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First generic versions of Aciphex delayed-release tablets get FDA approval for GERD treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic versions of Aciphex (rabeprazole sodium) delayed-release tablets, used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease in adults and adolescents (ages 12 and up).

10 Nov 2013

Access to health care increases prescription opioid abuse

Researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis say one way to gauge the extent of prescription opioid pain reliever abuse in any Indiana county is to count the number of health care providers, particularly dentists and pharmacists.

5 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Website is like 'a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds;' remembering patients who never had care and the need for health law

Obamacare is starting to resemble a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. A month after launch, the online health exchanges where individuals are supposed to shop for insurance remain slow or unusable, except in states that opted to run their own marketplaces and did a more competent job than the administration. As if that weren't trouble enough, critics are justifiably mocking President Obama for his repeated, untrue promise that if people liked their health plans, they could keep them. Oops. Hundreds of thousands of people are getting termination notices for plans that don't meet the strict new requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Presumably, not all those people disliked their plans (11/3).

5 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: House Republicans help themselves, and the country, with smart, tough questions to Tavenner; Kentucky senators out of step with eager constituents; replace health law with single payer system

When House Republicans direct their opposition to Obamacare toward aggressive oversight rather than apocalyptic budget shenanigans, they can do themselves and the country a lot of good. That was obvious when the House Ways and Means Committee posed some smart, tough questions about HealthCare.gov to Marilyn Tavenner, who, as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is perhaps the person most directly responsible for the fiasco. Yes, there were a few "gotcha" questions meant to showcase individual representatives' hatred of the health-care law. But for the most part, the queries seemed designed to find a path toward more competent management of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (10/29).

31 Oct 2013

Health plan cancellations create White House's next set of challenges

News coverage is focusing on the notion that a large percentage of people who currently have individual health coverage are receiving cancellation notices because their plans don't meet the standards created by the health law. Many of these people, according to reports, will face "sticker shock" with their new insurance. A critical emerging question is whether the Obama administration expected this scenario.

30 Oct 2013

New study reveals striking data about misuse of painkillers and sedatives by teens, young adults

With prescription drug abuse at epidemic levels nationwide, and overdoses killing more people than auto accidents in many states, a new University of Michigan study provides striking new data about the misuse of potent prescription painkillers and sedatives by teens and young adults.

30 Oct 2013

New York's Liberty Health Advantage wins 2014 Senior Choice Gold Award

New York's Liberty Health Advantage is the sole New York City metro area recipient of the 2014 Senior Choice Gold Award for its Preferred Choice Medicare Advantage plan.

28 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans new-found interest in the workings of the health website; fixing the problem crucial to Obama's presidency

Republicans are apoplectic about Healthcare.gov, the official Web site for the Affordable Care Act. They are trying desperately to change the subject from their disastrous government shutdown by ranting about the failures of a government Web site that cost a tiny fraction of what was lost as a result of the shutdown. Republicans are pretending that they care about the problems encountered in signing up for a system that many of them are bent on destroying (Charles M. Blow, 10/23).

25 Oct 2013

CVS Caremark receives PBM and DTM accreditation from URAC

CVS Caremark announced today that it has been awarded Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) and Drug Therapy Management accreditation from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

24 Oct 2013

FDA grants orphan drug designation to Aduro's CRS-207 for treatment of pancreatic cancer

Aduro BioTech, Inc. announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation for CRS-207, a novel immunotherapy, for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

22 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: HHS officials must tell Congress, citizens what is happening to marketplaces; 'rate shock' didn't materialize; problems with medical credit cards

The Affordable Care Act's botched rollout has stunned its media cheering section, and it even seems to have surprised the law's architects. The problems run much deeper than even critics expected, and whatever federal officials, White House aides and outside contractors are doing to fix them isn't working. But who knows? ... Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is even refusing to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a hearing this coming Thursday. ... The department is also refusing to make available lower-level officials who might detail the source or sources of this debacle (10/18).

