Alzheimer’s disease

How A Handful of Drugs is Squeezing Medicare

Medicare expects it will spend more $550 million this year for the controversial anti-Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi and predicts the cost will skyrocket to $3.5 billion in 2025, according to Stat News. The program spent $5.7 billion on drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro in 2022, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.  These GLP-1 medications were designed to treat type 2 [...]

By |2024-04-18T11:17:15-04:00April 18th, 2024|Medicare|0 Comments

The FDA Approved The New Anti-Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi. What You Need To Know

The FDA’s decision to grant accelerated approval for the anti-Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab, which will be sold as Leqembi, has significant potential for research into treatment of the disease. But people living with Alzheimer’s and their families will face difficult choices once the drug is made available later this month by Biogen and the Japanese firm Eisai. A trial found the [...]

By |2023-01-09T09:58:28-05:00January 9th, 2023|dementia, Uncategorized|0 Comments

What You Should Know About The Anti-Alzheimer’s Drug Lecanemab

What should people living with dementia and their families take away from the recent data published on lecanemab, the Alzheimer’s drug developed by Biogen and the Japanese firm Eisai? The drugmakers’ announcement of their Phase 3 trial results got lots of attention in the popular press. Some stories heralded the drug as a “breakthough.” But even experts disagree about the [...]

By |2022-12-08T11:13:27-05:00December 8th, 2022|dementia|0 Comments

With Medicare Undecided On Whether To Pay, Alzheimer’s Drug Maker Biogen Offers Free Doses

A funny thing happened on the way to that $56,00-a-year Alzheimer’s drug: Payers are reluctant to pay, providers are reluctant to prescribe, and the price is coming down—at least for some patients. It is a tale  that could push Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Reuters reports that Biogen, which sells the controversial medication it calls Aduhelm, is [...]

By |2021-09-01T15:11:40-04:00September 1st, 2021|dementia|0 Comments

The Challenges Of Caring For A Loved One With Dementia

Family caregivers help loved ones suffering from many illnesses, from heart disease to severe arthritis. But a new study shows that one condition—dementia—places an outsized burden on those family members. They spend more hours, do more difficult work, and provide assistance for more years than family members caring for older adults without memory loss. An article in the journal Health Affairs [...]

By |2015-10-26T09:00:36-04:00October 26th, 2015|dementia, family caregivers|0 Comments

Big Strides in Cancer Treatment Will Increase Long-Term Care Needs

Cancer researchers are closer than ever to achieving their long-held dream of turning the disease from a death sentence to a chronic illness. This would be a remarkable scientific achievement. But while people may soon routinely live decades with their cancer in remission or even cured, they will not become immortal. Most will eventually suffer from some other debilitating condition and [...]

We Are A Long Way From An Alzheimer’s Cure

Two take-aways from the recently concluded Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Copenhagen: First, after years of research, we still know remarkably little about what causes dementia or how to prevent or delay it. Second, the dementia establishment, including the Alzheimer’s Association and the White House’s National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, is so focused on a cure that it pays [...]

By |2014-07-23T16:44:57-04:00July 23rd, 2014|dementia|0 Comments