News

The 50-year reign of employer-driven healthcare coverage is coming to an end, according to a new study.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) will acquire CareFusion for $12.2 billion in cash and stock, making it a global leader in medication management and patient safety solutions.

In recent months, the CDC has cautioned that individuals with Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa may travel to the United States, exhibit signs and symptoms of EVD, and present to US facilities.1,2 Now, the first case of a patient presenting with EVD to a US hospital has been reported and some others identified as being in contact with this patient are at risk.3

The effectiveness of an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) medication therapy management (MTM) patient fulfillment model and its impact on adherence compared to standard care will be evaluated in a new study.

Genentech has announced a major change in the distribution process for their 3 top cancer drugs: Avastin (bevacizumab), Herceptin (trastuzumab), and Rituxan (rituximab). Now, distribution of the drugs to hospitals and clinics will be restricted to authorized specialty distributors.

ACL inhibitor ETC-1002 (Esperion) met its primary end point of greater LDL-cholesterol lowering from baseline with ETC-1002 compared with ezetimibe, according to a study.

In patients with severe to very severe COPD and a history of exacerbation, the risk of moderate or severe exacerbations during 1 year of follow-up was non-inferior between those patients who continued on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and those who discontinued ICS therapy in a step-wise manner, as long as patients continued to receive maintenance treatment with long-acting bronchodilators (tiotropium and a long-acting beta agonist [LABA]), according to data presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2014 and also published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Opportunity abounds for plans that formulate the right stars strategy to capture bonuses and retain and win members

Hospitals will save $5.7 billion this year in uncompensated care costs due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Success in today’s health insurance industry may be elusive because of significant market trends driven by the ACA, according to William Lindsay, president of the Lockton Employee Benefits Group.

FDA has approved fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant (Iluvien, Alimera) 0.19 mg for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) in patients who have been previously treated with a course of corticosteroids and did not have a clinically significant rise in intraocular pressure (IOP). Iluvien was approved without any restriction requiring patients to have undergone, or be scheduled for, cataract surgery.

Adding pertuzumab (Perjeta, Roche) to trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech) and docetaxel chemotherapy extended the lives (overall survival; OS) of people with previously untreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer by 15.7 months compared to Herceptin and chemotherapy (median OS: 56.5 vs. 40.8 months), according to data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2014 congress in Madrid, Spain.

FDA approved methylnaltrexone bromide (Relistor, Salix Pharmaceuticals and Progenics Pharmaceuticals) subcutaneous injection, 12 mg/0.6 mL, for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients taking opioids for chronic non-cancer pain.

Today’s launch of the Open Payments website has trade and physician associations worried about the accuracy and presentation of its data.

An FDA review of safety studies suggests a slightly increased risk of problems involving the heart and blood vessels supplying the brain among patients being treated with the asthma drug omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech) than in those who were not treated with omalizumab. As a result, FDA has added information about these potential risks to the drug label.

FDA has approved updated label changes for the smoking cessation drug, varenicline (Chantix, Pfizer).

At least five state health insurance exchanges are making major changes in their websites for the 2015 open enrollment period

All-encompassing change to the U.S.’s end-of-life care system is urgently needed.

Concerns about cost and ROI are widespread

FDA has approved adalimubab (Humira, AbbVie) to treat pediatric patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease.

CMS recently issued quality and financial performance results showing that Medicare ACOs have improved patient care and produced hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for the program. But when the numbers are broken down, only half of the ACOs in the two programs saw any return on investment.

The website was breached on July 8 but no consumer information was taken

FDA has approved Otezla (apremilast, Celgene) for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in patients who are considered candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy.

Underpinning FDA clearance were data gathered from a study of more than 1650 patients with a variety of medical conditions and medications who were being treated in different hospital departments like cardiac, emergency intensive care, and surgical departments. In all of the various types of patients being tested, study results found agreement in blood glucose results versus a comparator laboratory glucose analyzer.

77 new issuers will offer marketplace coverage.

In an increasing effort to continue to play a complementary role with primary care practices in providing care to patients, CVS Health has worked to deplete existing cigarette inventory at CVS/pharmacy stores without receiving new shipments.

lthough the growing public outcry surrounding antibiotic resistance has only recently propelled sepsis back into the international spotlight, in reality, the sepsis marketplace has been one of high unmet medical need for decades. The condition, which currently lacks specific therapies beyond antimicrobials and basic supportive care, has quietly evolved into one of the most urgent medical issues facing our healthcare system today