22 Oct 2013

DOH releases SPHHS study investigating prescribing of antipsychotics to District seniors

The District of Columbia Department of Health has released a study by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services investigating prescribing of antipsychotics to District seniors.

21 Oct 2013

Hospitals try new tactics to reduce hospital falls

The nation's medical workforce grapples with preventing falls in the hospital to improve patient safety. In the meantime, seniors in some places of the country are more likely to fill prescriptions for high-risk drugs, and Miami's seniors lead the nation in filling Medicare prescriptions.

18 Oct 2013

Use of effective, risky drug therapies by Medicare patients varies across US

A new report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project shows that the use of both effective and risky drug therapies by Medicare patients varies widely across U.S. regions, offering further evidence that location is a key determinant in the quality and cost of the medical care that patients receive.

18 Oct 2013

Using mobile device to check drug info prevents adverse events, say nursing home doctors

Nearly nine out of 10 nursing home physicians said that using their mobile devices to look up prescription drug information prevented at least one adverse drug event in the previous month, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

17 Oct 2013

Where seniors live affects their health care and the medications they get

The Associated Press examines how geography can make a key difference in the treatments that Medicare beneficiaries receive. Other outlets look at the annual open enrollment period for Medicare prescription drug plans. USA Today reports that thousands who rely on nursing home trust funds have had their savings mismanaged or stolen.

17 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 16, 2013

Today's headlines including stories detailing how certain health law provisions are factoring in to the continuing congressional budget stalemate.

16 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: 'False hysteria' over health law's part-time criteria; marketplaces 'flunk' initial test; Ben Carson's surprising assessment

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has had a difficult launching, but the more serious challenges for the law relate not to glitch-filled Web sites but rather to its possible long-term effects on the United States economy. The law is not likely to last if it imposes a severe drag on growth and job creation, or involves large costs obscured by the legislative gimmicks used to shape the scoring of the bill by the Congressional Budget Office. Indeed, Casey B. Mulligan has discussed the negative effects of the legislation on the American labor market in a series of posts on Economix, while the policy expert Charles Blahous explains in detail why the "fiscally reckless" legislation will aggravate the already difficult federal and state fiscal situations (Philip Swagel, 10/14).

16 Oct 2013

Medicare open-enrollment begins: Seniors should carefully consider new options

Officials are cautioning seniors to stay away from the health law's new online marketplaces -- as open-enrollment season begins for Medicare managed care and prescription plans.

16 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 15, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how the budget deal taking shape in the Senate would not derail the health law, but would include some tweaks.

15 Oct 2013

Prescription Drug News and Research

First generic versions of Aciphex delayed-release tablets get FDA approval for GERD treatment

Access to health care increases prescription opioid abuse

Viewpoints: Website is like 'a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds;' remembering patients who never had care and the need for health law

Viewpoints: House Republicans help themselves, and the country, with smart, tough questions to Tavenner; Kentucky senators out of step with eager constituents; replace health law with single payer system

Health plan cancellations create White House's next set of challenges

New study reveals striking data about misuse of painkillers and sedatives by teens, young adults

New York's Liberty Health Advantage wins 2014 Senior Choice Gold Award

Viewpoints: Republicans new-found interest in the workings of the health website; fixing the problem crucial to Obama's presidency

CVS Caremark receives PBM and DTM accreditation from URAC

FDA grants orphan drug designation to Aduro's CRS-207 for treatment of pancreatic cancer

Viewpoints: HHS officials must tell Congress, citizens what is happening to marketplaces; 'rate shock' didn't materialize; problems with medical credit cards

DOH releases SPHHS study investigating prescribing of antipsychotics to District seniors

Hospitals try new tactics to reduce hospital falls

Use of effective, risky drug therapies by Medicare patients varies across US

Using mobile device to check drug info prevents adverse events, say nursing home doctors

Where seniors live affects their health care and the medications they get

First Edition: October 16, 2013

Viewpoints: 'False hysteria' over health law's part-time criteria; marketplaces 'flunk' initial test; Ben Carson's surprising assessment

Medicare open-enrollment begins: Seniors should carefully consider new options

First Edition: October 15, 2013

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