drugs
Study: Parents participate in kids' hospital care
A new study suggests that most parents participate in medical decisions made about their children while the children are hospitalized. The study, which surveyed 130 parents, found that 86 percent of... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Health plans target off-label use
Particularly given the rise of ultra-high-cost biologic drugs and other pricey treatments, health plans are intensifying their efforts to cut pharma costs. One way they're doing so, it seems, is to... Read more...
MA physicians challenge retail clinic plan
If it gets its way, CVS will open up 30 or more MinuteClinics throughout the Boston, MA area in the near future. But it might not be so easy to do that. Under fire from physicians, state regulators... Read more...
ALSO NOTED: Group asks Medicare to pay for anemia drugs for cancer; Tulane opens pediatric ER in New Orleans; and much more...
> The American Society of Clinical Oncology has asked CMS to lift restrictions on the use of anemia drugs in cancer patients. Read more...
Direct-to-consumer pharma ads questioned
While most pharma ads still target doctors, the number of ads reaching out to consumers continue to grow--along with the warnings the FDA sends out to pharmas claiming the ads exaggerate benefits or... Read more...
Avandia, Actos get'black box' warning
As of this week, it's become clear critics and activists have won their point. The FDA has announced Avandia and Actos will soon bear a "black-box" warning detailing possible cardiac failure risks... Read more...
Study: Too few patients get clot-busting drugs
While the number of heart attack patients getting angioplasties or clot-busting drugs has climbed over the past 10 years, 10 percent of patients don't seem to be getting the drugs at all, according... Read more...
Indianapolis hospital fined $2M for drug violation
An Indianapolis, Ind.-based hospital has been fined $2 million by federal authorities for failing to accurately track stolen painkillers. Over the past two years, a pharmacy employee with St. Vincent... Read more...
If costly drugs don't work, prices go down
Increasingly, the mind-blowing cost of biologic drugs is straining the healthcare system, with some hitting unheard of levels of $100,000 per year or more. Not sure how to cope with the cost of these... Read more...
WV court says drugmakers must warn consumers
A West Virginia high court has ruled pharmas can be held partially liable for harm caused by drugs, despite the fact that physicians with medical expertise prescribe the drugs. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled Janssen Pharmaceutica was partially responsible for the death of patient Nancy Gellner, who died in 1999 after taking the company's Propulsid. Gellner's estate argued that despite her physician's role in prescribing the drug, Janssen should have better warned Gellner …
... Read more...