Author: Peter

As part of a strategy to switch patients to newer HIV treatments, Gilead Sciences...raised prices on a pair of older HIV medications that face patent expiration...triggering still more criticism by AIDS activists of its overall pricing strategies...the company raised the wholesale acquisition cost...for the two older medicines — Complera (emtricitabine, rilpivirine,tenofovir) and Stribild (cobicistat, elvitegravir, emtricitabine,tenofovir) — by 7 percent, to $2,508 and $3,469 a month, respectively. This follows price hikes of 7 percent and 5 percent last January...Meanwhile, Gilead left intact prices for two much newer versions of these drugs — Odefsey (emtricitabine, rilpivirine, tenofovir) and Genvoya (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, tenofovir alafenamide) – which remain priced at $2,346 and $2,578 per month...By boosting prices for the older HIV treatments twice in just six months, Gilead is clearly hoping that doctors will prescribe its newer drugs. And physicians have an added impetus for doing so: the newest Gilead medications are more potent and studies have indicated they are likely to cause fewer side effects...price hikes has angered AIDS activists, who say the higher prices reflect indifference to the ability of payers to absorb higher drug costs...AIDS Healthcare Foundation believes the price hike is a good reason to push to invalidate Gilead patents...The small savings from the cheaper new drugs pales in comparison to how cheap they would be if they went generic...

Rio de Janeiro’s hospitals are running out of syringes and basic medications, and their staffs are running on little-to-no pay, with one month to go before the city hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics...Doctors in the city are warning tourists who are planning to visit Rio de Janeiro not to do so if they do not have health insurance, as service prices increase with demand...Rio de Janeiro’s medical system has been bordering collapse for months, though the situation has deteriorated as the city and state government’s have poured millions into Olympic facilities at the expense of public services.

Justin Gallagher, associate publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care, from the Managed Markets News Network.

Two compounding pharmacists from Alabama will spend a year in prison for distributing tainted drugs... The adulterated drugs were compounded at Advanced Specialty Pharmacy, which did business as Meds IV... David Allen...and William Timothy Rogers...pleaded guilty...to 2 misdemeanor violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act...the 2...were sentenced to 12 months and 10 months in prison, respectively...also...1 year of supervised release after they get out of prison, and they’ll each have to pay a $5000 fine...Meds IV compounded...its own amino acid solution, then mixed it with other ingredients to create TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition)...The amino acid solution happened to be contaminated with Serratia marcescens, and the TPN was prepared, packed, or held in insanitary conditions...the amino acid was prepared by Meds IV outside a laminar airflow workbench and was kept unrefrigerated, in a room that was not sterile, in a large pot sitting on the floor, sometimes overnight, before it was sterilized and used...Nine patients developed bloodstream infections and died, while others developed S. marcescens bloodstream infections but survived.

Johnson & Johnson...was ordered...to pay $70 million to a male Tennessee teenager who claimed its Risperdal antipsychotic pill caused him to grow enlarged breasts. The finding by a Pennsylvania state court jury was not only the latest, but it is the biggest defeat to date in what has become another sprawling litigation over the drug....jury found that J&J failed to properly warn Risperdal could cause gynecomastia...also determined that the company "intentionally falsified, destroyed, or concealed records" that Risperdal could cause boys to develop breasts...J&J has a bad track record when it comes to marketing Risperdal...In 2013, the company paid more than $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil charges of illegally promoting the drug for unapproved uses...J&J reputation. The health care giant has portrayed itself as a trustworthy corporate brand, but has endured several episodes that have sullied its well-honed image...

CVS Pharmacy has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle allegations that dozens of its Massachusetts pharmacies violated federal law by filling forged prescriptions for addictive painkillers and other controlled substances...Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced the settlement...CVS says it entered into the agreement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of further legal proceedings...settlement resolves two investigations by the Drug Enforcement Administration after reports of forged oxycodone prescriptions. One involved hundreds of forged prescriptions at 40 CVS stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The other involved 120 forged prescriptions at 10 CVS stores in and around Boston.

A legislative audit of the state dental board revealed systemic issues with the board’s operations, including poor record keeping and questions about how the public’s complaints are investigated...The report, presented at the June 16 meeting of the Sunset Subcommittee of the Legislative Commission, highlighted the Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners’ lack of an independent committee to review outcomes of investigations into misconduct allegations...The review process complaint was just one of several issues investigated by the auditors, who also found the board lacked "an effective process for accurately determining the amount of investigative costs" to dental professionals under scrutiny.

A federal appeals court...that biosimilar makers must always notify their brand-name rivals six months before launching expensive biologic medicines. The decision may have a significant impact on near-term health care costs, because it will effectively delay competition for these pricey drugs...The stipulation is designed to give a brand-name company time to determine what, if any, patent challenges can be pursued before a biosimilar is launched. In a closely watched case last year, the federal appeals court already ruled that biosimilar companies must wait until they actually receive Food and Drug Administration approval before giving 180-day notice to a brand-name rival...today’s decision will answer an important policy question and serve as a broader benchmark for the entire pharmaceutical industry going forward...A great deal is at stake for patients and payers because biosimilars are estimated to save as much as $44 billion in US health care costs over the next decade. Many insurers and analysts forecast that biosimilars will cost 10 percent to 30 percent less than brand-name biologics, although the number is a moving target, given that companies raise biologics prices to anticipate competition...

The Physician Payment Sunshine Act was meant to shed light on the financial relationship between drugmakers, biotech, and medical device companies whether those payments be for general or research purposes...The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recorded these payments now for two complete years in a row with partial data available for 2013...The infographic below, created by MedCity News, based on data from CMS’s Open Payments website...shows the companies that spent the most money in 2015 in comparison with the amount they spent the year before and overall payments.

Anthem and its pharmacy manager Express Scripts overcharged patients with job-based insurance for prescription drugs, alleges a lawsuit that seeks class action status for what could be tens of thousands of Americans...the latest wrinkle in a battle that has already pitted the major national insurer and its pharmacy benefit manager against each other in dueling legal actions...The case alleges that insured workers paid too much because Express Scripts charged "above competitive pricing levels" and Anthem, in effect, allowed those higher prices...Those actions...violate the firms’ responsibilities under a 1974 federal benefits law called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act...This action seeks to recover losses suffered by the plaintiffs…who overpaid and continue to overpay for the portions of the costs of prescription drugs…they are responsible for paying as plan participants," says the lawsuit, filed as Burnett v. Express Scripts and Anthem.