Author: Peter

Multibillion-dollar settlements in pharma are a rare occurrence, but things are changing rapidly. Only weeks ago, two drugmaker deals were floated that would rank among the biggest ever if they are eventually approved...The first—a whopping $23 billion deal from Teva to end thousands of state and local opioid lawsuits...The largest deal ever approved was Merck’s $4.85 billion agreement in 2007 to settle thousands of suits against its arthritis drug Vioxx...The second deal reportedly on the table—a $4 billion opioid offer from Johnson & Johnson—would rank as the second largest settlement ever reached. That’s not even mentioning the deal Purdue Pharma is reportedly working on for up to $12 billion to end its own opioid suits...READ MORE

1. Reckitt Benckiser—$1.4B
2. Johnson & Johnson, Bayer—$775M
3. Allergan—$750M
4. Actelion—$360M
5. Teva, Endo, Teikoku Seiyaku—$270M combined
6. Purdue—$270M
7. Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, others—$248M combined
8. Insys—$225M
9. Teva—$135M
10. Astellas, Amgen—$125M combined

It’s no secret that healthcare is in a state of rapid shifts—it has been for a long time, and it shows no sign of slowing in its evolution—and pharmacy is no exception. From independents to big box to large chains to hospitals, every pharmacist is going to feel (and is already feeling) significant changes...Perhaps the greatest shift in recent years, however, has come from chains. Changes in chains affect not only the pharmacists working in those chains, but show how pharmacy as a whole is evolving...READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson was on the losing end of the nation’s first opioid trial...even though it's appealing, the company is already fighting to limit its future liability as politicians put on a squeeze for more payments down the line...After the August verdict against the company for $572 million, Gov. Kevin Stitt and two prominent Republican lawmakers filed a brief arguing that future costs beyond the first year shouldn’t go to taxpayers...J&J should pay billions in addition to the $572 million verdict over many years to fund crisis abatement...READ MORE

Disparity found in analysis of practice data from CCGs (clinical commissioning groups) using First Databank’s prescribing decision tool...Drug and medical device knowledge company First Databank is urging GP practices to standardise their approaches to routine testing and monitoring of drugs, after its data revealed variance in compliance across key safety indicators for drug prescriptions...figures from analysis of...usage in 2018/2019 “suggest the need for prescribers to increase essential routine testing of clinical markers for patient harm from medications, and for more robust recording of test results into the primary care clinical system.”...READ MORE

The majority of pharmacies in the United States now offer vaccinations, but there is still significant opportunity to turn a well-run vaccination program into a profitable endeavor that benefits both patient and pharmacy...According to the CDC, just 37.1% of adults received the flu vaccine during the 2017-2018 flu season. This presents a significant opportunity for pharmacies to improve these numbers by expanding their immunization efforts, marketing their programs to the community, and relying on what makes a pharmacy a unique healthcare setting...READ MORE

Senators from both parties are pushing for a vote on a bill that would require direct-to-consumer drug ads to include the treatment’s list price...The bill, introduced in May by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin and dubbed the Drug-price Transparency in Communications Act, would amend the Social Security Act to require that ads include “truthful and non-misleading pricing information.”...The bill would circumvent a similar Department of Health and Human Services rule that was finalized in May. That rule is tied up in courts after a judge overturned it, saying one day before it was to go into effect that HHS overstepped its authority. The department appealed the ruling...READ MORE

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

Christina Mattina, welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

Residues from billions of doses of antibiotics, painkillers and antidepressants pose a significant risk to freshwater ecosystems and the global food chain, a new analysis said Thursday...There are growing fears that the unchecked use of antibiotics in both medicine and agriculture will have adverse effects on the environment and on human health...The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development compared data on concentrations of pharmaceutical residue in water samples worldwide as well as prescribing trends and water purification regulations in various countries..."Unless adequate measures are taken to manage the risks, pharmaceutical residues will increasingly be released into the environment as ageing populations, advances in healthcare, and intensification of meat and fish production spur the demand for pharmaceuticals worldwide,"...READ MORE

Sharing of threat information across stakeholders helps create situational awareness – not just for individual organizations but for the healthcare industry as a whole, says one expert...When it comes to building cybersecurity defenses against bad actors in healthcare, generally speaking each provider organization, payer or pharmaceutical company relies on its own self-developed strategies and self-selected technologies...But what if there was a more concerted effort by all of these players to work together to thwart hackers and other cyber criminals? That would be a better way of going about cybersecurity...READ MORE