GLP-1s

Two primary medications used to treat opioid addiction — Vivitrol and Suboxone — are comparable in both efficacy and safety, according to a study published in The Lancet.

NantHealth, best known for its GPS Cancer genetic tests — and its billionaire physician owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD — posted financial results for its third quarter, noting GPS revenue exceeded $1 million, a 128 percent increase from the second quarter.

Identifying opioid use disorders in hospitalized patients and connecting them with addiction treatment services can help expand access to care, according to preliminary research from Boston Medical Center published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

Billionaire physician and medical entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, is facing criticism for reportedly boosting sales of his GPS Cancer genetic tests by citing positive experiences from three physicians with financial ties to one of his biotech companies, according to Politico.

A team of researchers from Atlanta-based Georgia Institute of Technology introduced an open-source algorithm Oct. 26 that predicts a cancer drug's effectiveness based on a patient's genetic data.

Long-term opioid use does not increase risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in Pain Medicine.

Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health System and pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim joined forces to create a predictive model to improve health outcomes for Type 2 diabetes patients, the companies announced Sept. 25.

Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna will remove OxyContin from its covered drug list Jan. 1.

In 2015, opioids accounted for more than two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in the United States -- 15.6 percent more than the previous year -- and drug overdose deaths nearly tripled between 1999 and 2014.

A third of Americans check the cost of a prescription before filling: Prescription drug adherence lags among Americans with more formal education, higher income