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A tie in the statin wars: Cholesterol fighter Crestor, considered by some doctors to be the most potent statin, didn’t fare significantly better than rival Lipitor, a new study finds. The results, presented at the American Heart Association’s meeting, will make it harder for Crestor’s maker AstraZeneca to convince payors that the drug is worth paying extra for, given that Lipitor goes generic at the end of this month.

No Coverage for Avastin: Blue Shield of California will no longer pay for the use of the drug Avastin to treat breast cancer, the New York Times reports.  Blue Shield is apparently the first large insurance company to end payments since a federal advisory committee recommended in June that the Food and Drug Administration rescind Avastin’s approval as a treatment for breast cancer. FDA has not made a final decision on approval.

A new federal proposal to give all patients in the U.S. direct electronic access to their lab results could make it easier to track important health markers like cholesterol levels and the body’s response to blood thinners – – with an iPhone.

A smoking habit is so hard to break that it doesn’t seem possible that a series of simple encouraging text messages could help in any significant way.

The Supreme Court decided today that it’s unconstitutional for the state of California to bar minors from buying violent video games (here’s the WSJ story). The 2005 law, which never took effect, violates children and adolescents’ right to freedom of expression, the court ruled by a 7-2 margin.

Waivers to End: After Sept. 22, employers won’t be able to apply for a waiver of the health-care overhaul law’s $750,000 minimum annual-benefit payout requirement, the WSJ reports. Health-benefit providers can be exempted from the requirement if it would mean a significant premium boost or benefits reduction; those receiving waivers so far have mostly been employers offering so-called mini-med, or limited-benefit, plans, the paper says.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the advocacy arm of the ACS, says it knows the best three-pronged strategy for getting more people to quit smoking: increasing tobacco taxes, passing laws that ban smoking at bars, restaurants and in the workplace and funding state tobacco cessation and prevention programs.

Two new reports from the group try to put some numbers on the potential impact of those first two prongs.

The FDA’s much-anticipated new sunscreen rules are out, nearly four years after the agency originally proposed changes.

Though we’re all used to picking a sunscreen on the basis of its sun protection factor (SPF), that number refers only to UVB rays, which cause burning and skin cancer. The longer-wavelength UVA rays can wreak their own damage, though, including playing a role in premature aging and contributing to skin cancer. (Here’s how the Skin Cancer Foundation explains the types of radiation.)

The food pyramid is dead. Long live the plate!

The USDA today announced the latest attempt to conceptualize the government’s dietary advice in a way consumers can understand. (The pyramid was widely regarded as confusing, if not incomprehensible.)