An outgoing senator leaves a Senate vacancy to fill; a ban on bump stocks has been struck down by an appeals court; and children who are obese are now recommended to take weight-loss medication. These stories and more highlight your midday rundown for Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Sen. Ben Sasse steps down Republican Sen. Ben…

There’s a shortage of the diabetes drug Ozempic due to people using it for weight loss. The shortage is making it harder for diabetics to find the important medicine.  Ozempic helps people with type two diabetes lower their blood sugar and A1C. Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide, which stimulates insulin secretion and helps…

A new study out of France has experts worried that artificial sweeteners are not the healthiest alternative to sugar. French researchers have found what they are calling a link between the use of these sugar substitutes and increased risk of heart disease. The study of 103,000 French adults led by researchers from the Sorbonne Paris…

Over the weekend, the Senate passed the Democrats’ climate change and health care bill by the narrowest of margins. One provision in the original bill that was stripped out was a federally mandated $35 cap on the price of insulin. The exclusion of the mandate made headlines as reporters, lawmakers and activists pointed out that…

According to data on overdose deaths released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100,306 Americans died from an overdose between April 2020 and April 2021. The estimate is not an official count. Since it can take many months for death investigations involving drug fatalities to become final, the CDC made the estimate…

WASHINGTON (AP) — On Friday, drug maker Merck said its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use. If cleared, the drug would be the first pill shown…

President Joe Biden announced Thursday he is looking for Congress’ help in reducing the price of prescription drugs. According to a White House fact sheet, Americans pay two to three times as much as people in other countries for prescription drugs, and one in four Americans who take prescription drugs struggle to afford their medications.…

Another pandemic stat has been released, this time involving children. Type 2 diabetes has doubled in children mostly due to eating habits and a lack of physical fitness. However, there are many ways to reduce the risk and even reverse the disease.