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The Takeaway: New Costly Cancer Drugs; Facebook; AIDS and Aging

Seniors face Medicare cost barrier for cancer. If rising health care costs weren't enough, Medicare patients like Rita Moore, below, who are fighting cancer are facing a new hurdle: high copays for the newest treatments.

Rita Moore



"A recent study finds that about 1 in 6 people with Medicare aren't filling their prescriptions." ... Crosswalks are increasingly deadly for the elderly. A nice breakdown of last week's study on older pedestrians: "Our streets are where we live in this city, and walking is the primary mode of how people get around. But older people simply don't have enough time to cross the street." Also: A walk on the safe side.

... No tagging necessary. By now you may have heard about Facebook's new facial-recognition feature that automatically identifies friends when you upload a photo. So how do you opt out? More on how to make sure your private information stays that way. ... Despite aging readership, magazines feature more young women. Women over 50 rarely see themselves on the cover of popular magazines, despite being key subscribers. "Even in magazines geared toward aging baby boomers, the images collectively present a thin, youthful, wrinkle-free ideal that's impossible to maintain later in life." ... AIDS survivors age prematurely. As patients live longer with the disease, doctors are beginning to see signs of "accelerated" aging marked by disease and illness that would normally affect people much older.

... Table tennis for people with Alzheimer's and dementia. What makes this Los Angeles program so special is very simple: In order to play, Alzheimer's patients have to be present -mentally and physically. Or as founder Mikhail Zaretsky says, "They have to be there!"

See "In the News" for more on current events, entertainment and how it all relates to you.


(Photo: Rita Moore of Corcoran, Calif., has cancer and cannot afford the prescription drug she needs to help stop the spread of the disease. - Gary Kzanjian/AP)
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