AstraZeneca (AZN) has had a good week with its anticlotting drug Brilinta (ticagrelor). It impressed many observers by announcing positive results of a late-stage head-to-head study and a mid-stage study for Brilinta, and on Thursday, it said it had filed for Food and Drug Administration approval. Brilinta could be on the way to becoming a megablockbuster drug.

Study results for the experimental drug -- which fights acute coronary syndrome -- were first presented Sunday. For the study's 8,430 sickest patients, those taking the drug suffered fewer serious cardiovascular events (or deaths) than those taking Plavix, from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY).

It usually happens like this. I'm walking across town while talking on my cell phone when I fail to notice the traffic light has changed. My foot leaves the curb and is about to step into the roadway when a hand -- belonging to a friend or sometimes a complete stranger -- jerks me out of the street back onto the sidewalk.

Near death (or just injury that occurs when steel plows into flesh) averted, barely. I've been called absentminded, and this has happened, I'm embarrassed to admit, what, a dozen times? But now it seems I may have science on my side.

If the experts can't agree on guidelines for breast cancer screening, then how are women supposed to decide? At the end of the day, the new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of independent experts, have left women quite confused. Several other expert sources, including the American Cancer Society, have criticized the new guidelines and disagree with them.

To recap, here are the new guidelines (which do not apply to higher-risk women):

• Women between the ages of 40 and 49 should not be routinely screened.
• Women between the ages of 50 and 74 should be screened every two years.
• Screenings are unnecessary for women 75 and older.
• Women should not be taught how to perform breast self-examinations.
• There is no additional benefit to clinical breast examination by doctors, nor are there added benefits to digital mammography or magnetic resonance imaging over film mammography.

The majority of Americans want to be vaccinated against swine flu, polls show. But unless you're in a high-risk group, such as expectant mothers, you may not get any vaccine anytime soon. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the current tide of H1N1 influenza is likely to begin to ebb before the shortage of vaccine eases. Meanwhile, the toll from the virus keeps climbing, with deaths from H1N1 in the United States having likely reached 4,000, of which 540 are children.

There are several reasons for the worrisome vaccine shortage. The federal government ordered enough vaccine to immunize nearly the entire nation. But deliveries have been slow, to name one big problem. Perhaps more frustrating to many on the front lines of fighting the virus is that the shortage would ease considerably if the U.S. simply embraced an enhanced version of the vaccine. But so far, U.S. regulatory authorities -- unlike their counterparts in Europe -- haven't taken the steps to make this happen.

This may come to no surprise to many of you that have read my work as a financial writer, but I am what my wife calls a "walking head injury." I played football from the age of six until 19, when I was told my college football career had to end -- more on that in a minute.

Having gotten my bell rung many times in my youth, I was taken aback by a recent article in The Wall Street Journal suggesting it may be time to retire the football helmet as we know it. Leagues overseas have been trying this as a way to -- this may sound counterintuitive -- reduce concussions and other injuries. But I don't see playing helmet-less as a solution for the National Football League (NFL).

Cancel your flight to Amsterdam – the U.S. just got its first marijuana cafe on Friday. Located in Portland, Ore., the Cannabis Cafe shows how attitudes have changed since the Obama administration moved into the White House. A month ago, President Barack Obama told federal attorneys to ease off medical marijuana prosecutions.

The widening use of medicinal marijuana has forced governments into a tenuous legal balancing act, according to a Reuters report. Some states passed legislation to allow it, starting with California in 1996. Nonetheless, a federal ban remains in place. The operation of businesses like the Cannabis Cafe, as well as marijuana establishments in California, has been possible as long as federal authorities have chosen not to pursue them. Unlike the shops in California, though, the Portland establishment is the first in the U.S. where certified medical marijuana users can both acquire and consume their marijuana, as long as they stay out of public view.

When the bestselling book French Women Don't Get Fat came out in 2004, it was yet another occasion to begrudge Gallic females, who could always say oui to pâté, brie, and crème brûlée without ever having to get their Hermès skirts altered. It didn't help that the book's author, Mireille Guiliano, was then CEO of Clicquot (as in the champagne Veuve Clicquot) and was herself fabulously thin -- and wealthy.

But was the book a hoax? A new report shows that the French are really getting fatter, just like the rest of us. Some 26% of French women are now considered overweight, and 15.1% are clinically obese, reports the survey, conducted by WPP's (WPPGY) market-research arm TNS Sofres Healthcare and Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche (RHHBY). Of French men, a whopping 38.5% are overweight, and 13.9% are obese. "We are going to continue to see obesity increase," study researcher Marie-Aline Charles told Le Monde. "It's like a steamship that's been launched and can't quickly be stopped."

