October 2014
Healthcare workers in several countries have protested the lack of training and equipment necessary for safely treating those infected with Ebola and halting the spread of the virus.
Follow the WSWS