News

Pharmaceutical companies are battling state legislation that would require state programs such as Medicaid to pay no more than other Federal government programs for drugs.

After a death and a hospitalized patient, FDA is cautioning that differences in dosing regimens between the 2 oral formulations of Merck’s antifungal drug Noxafil (posaconazole) have resulted in dosing errors.

While forming risk-based entities among Medicaid providers could be an effective way to better manage the care of low-income populations, the risk of unintended consequences cannot be ignored. A key hedge against these consequences is better use of patient data.

Hospital pharmacies need to check their supplies of norepinephrine after PharMEDium Services in Lake Forest, Ill., voluntarily recalled several lots of Norepinephrine Bitartrate. The product is used to control blood pressure in certain acute hypotensive states.

There's good news in efforts to combat HIV/AIDs and hepatitis C (hep C, HCV). Some feel, however, that policymakers could do more to prioritize resources to fully eradicate the diseases.

In late December, FDA approved AstraZeneca’s Zurampic (lesinurad) 200-mg tablets in combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI) for high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricemia) associated with gout.

The FDA recently granted orphan drug approval to Uptravi (selexipag) tablets to treat adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a chronic, progressive, and debilitating rare lung disease that can lead to death or the need for transplantation.