medicines

As many health policy experts had predicted, some drug companies are now canceling programs designed to help low-income and the otherwise disadvantaged patients obtain medicines following Part D's launch. The impact on many patients with life-threatening diseases such as as AIDS and cancer is turning out to be far more serious than most had anticipated. Expect this story to gain traction next week as additional media outlets pick up on coverage by The Washington Post.

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There is little doubt that the new prescription drug benefit was last week's top healthcare story. Problems with Part D's roll out made headlines from coast to coast all week. Expect coverage to kick up several notches in the build-up to the President's State of the Union address, which is widely expected to focus on the administration's plans for resolving the nation's healthcare crisis. This week, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) will introduce legislation that …

The Bush administration has ordered insurers to provide a temporary 30-day supply of medicines to Medicare Part D recipients in an effort to control growing problems. The White House also ordered co-pays for low income seniors to be capped at $5 per prescription. The move is seen as an admission that things are not going as smoothly as they could be. Over the weekend, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mark McClellan conceded that "thousands" of program …

States continue to report problems with the Medicare Part D roll out which began Jan. 1. On Thursday, California became the latest to take action, as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law legislation guaranteeing an emergency supply of medicines for those unable to get their prescription. With problems far more widespread than had been predicted, criticism of the program is building. Media coverage has been particularly harsh even in outlets traditionally sympathetic to the …

Problems continued with the implementation of Medicare Part D, as more states said they are experiencing difficulties with the new prescription drug benefit's roll-out. At least six states are now offering recipients aid to help them to purchase needed medicines and others appear ready to launch similar programs. In Massachusetts, there were reports of patients being turned away from pharmacies, despite a pledge by state officials to cover the costs of all prescriptions. 

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The new prescription drug benefit went into effect last week with reports of some problems emerging. Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont took action to make sure that elderly and low-income recipients are able to receive medicines until matters are sorted out. Vermont's legislature went perhaps the farthest, declaring a "public health emergency in response to the benefit." Maine said it spent $2 million covering the shortfall last week. There have been reports that some …

Emory University and Georgia Tech will collaborate on a new project designed to leverage recent advances in genetics, information technology and nanotech to develop personalized medicines and treatments. The Predictive Health Initiative, based at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, will study the ways in which personalized medicine and other forward-looking strategies can improve care processes. This week the two schools host a conference on personalized medicine expected to draw …

In Europe, the policy argument over denying patients access to expensive medicines continues. In the latest round of the debate, backers of the cancer drug Herceptin are clashing with cynics who think the highly-touted therapy is far too expensive to be widely used. An article published today in the Annals of Oncology by Belgian economist Mattias Neyt argues that the cost of treating all eligible women with breast cancer would be prohibitively expensive (£17.5 million …

The Department of Health and Human Services released details of the federal plan to respond to a possible H5N1 epidemic, following yesterday's announcement by President Bush that his administration plans to spend $7.1 billion preparing to fight the disease. In the event of an outbreak, authorities are likely to impose travel restrictions. State and local officials are reportedly "concerned" that they will be responsible for rationing vaccines and flu medicines and also for ensuring that …

The news that a major tobacco company is trying to get into the healthcare business is dividing the healthcare community. Scientists at Philip Morris developed a new design for a handheld inhaler during the years the company was attempting to develop a "safe" cigarette. The tobacco giant now plans to market the technology as a delivery device for inhaled aerosol medicines. A team of researchers working for the company have tested the Aria and found that the device delivers up to 90 …