Sometimes it seems as if the raging debate about overhauling health-care insurance is filling all the airwaves. Easily lost in this din is that any reform wouldn't take affect until 2013, but Americans need to take steps today to ensure they're properly covered. For seniors enrolled in Medicare, that means reviewing prescription drug coverage, known as Part D, and so-called Advantage plans, private-insurance alternatives to the government-run plan, if they participate in such programs.

Known as open enrollment, the annual process starts Sunday, Nov. 15, and goes through Dec. 31. As in years past, health-policy experts advise older Americans to not assume that their current plan, which may have worked well this year, will be as effective (or even exist) next year. Further, an existing plan could cost more -- much more -- come January.

One of the chief complaints about the health care bill the House of Representatives passed on Saturday is that it's too expensive, with a staggering price tag of $1.1 trillion over ten years. While the House bill admirably extends coverage to an additional 36 million Americans, it's a lot to spend on a law that doesn't adequately address the spiraling costs of health care.

Under the House plan, more Americans would have health insurance coverage, which would mean they'd have greater access to medical services and would likely seek care earlier. That would save money, as would other aspects of the House and Senate bills, such as reducing Medicare payments. But if we really want to contain costs over the long haul, we have to shift our efforts toward prevention.

The pharmaceutical industry has discovered the female libido. German biotech company Boehringer Ingelheim is "putting the finishing touches on a pill designed to reawaken desire by blunting female inhibitions," according to Bloomberg News, which scientists will discuss next week in Lyon, France.

The drug has nothing to do with George Clooney, or getting male spouses to help more around the house. Turns out women's sex drives are centered in the brain. Who knew? (Not most guys, probably.)

On Tuesday, CVS (CVS) drugstores agreed to pay the State of New York $875,000 to settle a case alleging that it sold expired food, over-the-counter drugs, and infant formula. This settlement follows a $1.3 million settlement between New York State and Rite Aid (RAD), suggesting that this crop of expired-product sales may be just the tip of the iceberg.

This isn't the first time CVS has been cited by New York's attorney general for selling expired items. In 2003, the chain handled the problem by signing an "Assurance of Discontinuance," stating that it would "refrain from selling expired OTC drugs" and would institute "procedures to ensure that OTC drugs were identified and removed from CVS stores and directing and training employees involved in stocking of OTC drugs in these procedures."

It seems that when it comes to Aranesp, its blockbuster anemia drug, Amgen (AMGN) just can't catch a break, nor for that matter, create one. Recently, Amgen was hit with a double whammy -- a lawsuit and an unfavorable study of the drug. On Tuesday, yet another study confirmed that cancer patients who took anemia drugs were twice as likely to develop blood clots as other patients, while transfusion rates remained the same.

The decade-long study of 56,210 cancer patients conducted by Dr. Dawn L. Hershman and her colleagues at the Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York adds to earlier evidence about the risks of anemia drugs, and further suggests that those risks may outweigh the benefits.

Last year, some 307 American soldiers died in Iraq -- nearly twice the number killed in Afghanistan. But the home front was far deadlier for veterans: an estimated 2,266 U.S. military veterans died last year -- not from combat but from lack of health insurance, Harvard Medical School researchers report. That's more than seven times the number of U.S. casualties in Iraq last year, or six preventable deaths a day.

Despite a common misconception that all veterans qualify for lifetime care through the Veterans Health Administration, researchers found that 1.46 million vets under 65 were uninsured last year. Some earn too much to qualify for Veterans Affairs assistance but too little to afford private insurance.

The U.S. may worry about having enough H1N1 vaccine to protect its population from swine flu, but at least it's getting precious doses. Many developing countries, which can't afford the sometimes expensive medication, don't have any at all.

That may change soon. The U.K.'s GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said Tuesday it will donate 50 million doses of its H1N1 influenza vaccine to developing countries most in need through the World Health Organization. Initial shipments will start by the end of November with shipments to be completed by May 2010, the WHO said. GlaxoSmithKline's move comes as several other pharmaceuticals have pledged similar measures.

Well, what do you know: Pfizer (PFE) is cutting more jobs.

Now that the acquisition of Wyeth is complete, the giant drugmaker announced a massive research and development reorganization. This didn't really come as a surprise when two large companies combine operations. Despite the expectation, however, such announcements -- especially when unemployment is running at 10.2% -- can still cause jitters.

Pfizer is calling its reorg a "global research and development network [which] brings together scientific strengths from both companies, continues efforts to increase research productivity, focuses disease-area research in single locations and more efficiently uses the company's real estate."