News

Low thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) can be observed in patients with treated hypothyroidism initiating metformin, especially between 90 and 180 days of use, according to a study published September 22 in the CMJA.

Specialty drugs’ high prices raise questions about whether their cost is worth the clinical benefits they provide, according to a recent study in Health Affairs.

Responding to requests from treating physicians, FDA has okayed brincidofovir for Emergency Investigational New Drug Applications (EIND), allowing it to be used in the treatment of the Ebola virus disease.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) will not pursue FDA approval of its hepatitis C (HCV) treatment, a dual regimen of daclatasvir and asunaprevir, and has withdrawn its new drug application (NDA) for asunaprevir, an NS3/4A protease inhibitor.

Recent data from 2 phase 3 studies showed treatment with evolocumab, a novel investigational low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering medication, resulted in a statistically significant reduction in LDL-C compared to placebo in patients with different types of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).

Understanding the patterns and costs associated with opioid dependence treatments is important when developing and improving care management programs for plan members, according to 2 studies by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime).

One day after announcing that customers will now be able to shop and sign up for health insurance including Medicaid in its stores, retail giant Walmart announced that it was cutting part-time health benefits to about 30,000 workers.

Earlier this year, IMS Health released a report indicating that overall drug spend in the United States increased by 3.2% in 2013.1 That increase stands in contrast to the 1% decline in drug spend in 2012.1 IMS noted that primary drivers of the increase include fewer patent expirations, drug price increases, expensive new drug therapies, and greater use of the healthcare system. Considering these drivers, all indications are that drug spend will continue to increase in the years to come.

FDA has extended the indication for adalimumbab (Humira, AbbVie) to include the treatment of moderately to severely active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) to reducing signs and symptoms in patients aged 2 years and older.

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

Employers are attempting to mitigate rising costs resulting from the ACA by shifting them to employees, according to a new survey from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

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.