Prescription Drugs

The agency that administers Obamacare in California moved to make expensive medicines more affordable in 2016. In most plans, patients will pay no more than $150 or $250 a month.

The court decision means companies are on the hook for helping at least some consumers in California safely dispose of leftover pills and other medicine. Similar measures are in the works elsewhere.

Expensive versions of prescription opioids that are tougher to cut, crush and inject are less likely to be abused, legislators hope. But some doctors call the bill well-meant, but ill-advised.

Federal officials released prescription histories of hundreds of thousands of doctors and identified the most common and costly drugs. Medicare spent the most on a purple pill for heartburn.

Cancer treatment is increasingly expensive, even for patients who have insurance. Some doctors advocate discussing the costs of cancer treatment as they would hair loss, pain or other side effects.

The hormone that controls blood sugar among diabetics is one of the oldest medicines used today. But more than 90 years after its discovery, a low-cost version is no longer available in the U.S.

The state's governor says he would temporarily OK a program in one county after dozens of new infections were reported stemming from the injection of the prescription drug Opana.

So-called biosimilar drugs closely mimic existing drugs but are made from living cells, blood components and tissue. In some cases, they could substantially reduce the cost of drugs.

One-third of people have trouble downing pills, and many skip taking medications as a result. A researcher in Germany says that two techniques help. Really? We tested them ourselves to find out.

A new study of drug use in Afghanistan, relying on information from female heads of households and confirmed by lab tests, shows that 1 in 20 Afghans are using prescription or illicit drugs.

A husband and wife who are doctors have been working on fact boxes for drugs that, like nutrition labels for foods, would more concisely convey a medicine's benefits and risks.

Benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the U.S. Patients and addicts often mix them with prescription painkillers — sometimes to deadly effect.