02/03/2012
Yesterday, the Obama administration announced that the health reform law reduced prescription drug costs by $2.1 billion for the 3.6 million Medicare beneficiaries who were in the "doughnut hole" in 2011, amounting to about $604 in savings per beneficiary. Los Angeles Times et al.
02/01/2012
In today's hearing of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, health industry experts are expected to seek renewal of FDA's authority to collect user fees from drugmakers and medical device companies for agency approval processes. CQ Today et al.
01/27/2012
On Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to join the Coast2Coast Rx discount prescription drug card program. According to officials, the program -- which covers more than 60,000 medications -- helped users in 2010 save an average of 45% on prescriptions. The card also offers savings of up to 50% on dental, vision, hearing and diabetes supplies, and up to 80% on lab and imaging tests. Riverside Press-Enterprise.
01/19/2012
On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court agreed to review four lawsuits related to medical marijuana dispensaries and questions about local control. In one case, a lower state court ruled that Riverside had the right to ban dispensaries. The decision has been used by local governments throughout the state to shut down medical marijuana clinics in their areas. Riverside Press-Enterprise.
01/17/2012
In a federal lawsuit filed Nov. 18, 2011, Imagenetix, a San Diego-based nutritional supplement company, accused Walgreens of coupon fraud. According to the lawsuit, Walgreens billed the company for $533,000 "for coupons purportedly redeemed" by consumers for discounts on a new health-joints supplement product, as well as $188,000 for scanning fees. However, the stacks of coupons submitted by Walgreens for reimbursement had no marks or creases. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and damages that could exceed $5 million. U-T San Diego.
01/13/2012
CVS Caremark has agreed to pay $5 million to customers of CVS and Walgreen pharmacies to settle an investigation of charges that it misrepresented the price of certain Medicare prescription drugs. CVS will send checks to affected beneficiaries. Wall Street Journal et al.
01/10/2012
On Monday, Bayer HealthCare announced plans to create a 6,000 square-foot shared lab, called CoLaborator, to house startup life science companies that have technology platforms, drug targets or drug candidates that align with Bayer's portfolio. The move comes one year after the drug developer launched its Innovation Center in San Francisco's Mission Bay area. The new CoLaborator will launch in the summer in Mission Bay and is expected to house three to four small companies. San Francisco Business Times, Healthcare IT News.
01/10/2012
Yesterday, FDA officials warned about possible shortages of several painkillers made by Endo Pharmaceuticals because of manufacturing issues at a Novartis facility that produced the drugs. Endo said it expects "minimal" disruption in supply. AP/San Francisco Chronicle et al.
01/10/2012
On Monday, Woodland Hills-based Health Net announced plans to sell its Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business to CVS Caremark for $160 million. Health Net said it expects to net $140 million cash from the sale of its PDP business, which has about 400,000 customers in 49 states and the District of Columbia, and generates about $490 million in annual revenue. The acquisition, which requires CMS approval, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year. Los Angeles Business Journal, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal.
01/05/2012
A new report by University of Southern California researchers found that while physicians might favor certain medications and prescribe them more often, they are not averse to trying new therapies. The report, which was published in the American Journal of Managed Care, also found that prescribing fewer drugs has "modest effects" on patient adherence and out-of-pocket costs. For the study, researchers analyzed medical and pharmaceutical claims data from 2005 to 2007 from 29 large employers for information about the 10 most prescribed therapeutic classes of medications. Modern Physician.
12/20/2011
The percentage of U.S. residents who faced problems affording prescription drugs stayed level between 2007 and 2010, according to a new study from the Center for Studying Health System Change. The study found that more than one in eight U.S. residents went without a prescribed medication last year. According to the study, about 48% of the uninsured residents in fair or poor health had unmet prescription needs because of cost issues, which was nearly twice as high the rate of insured individuals with similar health statuses. Modern Healthcare.
12/19/2011
CVS Caremark will pay nearly $20 million to settle three lawsuits alleging that the company defrauded pension systems in California, Florida and Illinois. CalPERS will receive about $7 million. Los Angeles Times' "Money & Company," Sacramento Bee.
12/19/2011
Last week, FDA issued an interim final rule requiring drug companies that are the sole manufacturers of certain critical medicines to report a potential shortage to federal officials. Previously, companies were required only to report permanent disruptions to drug supplies. However, the new rule states that "[s]ubsequent experience has showed that even temporary discontinuance of manufacturing can have a significant impact on patient access to drug products." Modern Healthcare et al.
12/12/2011
Last week, Vallejo Rite Aid officials announced that prescription drug files on about 3,000 customers have been missing since August. At the end of August, employees at the newly renovated Rite Aid on Solano Avenue realized that several boxes containing prescription records were missing. Spokesperson Ashley Flower said that the company has electronic copies of the files and that the missing files do not contain any credit card or Social Security numbers. Rite Aid retained a risk consulting firm to notify affected customers. Vallejo Times-Herald.
12/08/2011
In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, the federal government said that generic drugmakers should be allowed to file legal "counterclaims" against brand-name drugmakers' patent protections so that it is easier for them to introduce low-cost versions of medications when the patents have expired. The government's brief was submitted for oral arguments in a case filed by Caraco Pharmaceuticals, the generic unit of Sun Pharmaceuticals, against Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk. Caraco argues that the patent description of Novo's diabetes drug Prandin is too broad and prevents any generic version from being introduced into the market. In its brief, the government noted that FDA uses narrowed patent descriptions to grant approval to generic versions of medications that save consumers billions of dollars annually. Reuters.