News

Soaring prescription drug prices is quickly becoming a hot-button political topic, as American consumers are saying that pricing is out-of-control.

Teva Pharmaceutical’s unsolicited $40 billion offer to acquire Mylan N.V. is expected to shake up the pharmaceutical industry, especially in the areas of generic and specialty drugs. A Teva acquisition of Mylan would be the biggest health care deal of the year so far and the largest acquisition ever proposed by an Israeli company, according to S.&P. Capital IQ, The New York Times reported.

Children who have neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy or epilepsy are no more likely to be vaccinated against influenza than children without these conditions, despite the increased risk for complications from flu these children experience, according to a study published online April 9 in Vaccine. Moreover, healthcare providers may not be familiar with the increased risk among these patients to effectively recommend influenza vaccine.

The introduction of abuse-deterrent OxyContin, couple with the removal of propoxyphene from the US prescription marketplace may have played a role in decreasing opioid prescribing and overdoses, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Shifting from fee-for-service to value-based pay depends heavily on five factors.

Increasing unnecessary regulations on drug plans could inflict higher costs on the 220 million Americans who get their medications through a managed drug plan, according to a new report.

Older adults taking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) were more likely to have an increased risk of acute kidney injury and acute interstitial nephritis, according to a study published in CMAJ Open.

After an extensive review, researchers said they were unsure whether the risks of prescription opioids outweighed the potential benefits for managing chronic pain.

A counterfeit version of onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) was found in the United States and may have been sold to doctors’ offices and medical clinics nationwide. The version is considered unsafe and should not be used.

FDA has approved ivabradine (Corlanor, Amgen) to reduce hospitalization due to worsening heart failure. Corlanor is an antianginal agent approved for use in patients who have chronic heart failure caused by the lower-left part of the heart not contracting well.

FDA has approved changes to the hepatitis C antiviral simeprevir (Olysio, Janssen) label to include new warnings about serious symptomatic bradycardia-slowing of the heart rate-when co-administered with antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone and antiviral sofosbuvir (Solvaldi, Gilead).

The FDA today approved the first generic version of Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection) for treating patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) on April 16.

In the first release of its star ratings, only 251 hospitals scored “five out of five stars” on Medicare’s Hospital Compare site.

Ibrutinib, a newly approved drug for Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia, a rare form of lymphoma, continued to control the rare blood cancer, with 95% of patients surviving for 2 years, according to a new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) are accruing specialty drug treatment costs of more than $300,000 annually on average, according to a study presented at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 27th Annual Meeting and Expo, in San Diego.

BLOG: Pharmacogenomics is the study of how DNA differences affect response to medications. This can explain why similar patients have different reactions to the same medication even if they receive the same dosage. The pharmacogenomics clinic at NorthShore is the first step toward a larger implementation.

New cystic fibrosis treatments, that target the gene mutations causing the disease, will significantly increase healthcare costs, according to a study presented at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 27th Annual Meeting and Expo, in San Diego.

Reducing long-term care utilization among patients with Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP) may lower overall economic burden, according to data presented at the American Managed Care Pharmacy 27th Annual Meeting & Expo in San Diego.

Pregnant women are commonly being prescribed opioids - narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone - which results in an increased likelihood of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a drug withdrawal syndrome that opioid-related infants experience shortly after birth, according to a study in Pediatrics.

Onglyza, the diabetes medication manufactured by AstraZeneca, may be associated with an increased death rate, according to a preliminary review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A Louisiana senator is calling for a closed drug formulary for the state’s Worker’s Compensation program, to help combat the overutilization of opioids and compounded drugs.

Researchers raised concerns about the safety of prescribing combination antihypertensive medications in elderly patients with low blood pressure, in a new JAMA Internal Medicine study.

The pricing of oncology drugs is not necessarily based on their novelty or effectiveness, according to a new JAMA Oncology study. Instead, researchers found, “current pricing models are not rational but simply reflect what the market will bear.”

Patients without insurance could be asked to pay twice as much or more than insurers pay for chemotherapy, according to a study published in he April issue of Health Affairs.

Several weight loss and fitness supplements contain the chemical BMPEA, a stimulant similar to amphetamine, according to a new study.

Data, quality, specialty drug costs and social determinants of health are the pain points that are keeping executives at nonprofit safety net health plans up at night.

The FDA has approved the Gastric Emptying Breath Test (GEBT), manufactured by Advanced Breath Diagnostics, a new, non-invasive test used to help diagnose gastroparesis.

According to Catamaran's 2015 Informed Trends Report, diabetes accounted for a major share of the increase in traditional drug trend. The study also found that specialty medications accounted for 28% of drug costs but only 1% of claims.

Paracetamol is ineffective in reducing pain, disability or improving quality of life for patients who suffer from low back pain or osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, and its use may affect the liver, according to a study published BMJ.

Antibiotic-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) exposed to cigarette smoke become even more resistant to killing by the immune system, according to a study published in Infection and Immunity.