Daily Briefing: HIV-Prevention Pill, FDA Scandal and Medicaid Faud

HIV Prevention: The FDA has approved the once-a-day pill Truvada to prevent HIV infection. The pharmaceutical costs about $13,000 a year, reports Richard Knox for NPR.

Medicaid Fraud: Law enforcement has arrested more than 40 people across the United States who defrauded Medicaid for tens of millions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports.

FDA: Legislators are asking for an inquiry after reporters revealed that the FDA had been spying on it’s own employees. According to Senator Charles Grassley the agency’s general counsel authorized the surveillance, reports Eric Lichtblau for the New York Times.

Heart Attacks: More people are surviving cardiac arrests, a study found. In 2001, 70 percent of people hospitalized for cardiac arrest died. By 2008 that number had fallen to 58 percent, Reuters reports.

Inflammation: Stepping back to look at the big picture, Laura Lando writes in the Wall Street Journal about the state of the science linking chronic inflammation to heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, stroke and cancer.

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Image by Cliph via Flickr