MS brain lesion as seen on an MRI. (credit: James Heilman, MD)
By obliterating the broken immune systems of patients with severe forms of multiple sclerosis, then sowing fresh, defect-free systems with transplanted stem cells, researchers can thwart the degenerative autoimmune disease—but it comes at a price.
In a small phase II trial of 24 MS patients,...
Theranos CEO and Founder, Elizabeth Holmes. (credit: Max Morse for TechCrunch)
Amid the looming possibility of federal sanctions and criminal charges, Theranos is now facing two lawsuits by patients who say they were duped into using the company’s blood testing services. Apparently, Walgreens also feels hoodwinked.
The pharmacy chain, which signed a blood testing deal with...
Almost two...
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, a hospital in Los Angeles, is the victim of what officials describe as an ongoing cyberattack. A hospital spokesperson told Ars in a prepared statement that "patient care has not been affected" by the intrusion. And an executive of the hospital told reporters that the attack was "random" and not targeted at patient records.
However, local news organizations have reported that some...
(credit: frankieleon)
Examining a national database of health insurance claims, researchers found that 91 percent of patients who suffered a nonfatal overdose of prescription opioid painkillers continued getting prescriptions for opioids following the overdose. And, the researchers found, overdose survivors who kept taking high dosages of an opioid—including morphine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone—were twice as likely to have...
