- Opioid settlement talks fail, landmark trial expected Monday (reuters.com)Drug firms avert landmark opioid trial as talks on $48-billion settlement set to resume (reuters.com)Teva, three U.S. drug distributors reach opioid settlement - source (reuters.com)
A landmark trial over the U.S. opioid epidemic is on track to begin on Monday after drug companies and local governments failed to agree on a settlement on Friday that had been expected to be valued at around $50 billion...Top executives of the largest U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd left a Cleveland courthouse on Friday and lawyers for states and thousands of local governments said there was no agreement...After nearly 11 hours of negotiations...it was “profoundly disappointing” that local governments would not go along with a settlement he valued at $48 billion, including $22 billion in cash and $26 billion in products and services...READ MORE
- October 18 Pharmacy Week in Review (pharmacytimes.com)
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.
- Nevada Tops The Nation For Primary And Secondary Syphilis Again (kunr.org)
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds the rise of STDs nationwide broke a new record for the fifth consecutive year...Nevada continues to top the list for the highest rate of primary and secondary syphilis...READ MORE
- This Week in Managed Care: October 11, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- J&J recalls 33,000 bottles of baby powder as FDA finds asbestos in sample (reuters.com)
Johnson & Johnson said...it is recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after U.S. health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased online...The move marks the first time the company has recalled its iconic baby powder for possible asbestos contamination, and the first time U.S. regulators have announced a finding of asbestos in the product. Asbestos is a known carcinogen that has been linked to deadly mesothelioma...READ MORE
- Pelosi drug plan would save $370B, but could reduce R&D, forecasters say (biopharmadive.com)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to require direct price negotiation between the federal government and the pharmaceutical sector would reduce Medicare drug spending by $369 billion over a decade...drugmakers are likely to push back by raising list prices and reducing research and development spending, which in turn could lead to a reduction in the number of new drugs coming to market...Drugmakers...saying price controls would extend to the private sector and reduce industry revenue by as much as $1 trillion over 10 years...READ MORE
- J&J emerges unscathed in retried California talcum powder suit (fiercepharma.com)
Facing a raft of talcum powder lawsuits nationwide, Johnson & Johnson has already been on the wrong side of big penalties in New Jersey and California. Two weeks after losing a case in the latter, J&J can take solace in notching another defense win...A Torrance, California, jury returned a defense verdict to J&J...in a lawsuit alleging the drugmaker’s talc products caused 60-year-old schoolteacher Carolyn Weirick to develop mesothelioma. The verdict followed a five-week retrial after an original jury failed to reach a decision...Despite...setbacks, J&J has emerged mostly unscathed from the talc litigation with no negative verdicts surviving appeals so far...READ MORE
- Top 9 Drugs With the Biggest Price Increases Over 2 Years (pharmacytimes.com)
Nine widely-used medications have experienced substantial price surges over the past 2 years, adding $5.1 billion to overall drug spending during this time period...7 of these 9 drugs were found by the Institute of Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) to be lacking sufficient clinical evidence to support such price increases. Not only did adalimumab top the list of best-selling drugs last year, but the anti-inflammatory medication ranked first in terms of the most substantial price hikes from 2016 to 2018...READ MORE
- This Week in Managed Care: October 18, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- More do-it-yourself docs are finding pharma answers on their own as sales rep contact declines (fiercepharma.com)Decision Resources Group 2019 ePharma Physician® Report Finds U.S. Physicians Increasingly Too Busy to See Pharma Sales Reps (decisionresourcesgroup.com)
Physician-pharma rep engagement declined significantly over the past year, with fewer in-person meetings responsible for the bulk of the drop...Physicians are seeing fewer pharma sales reps than ever, which likely isn’t a surprise. But what might raise some eyebrows is the fact that digital contact by reps isn’t taking up the slack...Instead, doctors are searching for drug and treatment information online and on their own. Close to half of doctors say they never have a question for a rep that they can’t find the answer to online...READ MORE