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Parent disapproval linked to lower rate of drug misuse among teens

Parents' attitudes toward substance use may help to explain observed racial/ethnic variations in prescription drug misuse among teens, reports a study in the May Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

13 May 2014

Abeona Therapeutics obtains FDA Orphan Drug Designations for Sanfilippo Syndrome therapies

Abeona Therapeutics, a start-up company created around intellectual property licensed from Nationwide Children's Hospital to develop treatments for Sanfilippo Syndrome Types A and B, has been granted Orphan Drug Designations for its lead investigational therapies by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Orphan Products Development.

12 May 2014

Salix Pharmaceuticals' total net product revenue increases 90% to $384.4 million in Q1 2014

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014, and other business updates.

9 May 2014

Drugmakers realign to reduce costs

Meanwhile, their trade group warns that the patient cost-sharing requirements in some health law plans could restrict prescription drug access.

9 May 2014

Kindred's consolidated revenues increase 2% to $1.30 billion in Q1 2014

Kindred Healthcare, Inc. today announced its operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

7 May 2014

Humana reports EPS of $2.35 in Q1 2014; confirms EPS guidance for FY14

Humana Inc. today reported diluted earnings per common share (EPS) for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 (1Q14) of $2.35, compared to diluted earnings per common share (EPS) of $2.95 for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 (1Q13).

7 May 2014

Research roundup: Compounding pharmacies; marketplace details; changes in insurance coverage

Outraged over a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak traced back to Framingham, Massachusetts-based drug compounder New England Compounding Center (NECC) that left sixty-four people dead and more than 700 sickened, Congress passed the Compounding Quality Act .

5 May 2014

CVS Caremark net revenues increase 6.3% to $32.7 billion in Q1 2014

CVS Caremark Corporation today announced operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

2 May 2014

New health system scorecard reveals wide health gaps among states

States made little progress in improving health care access, quality, and outcomes and lowering costs in the five years preceding implementation of the major coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (2007-2012), according to the Commonwealth Fund's third state health system scorecard. The majority of states declined or failed to improve on two-thirds of the 34 scorecard indicators that could be tracked over time.

30 Apr 2014

HHS calls health care providers to expand use of medications to treat opioid addiction, reduce overdose deaths

A national response to the epidemic of prescription opioid overdose deaths was outlined yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine by leaders of agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

26 Apr 2014

Biogen Idec's revenue increases 51% to $2.1 billion in first quarter 2014

Biogen Idec Inc. today reported first quarter 2014 results, including revenue of $2.1 billion, a 51% increase compared to the first quarter of 2013.

23 Apr 2014

Report recommends that medical insurers use prescription monitoring data to reduce opioid abuse

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Center of Excellence at Brandeis University has issued a ground-breaking report recommending that medical insurers use prescription monitoring data to reduce the overdoses, deaths and health care costs associated with abuse of opioids and other prescription drugs.

23 Apr 2014

Polls offer competing visions of electorate's views on health law

A Fox poll finds more than half of voters are inclined to support candidates that oppose the health overhaul, but Democrats say that other polls show a band of independent voters who may not like the law but don't want it repealed.

23 Apr 2014

New painkiller, with fewer side-effects, up for FDA approval

The drug, Moxduo, allows patients to take lower doses of other painkillers. Elsewhere, a Food and Drug Administration official talks about another painkiller, Zohydro.

23 Apr 2014

Health law a tough sell, although millions gain benefits

A New York Times analysis points out that many of those helped most by the health law are the least likely to cast votes to preserve it. CNN notes that Obamacare is a tough sell for embattled Democrats and a political analyst questions GOP strategy to run against the law.

22 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 21, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a GAO report on how the Obama administration raised money from outside groups to promote the health law.

21 Apr 2014

Medicare pays doctors even after they're sanctioned

A ProPublica report finds that the agency continued paying doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals even after they were charged with bilking the program. Meanwhile, a report recommends that Medicare pay hospitals less for low-risk outpatient surgeries.

17 Apr 2014