Author: Peter

Industry lobbying group PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) has cleared its decks of nearly two dozen members as it tries to distance itself from those companies most likely to catch heat over drug pricing practices. While not all of those who were dropped have price-pushing reputations, the practices of some are particularly notorious for their methods...The organization did this with new bylaws that mandate members meet minimum R&D investment requirements, a move that was expected to force out smaller companies whose business model is built more on buying drugs and then jacking up prices significantly. The move comes as the lobbying group works to portray its membership as serious drugmakers that are investing heavily in innovative new medications...PhRMA said under its new criteria, which is “effective immediately,” members must invest at least 10% of their budgets on research and development and spend at least $200 million a year on average over three years on R&D...

Nicole Crisano, PTNN. This weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

Governor Brian Sandoval's Office announced...that the state will receive a grant of more than $5.6 million to help combat opioid addiction...Nevada has received notice from United States Health and Human Services Secretary...Nevada will receive a $5,663,328 grant to combat opioid addiction. The funding, which is the first of two rounds provided for the 21st Century Cures Act, will be provided through the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration…“I would like to thank the Trump Administration, specifically Secretary Price and the members of our federal delegation who supported the 21st Century Cures Act. This funding will provide significant resources aimed at combating the opioid crisis, a sweeping epidemic which is hurting families across Nevada and our nation,” said Governor Brian Sandoval. “Nevada is committed to working collaboratively with medical professionals, stakeholders, and community advocates as we continue to tackle the significant health, social and economic consequences of prescription drug abuse.”

Policies that limit or regulate interactions between doctors and pharmaceutical company representatives may affect what drugs are prescribed to patients, according to a new study...Drugs promoted by pharmaceutical representatives - known as detailed drugs - lost market share after hospitals enacted such policies, while drugs that weren't detailed gained market share...the findings suggest institutions and organizations can play a role in relationships between doctors and the drug industry..."Detailing" visits from drug representatives are one way to educate doctors about new drugs and treatments they would need to learn of elsewhere...those visits are linked to increased use of brand name and costly drugs even when less expensive generic treatments are available...The million dollar question is whether drug detailing and restrictions on detailing are affecting patient outcomes...

The nation's opioid crisis is forcing hospitals to begin rolling out non-addictive alternatives to treatments that have long been the mainstay for the severe pain of trauma and surgery, so they don't save patients' lives or limbs only to have them fall under the grip of addiction...Doctors and hospitals around the country are searching for ways to relieve extreme pain while at the same time sharply limiting what was long considered their most effective tool. It's a critical part of the effort to overcome the worst addiction crisis in U.S. history...The new approach: Mixing a variety of different medications, along with techniques like nerve blocks, spinal anesthesia and numbing lidocaine, to attack pain from multiple directions, rather than depending solely on opioids to dampen brain signals that scream "ouch." It's known by the wonky name "multimodal analgesia."...Without the opioid side effects of nausea, vomiting and constipation, patients may find it easier to start eating solid food and walking around hours after surgery...

CVS Health, which is working to turn around the performance of certain businesses following the loss last year of some key prescription management contracts, saw profits drop thanks to lower pharmacy sales from its drugstores...CVS reported first-quarter profits that dropped 17% to $953 million, or 92 cents a share, compared to $1.1 billion, or 1.04 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose just 3% to $44.5 billion amid slumping same-store retail pharmacy sales...CVS Health is working to overcome the loss of tens of millions of prescriptions after the Department of Defense’s Tricare plan signed a deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance and other pharmacies that excludes CVS pharmacies..."We continue to expect 2017 to be a rebuilding year," CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement accompanying its first-quarter earnings report...

Utah pharmacists will start putting red stickers on bottles of opioids that warn patients about the risk of overdose and addiction as part of a new awareness campaign to combat painkiller abuses and deaths…The Utah Department of Health's month long campaign kicks off Monday and is meant to encourage dialogue between pharmacists and patients about opioid risks…The new initiative is a collaborative effort by the health department, the Utah Pharmacy Association and the Utah Department of Commerce…The red stickers - which read "Caution: Opioid. Risk of Overdose and Addiction" - will prompt patients to ask pharmacists questions about their potentially addictive medications, said Greg Jones, chairman of the Utah Pharmacy Licensing Board...

Laura Joszt, assistant managing editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

Buried deep in its first quarter earnings filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Eli Lilly & Co. disclosed it is being investigated for insulin pricing practices by the attorneys general of New Mexico and Washington. The Washington AG is looking at Lilly's relationship with pharmacy benefit managers...Insulin competitor Novo Nordisk has also said it is under investigation by the two AGs for pricing and trade practices for its insulin products, going back as far as 2005...Things are getting complicated at the moment for the big three in insulin. As well as the investigations by the attorneys general, last month, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and Lilly, along with the pharmacy benefit managers CVS, Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's OptumRx, were slapped with a complaint and demand for a jury trial from the Type 1 Diabetes Defense Foundation.

Regulatory uncertainty in the wake of Brexit could leave Britain's multi-billion-pound medical technology industry out in the cold, with separate regulatory systems threatening exports and jobs…That is the warning from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers…which…became the latest group to highlight the problem of regulatory uncertainty once Britain leaves the European Union…industries from aerospace to pharmaceuticals and chemicals fear Brexit may create a regulatory vacuum…the IME called on the British government to harmonize its post-Brexit rules with EU regulations on medical devices - a category covering everything from heart stents to walking aids - or risk losing billions of pounds in exports…Leaving the EU without the UK medical technology industry suffering considerable long-term damage, particularly for small businesses, will be a huge challenge…it is vital that the UK is able to maintain continuity with the EU CE certification processes, and enable UK manufacturers to export medical devices into the 100 billion euros European med tech market…