Health Care, Medicine | featured news

Total U.S. spending on prescription medicines declined last year, a first in more than half a century. The dip was 1 percent, to $325.8 billion — a 3.5 percent drop after accounting for population growth and economic expansion, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.

Watson, the IBM supercomputer that defeated the world’s best “Jeopardy!” playersthis year, has found a job in medicine. It won’t be consulting with patients, but a version of the game-show champion could appear in examination rooms, offering assistance to flesh-and-blood physicians. But how soon might you see Dr.

Changes are designed to aid Medicare prescription drug recipients, offer seniors more preventive care and limit insurance firms' profit margins.

Health care giant Johnson & Johnson is jumping into the increasingly hot vaccine business by taking an 18 percent stake in Dutch biotechnology company Crucell NV and focusing more on preventive medicine....