medications

(From our sister publication FierceBiotech...) Drug prices moderated somewhat over the past year, but brand-name prescription prices are still soaring far ahead of inflation, according to AARP. Their report on the wholesale prices of 200 brand name medications commonly used in the US shows a 6.1 percent price hike in the 12 months through June. That's down slightly from 7.1 percent a year ago. One bright spot: The prices of 75 generic drugs remained flat. PhRMA called …

A new report concludes that physician referral patterns and a propensity to order tests and write prescriptions for more expensive medications act as a major driver of rising healthcare costs. The research, from a Dartmouth University team that has published extensively over the years about practice variation, appears in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The authors noted that doctors in different regions treated similar patients differently but also stated …

A federal commission delivered its suggestions for trimming spending on Medicaid by as much as $10 billion this year to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Thursday. Proposals include tighter limits on asset transfers by nursing home and long-term care patients and a suggestion that the program could save billions by allowing states to increase co-pays charged to Medicaid recipients. Under the current system, copays are capped by law at $3. The panel recommended steering patients toward …

The state of Tennessee officially agreed to allow the state's Medicaid patients to participate in an ambitious electronic medical records project. The project, which is being sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, would create what is believed to be the largest network in the nation. The addition of 700,000 TennCare members is a key milestone in the project.

Officially headed by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee subsidiary SharedHealth, the network is considered a major …

Doctors have complained for years that patients often endanger themselves by failing to follow their prescription orders. A new study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine reveals that the problem may be even worse than suspected. Researchers studying compliance patterns for a large group of patients taking blood pressure and cholesterol drugs over the course of a year found that within three months, 43 percent had stopped taking their medications as …

Heavy use of handheld devices is leading to a new generation of repetitive strain injuries, according to physician reports. Among them is a new condition labeled "Blackberry Thumb" by specialists. Like many other hand-held devices, the Blackberry asks users to perform ergonomic tricks which may not be good for them, using their thumbs to execute many commands. Heavy use can lead to problems. Happily, like other variants of carpal tunnel, the condition is treatable with rest and …