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..advocates of personalized or precision medicine may have set up unrealistic expectations about its promise while leaving many questions unanswered,…."Even though personalized medicine will be useful to better understand rare diseases and identify novel therapeutic targets….the promise of improved risk prediction, behavior change, lower costs, and gains in public health for common diseases seem unrealistic,"….

Pharmacists say a recent analysis of Medicare claims data from the 2012–13 flu season helps make the case that for seniors, high-dose influenza virus vaccine leads to better clinical outcomes than standard-dose vaccine…. retrospective cohort study.. found 22% reductions in probable flu infections and flu-related hospitalizations among high-dose vaccine recipients.

… study findings that showed more than 25 percent of hepatitis C patients may be treated with an eight-week therapy — four weeks shorter than drug manufacturers first believed. The findings reveal potential for great cost savings in a health care system where hepatitis C treatments have presented problems for payer organizations.

For the past five years, iVantage Health Analytics has been compiling an annual list of the top 100 critical access hospitals in America. Just 16 facilities have made it onto the list every year of the survey.

Scientists…have made a key genetic discovery in poppies, paving the way for more effective painkillers…The gene, called STORR, is only found in poppy species that produce morphinans….completes the set of genes needed for genetic engineering of morphine production in microbes such as yeast. Whether or not this can compete commercially with plant based production remains to be seen.....

Studies have reported that up to half of patients discontinue prescribed therapies soon after hospital discharge. This is no surprise to pharmacists,… an analysis that found adherence to these treatments is improving, but still nowhere near ideal…..encouraged by more widespread use of evidence-based guidelines,…

The Human Organs-On-Chip project…could prove to be a breakthrough in trialing medicines and ending animal testing…the device is no bigger than a thumb drive and the first product to come out of the project is called lung-on-a-chip.

prescription pain medications or how addictive formulations can be, which may be contributing to the epidemic of prescription opioid abuse....“Physicians and patients may mistakenly view these medicines as safe in one form and dangerous in another, but these products are addictive no matter how you take them,” ...

….clinical trial of artificial red blood cells will occur before 2017, National Health Service (UK) scientists said. The blood is made from stem cells extracted from either the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies or the blood of adult donors.

In an effort to increase its research presence, the University of Cincinnati’s pharmacy school is welcoming…more faculty members…the goal is for the college to be ranked in the top 20 pharmacy schools,…increasing the amount it receives in research grants could help it move up from the 32nd spot.