Â鶹ŮÓÅ

U.S. oncologists, aware that patients are paying more of the costs of expensive cancer drugs, are increasingly declining to prescribe medicines that have scant or no effect, even as a last resort. At least half a dozen drugs, including colon cancer treatments Cyramza, from Eli Lilly & Co, and Stivarga, sold by Bayer AG, aren't worth prices that can exceed $100,000 a year, top cancer specialists said in interviews with Reuters. If specialists do start considering a drug's cost in their prescribing habits, such decisions could dent the multibillion-dollar cancer drug business of companies from Roche Holding AG to Celgene Corp. Worldwide spending on cancer medicines reached $100 billion in 2014, a year-over-year jump of more than 10 percent. (Beasley, 10/8)

Walmart Stores Inc. this Saturday afternoon, Oct. 10, is holding what it calls "America's Biggest Health Fair" at more than 4,400 stores nationwide, with free blood pressure, blood glucose, and vision screenings, as part of a larger effort to brand itself as a health and wellness destination. ... Walmart predicts it will set record-breaking numbers for the number of screenings and immunizations that will take place during the one-day event, including estimates that "3,000 people will learn they have diabetes, and 7,000 will learn they have high blood pressure." The world's largest retailer said Tuesday's announcement builds on its previous initiatives to offer commonly prescribed drugs for $4 and make healthcare and healthier food more affordable and accessible. (Cho, 10/7)

A Kentucky pharmacy has agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle allegations that it solicited and received kickbacks from a manufacturer in exchange for promoting a drug with nursing home patients, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday. The settlement with Louisville-based PharMerica Corp. resolves claims that it received kickbacks from Abbott Laboratories in exchange for recommending that physicians prescribe the Abbott-manufactured drug Depakote. The federal government alleged the kickbacks were disguised as rebates, educational grants and other financial support. (10/7)

The price of routine medical procedures can vary wildly from state to state, and even within metropolitan areas, according to a new study. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which includes Orange and Riverside counties, the price paid for a mammogram can range from $86 to $954. That means that on average, women in the L.A. area pay about $237 for a mammogram, making L.A. the 19th most expensive city of the 30 surveyed by Castlight Health Inc., a San Francisco-based healthcare information company. (Masunaga, 10/7)

Health-care stocks in the S&P 500 rose 1.5% after a selloff in those shares had snapped the index’s five-day winning streak on Tuesday. The yearslong rally in health-care shares took a turn in August as the broader market pulled back, and fears of legislation targeting drug pricing deepened losses. The sector has fallen 12% from its high for the year, set in July, and has slipped 0.9% for the year. Still, investors note that profits at certain health-care companies likely won’t be dragged down by a slowdown in global growth, an issue in the third-quarter reporting season. (Vaishampayan, 10/7)

U.S. stocks ended stronger after a volatile session on Wednesday, led by a rebound in biotechnology companies that pushed the S&P 500 to its highest level in three weeks. ... The S&P health index, up 1.47 percent, was the biggest gainer. A selloff in healthcare and biotech stocks had weighed on the market on Tuesday. Healthcare was led by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Amgen, both up more than 4 percent. Express Scripts said it reached deals to cover two costly new cholesterol drugs produced by the two companies. (Randewich, 10/7)