News

Karen Ignagni says extensions will destabilize the market

Statin therapy is now recommended for approximately 33 million Americans who don’t have cardiovascular disease (CVD), but have an estimated 10-year CV risk of 7.5% or higher. These individuals also have LDL cholesterol between 70 mg/dL and 189 mg/dL, according to new guidelines issued Nov. 12 by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

Hepatitis C discussion with Eliav Barr, MD, vice president, infectious disease project and pipeline lead at Merck Research Laboratories in West Point, Pa.

In California, the commissioner and the exchange must reach an agreement

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is shifting its investment strategy to focus on opportunities in cystic fibrosis, according to Ian Smith, chief financial officer, who spoke at the Credit Suisse 2013 Healthcare Conference in mid November.

The 834 transfer is still on the punch list

HHS indicates that the 834 is still a work in progress.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are less likely to occur in favorable critical care work environments, according to a study in the November issue of American Journal of Critical Care.

New data looking at the safety and efficacy of rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Janssen) for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following major orthopedic surgery has been published online ahead of print in Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

FDA approved antiepileptic drug eslicarbazepine acetate (Aptiom, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals) for use as adjunctive treatment of partial onset seizures, the most common type of seizure seen in people with epilepsy.

Medicaid Health Plans of America has a new president and CEO.

Atypical antipsychotics are some of the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications in the United States. There is increasing off-label use despite lack of evidence to support its use in some of these medical or psychiatric conditions. One of these growing uses is for the management of primary insomnia. This article discusses the literature on using atypical antipsychotics for managing primary sleep disturbances. Much of the research targeting insomnia is related to using antipsychotics for comorbid psychiatric or medical problems and secondary sleep complaints. For pharmacologic management of primary insomnia in the absence of other psychiatric or neurologic conditions for which atypical agents are helpful, other hypnotic agents should be tried. More research is required before expanding the prescribing of antipsychotics for insomnia.

A new risk measure called a "home score" could potentially prevent 230,000 trips to US doctors' offices every year for suspected strep throat, according to a study online in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, the explosive growth in molecular diagnostics and specialty pharmaceuticals is outpacing the growth seen in any prior era, raising serious concerns about clinical quality and cost. According to an industry survey conducted earlier this year by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), more than 900 medicines and vaccines have been identified in various stages of development. To keep pace, the strategies that were adequate for the “empty pipeline” scenarios of a few years ago-to code each agent, communicate clinical evidence and clinical guideline developments, and update reimbursement methodologies-must now be enhanced.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus presents multiple treatment dilemmas for prescribers and healthcare clinicians. The number of oral agents for treating diabetes has increased over the past decade, and the best treatment regimen for each patient often varies based on comorbid conditions and treatment goals. Hence, understanding the risks and benefits of each agent is vital. While the number of agents for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to increase, prescribers and clinicians may struggle with the need to individualize care as a means to improve treatment outcomes.

New data evaluating the investigational protease inhibitor faldaprevir in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (PegIFN/RBV), studied in genotype 1 (GT1) patients with hepatitis C (HCV), were presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), also known as The Liver Meeting, in Washington, DC.

Any of these six criteria under the health reform law

Advanced analytic solutions are being used to detect improper payments in pharmacy claims.

You will never be able to measure wellness and you actually don't want to

Once-daily dosing of the investigational drug tiotropium helped to improve lung function over 24 hours in individuals with severe asthma, according to data presented at the 2013 American College of Chest Physicians annual meeting (CHEST 2013) in Chicago.

Patients with prostate cancer who use statins may have a lower risk of death from their disease, according to a study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Some fixes have been created for insurers selling through healthcare.gov but not many

Cynthia Ambres of KPMG discusses the future of payment reform.

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay more than $2.2 billion to settle charges it fraudulently promoted drugs and used kickbacks to spur sales, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday.

FDA has approved a new boxed warning for the anti-seizure drug ezogabine (Potiga) because of the potential risk of vision loss, retinal abnormalities, as well as skin, nail, mucous membrane, and sclera discoloration. The agency recommends that ezogabine use be limited to individuals who have not responded to alternative therapies for seizure control, and when the benefits of treatment are greater than the risks.