The Pharmacist Will See You Now

Will more people skip the doctor's office for CVS?

CVS Health has struck a deal to buy Aetna, the insurance giant. Gene J. Puskar/AP Drugstore Chain To Add Insurance And More  After more than a month of speculation, drugstore chain CVS Health agreed to pay $69 billion for health insurer Aetna. It’s an unusual combination, even by health care standards. With nearly 10,000 drugstores and 1,100 retail clinics across the country, CVS is already a mainstay on the health care landscape. Aetna, one of the country’s largest insurers, gave up its bid to get even bigger by buying Humana earlier this year, after the government objected. Now Aetna is in CVS’ checkout line. The companies were quick to talk up plans to transform the drugstores into  friendly places for more people to go first for health care. Is a Minute Clinic in your future? As NPR’s Alison Kodjak reported, “The companies are counting on the notion that people will prefer going to a clinic around the corner over making repeated trips to their doctors that might require appointments and waits.”   Aşkın Dursun KAMBEROĞLU/Getty Images Bailing Out Of A Bad Plan Is Surprisingly Hard To Do  Even the best laid plans can go awry. But it can be remarkably difficult to abandon an action your brain has already committed to. Even when you spot a cop car as the traffic light turns yellow, you may find it next to impossible to keep your foot from mashing the gas pedal. Researchers say that to stop an plan already in progress takes communication among 11 different parts of the brain. That takes time and a lot of energy, NPR’s Jon Hamilton reports, so don’t beat yourself up if you get a ticket for running the red light.   CommerceandCultureAgency/Getty Images Take A Little Off The Top And Look For Melanoma I’m old enough to remember the ad for hair dye that promised it was so good only your hairdresser knew for sure if you were using it. Now imagine that your hairdresser could unlock another secret, whether you have melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. Researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of Colorado Denver developed a short video to train hairdressers on how to identify possible melanomas on their clients’ scalps and necks. The video was shown to 100 hairdressers around Los Angeles, and they said afterward that it increased their confidence in pointing out possible melanoma lesions. The idea that people who aren’t medical professionals could be very helpful in spotting health problems has real merit. But it will take more than a single video to make hairdressers a durable part of our defense against skin cancer. "We have to keep reminding them and continue education to help them recognize and have an eye out both for seeing a spot and telling the client so they can tell their dermatologist," says New York dermatologist Doris Day.  The same goes here. Remind and educate us about what you would like to see us cover. You can write to us at shots@npr.org. Thanks! Your Shots editor, Scott Hensley   You received this message because you're subscribed to our Health emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002