Author: Peter

Attorney General Maura Healey announced Monday that a manufacturer of a drug that can help reverse opioid overdoses will pay the state $325,000, resolving her concerns about a sharp price increase…. settlement with Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. will help make the drug, naloxone (nasal administration),..more widely available for less money to cities and towns across the state…The $325,000 will go into the Municipal Naloxone Bulk Purchase Trust Fund, created in this year’s state budget. That fund is aimed at helping communities gain cheaper access to the drug.

New US drug shortages this year are running roughly at the same levels as the last two years, and far below the record highs seen earlier this decade,…several significant products remain difficult to find, and hospitals, still shaken by the critical shortages of the recent past, remain concerned that key drugs could once again become scarce..

University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno has been training students in the Las Vegas Valley for more than 20 years. But the creation of the UNLV School of Medicine will result in the Reno school moving most of its operations north,..deans… will encourage their students to consider a career as a primary care physician because…The goal of both schools is to develop programs to address Nevada's doctor shortage. The state consistently ranks near the bottom of number of physicians per capita, and the medical schools, have been touted as a key component to boost the number of doctors serving Nevadans.

PharmTalk is a special production from the University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy that features Keith and Kevin Boesen.

They are often in the basement, and patients seldom visit. But the pharmacy department in a big hospital is a vital unit for making sure the right medicines get to the patients on time and safely.

Open your medicine chest and you’ll find bottles and vials that contain so much more than a needed remedy…Each container actually holds a fascinating tale about the drawn-out process it took to develop the drug, the delicate dance required to win regulatory approval, the sometimes controversial steps taken to persuade doctors to prescribe the medicine, or the complicated calculus that was used to set pricing

• You can have sex or you can drink, but you can’t do both.
• Drug makers have free speech rights, too. Seriously, they do.
• My medicine costs how much?
• Is the sky the limit . . . or is the sky falling?
• No, Virginia, we don’t yet have a cure for cancer, but . . .
• You’re dying, but getting access to experimental medicine may be nearly impossible.

Pharmaceutical companies usually are involved in a lengthy process in getting their drug candidates to market through clinical trials. There is a fair amount of risk involved,..should a study come back negative or should a candidate not be approved. Conversely, if a drug is approved or passes a clinical trial, there can be big upside. Food and Drug Administration rulings can make or break these companies…. big FDA decisions coming up on the calendar for the month of September..

1. Opko Health - expecting a rolapitant PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act ) action date on September 5. (prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting)
2. Tesaro - tag along with Opko, has a New Drug Application for oral rolapitant under review by the FDA with the same PDUFA goal date.
3. Zosano Pharma - completed its enrollment for the Phase 2 trial for ZP-Glucagon. (significant improvement over the currently marketed products for treatment of severe hypoglycemia)
4. Xenoport - completed enrollment in its Phase 2 clinical trial of XP23829 as a potential treatment for moderate-to-severe chronic plaque-type psoriasis..
5. Apricus Biosciences - enrolled its last patient in its RayVa Phase 2a proof-of-concept study, (Raynaud’s phenomenon secondary to scleroderma)

An independent pharmacy will pay a $46,000 settlement over an alleged lack of break times for its employees…Three former employees,..filed small claims lawsuits with California’s labor commissioner against Point Reyes Station-based West Marin Pharmacy…Deputy Labor Commissioner…ruled that the pharmacy owed the 3 ex-employees rest-period premium wages and waiting-time penalties.

precision medicine is more complicated than portrayed by politicians and even some top health officials. Contrary to its name, precision medicine is often inexact, which means that for some patients, it will offer false hope rather than a cure…

Dutch public employees' pension fund, the world's third largest, has sold all its shares in pharmaceuticals maker Mylan after it emerged that one of the company's products is in stock at a U.S. prison where death sentences are carried out…European companies are barred from selling drugs for use in executions, forcing states that still impose the death penalty to scrabble for alternative substances, some of which have led to widely publicized and gruesome botched executions.

All 11,000 workers, retirees and family members insured by the Washoe County School District are being put on health plans with Renown Health starting in January, but their coverage won’t be restricted to Renown-branded facilities and providers, company representatives emphasized this week following concerns about the new contract.