Valeant shares jump 6% after analyst says ‘short thesis has been debunked’

JPMorgan analysts see tough road ahead for Humana if Aetna deal blocked
JPMorgan analysts slashed the target price of Humana from $196 to $150 after reports the DOJ may block the acquisition by Aetna.

Juno Therapeutics shares plunge after FDA places clinical hold on cancer trial
Juno down more than 31 percent, a day after the FDA halted a study on a potential cancer treatment following two patients deaths.

Higher-income Obamacare customers often have higher costs than job-based insured
Obamacare plans often have comparable premiums and deductibles to employer-based coverage for lower-income customers.

Democrats push for ‘poison pill’-free Zika funding ahead of recess
Congress must agree on a bill to control the Zika virus next week, or risk harm to pregnant women and their babies.

It’s ‘Magic’: Accused pharma fraudster Martin Shkreli covets rare game cards
Shkreli sought “advice for a new and wealthy player” on a Reddit thread about the game Magic.

Humana shares dive on reported meeting with DOJ over Aetna deal
Shares of Humana dived more than 10 percent after speculation from analysts that the DOJ wants to meet over antitrust concerns.

Chemours, DuPont shares plummet after testicular cancer liability case
Shares of Chemours and Dow component DuPont fell sharply after DuPont was found liable for a man’s testicular cancer.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical shares rise on talk of a takeover from Roche
Shares of BioMarin jumped more than 10 percent in early trading after a report said Roche may be seeking to acquire it.

Pfizer agrees to Chicago’s request to disclose narcotic painkiller risk
Pfizer will disclose painkillers can carry serious risk of addiction and promised not to promote opiates for unapproved uses.

Walgreens confident in face of Brexit and Rite Aid uncertainty
Walgreens’ Pessina estimates that the combined company will have to sell about 500 stores in order to gain regulatory approval from the FTC.

Big switch: Wealthy now spending more on health care than poor and middle class
Poor people now have lower overall health spending than other income groups, reversing a longtime pattern.

Obamacare’s smoker penalty dampened insurance enrollment, didn’t help qutting
When lower surcharges on tobacco use were applied, fewer smokers ended up quitting, according to a new study.

Government expands access to drug used to treat opioid dependence
Doctors authorized to write buprenorphine prescriptions to 100 patients can go up to 275 patients under new rules.

Apple will push for organ donor registration in iOS 10
Apple’s software update will make it easier for people to register as organ donors, the Verge reports.

Google Glass not a flop in the emergency room, doctor says
The medical community is breathing new life into Google Glass.

FDA approves first dissolving stent for US patients
The FDA approved a implant that slowly dissolves into the body yet it hasn’t been shown to be safer than older metal implants.

Medivation shares pop 3% on report that Sanofi sweetens offer
Medivation is discussing opening its books to Sanofi after it sweetened its $9.3 billion acquisition offer.

Financially unstable Connecticut Obamacare co-op placed under state supervision
The decision to place HealthyCT under supervision means that 40,000 people will have to find a new health plan by next year.

About 1.6 million people didn’t make their Obamacare payments
The new tally comes as some insurers are proposing double-digit percentage hikes for health plans next year.

No, really. Stop eating raw cookie dough
The FDA warned people not to eat raw cookie dough due to a recent string of E.coli outbreaks associated with some batches of flour.

With Anthem-Cigna deal in limbo, a plan B starts to form
If regulators block Anthem’s merger with Cigna, the insurance companies may be better off just walking away, analysts said.

How much it costs to deliver a baby will depend — a lot — on where you live
The average national cost for a routine vaginal delivery is $8,775, and $11,525 for c-sections.

Few Americans fear Zika virus, but many want more money spent on fighting it
Just 13 percent of people said they personally viewed Zika as a major threat, but most knew it is dangerous to pregnant women.

Obamacare got less unpopular ahead of Republicans’ replacement health plan
The country is now effectively evenly split when it comes to how the Affordable Care Act is viewed.

Tesaro shares soar after positive results for ovarian cancer treatment
Niraparib was shown to extend the time elapsed between treatment of ovarian cancer and tumor progression.

Two new Zika vaccines ‘show complete protection’ in lab tests
Two vaccines for Zika protected against two common strains of the virus in mice, and will enter human trials soon.

AstraZeneca pushes to protect Crestor from generic competition
AstraZeneca is trying to fend off generic competition to Crestor by getting it approved to treat a rare disease, NYT reported.

FDA approves first pill to treat all forms of hepatitis C
The FDA approved the combination pill, Epclusa, from Gilead Sciences for patients with and without liver damage.