Top stories in health and medicine, November 29, 2012

This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.

1. Weight-Loss Surgery May Not ‘Cure’ Diabetes. Although bariatric surgery is increasingly touted as a cure for type 2 diabetes, its remission was only temporary in about one-third of patients.

2. Grapefruit-Drug Interaction Seen With More Drugs. The number of drugs that react adversely with grapefruit is higher than previously recognized, and the interactions occur at lower levels of grapefruit intake.

3. CBO: Cigarette Tax Hike Would Cut Deficit. Increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents a pack would save lives and, in the long run, reduce the federal deficit even though people would be living longer on Medicare.