Plavix goes generic; drowning is a leading killer of kids

Generic Plavix: If you take the blood thinning drug Plavix, the cost of your medicine just dropped dramatically, from about $200 to $40 or less each month. That's because the Food and Drug Administration just approved multiple generic versions of the medication used by millions to prevent heart attack and stroke. The companies that jointly market the brand-name drug will try to keep customers loyal with discount coupons slashing the price to no more than $37 a month, the Associated Press reports. Walmart and Sam's Club will start selling the generic versions Saturday, for about $40 a month or a $10 co-pay with insurance.

Test All Baby Boomers for Hepatitis C Virus, U.S. CDC Urges

(Updates with new drug options in seventh paragraph.)

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Rising deaths among baby boomers from hepatitis C prompted U.S. health officials to declare the entire age group a risk factor for the liver infection and recommend that all of its members be tested for the disease.

About 3.2 million Americans have hepatitis C and 75 percent of infected adults are boomers, which the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defined as those born from 1945 to 1965. Because symptoms of hepatitis C are often silent for years, most don't know they have it, the agency said today.

"It's a bold action that's become necessary because there's a large population that's unaware of their illness, becoming ill, and dying in an era of effective treatment," said John W. Ward, director of the division of viral hepatitis at the CDC, in a telephone interview.