News

The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).

By 2018, specialty drug expenses will comprise 60% of all drug spend, 3 times more than 2014, according to Prime Therapeutics 2014 Report on prescription drug cost analysis.

ACA’s emphasis on accountable care organizations, patient-centered medical homes, readmission penalties and pricing pressures on hospitals makes it attractive for hospitals to work together to share services and increase the efficiencies

In pregnancy, first trimester use of antidepressants does not substantively increase the risk of specific cardiac defects in babies, and should not be an important consideration in the treatment decision, according to a study published in the June 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In a 52-week study of obese adults with type 2 diabetes on high insulin doses with or without metformin, adding empagliflozin to multiple daily insulin injections significantly reduced blood glucose and body weight with lower insulin doses compared with placebo, according to data recently presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions in San Francisco.

Ipilimumab (Yervoy, Bristol-Myers Squibb) significantly improved recurrence-free survival in patients with stage 3 melanoma in the adjuvant setting, compared to placebo, according to data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Unhydrogenated, unsaturated vegetable oils, such as canola oil, can have health advantages when included in as part of a low-glycemic index (GI) diet in people with type 2 diabetes, according to research presented at American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in San Francisco, and published in Diabetes Care.

The introduction of rotavirus vaccines has substantially reduced the healthcare utilization related to diarrhea in children residing in the United States, according to a new study published in Pediatrics.

FDA has granted priority review for AbbVie’s investigational, all-oral, interferon-free regimen for the treatment of adult patients with chronic genotype 1 hepatitis C virus infection.