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An ex-stripper who became a regional sales director at Insys Therapeutics Inc gave a doctor a lap dance at a Chicago club as the drugmaker pushed the doctor to prescribe its addictive fentanyl spray, a former Insys employee testified...The testimony in federal court...came in the first criminal trial of painkiller manufacturer executives over conduct that authorities say contributed to a U.S. opioid abuse epidemic... Former Insys sales representative Holly Brown told jurors the incident with her boss, Sunrise Lee, took place after Insys began rewarding the doctor for prescribing its opioid product by paying him to speak at educational events about the drug...That Illinois doctor, Paul Madison, is one of several whom prosecutors say Lee and four other former Insys executives and managers including wealthy founder and ex-chairman John Kapoor conspired to bribe to boost sales of the spray, Subsys

Medicines for Malaria Venture has collaborated with the Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative to create a pandemic response box, which contains 400 structurally diverse antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal compounds to help accelerate the discovery and development of new treatments of pandemic diseases...The response boxes are available free of charge to global researchers from universities and pharmaceutical companies. In return, researchers are expected to publicly share results from research and development based on the compounds within two years of obtaining a box...MMV chief scientific officer Dr Timothy Wells said: The pandemic response box came about in response to the need to be prepared for a future global health emergency...Open innovation is one of the keys to unlocking new potential for drug discovery and tapping into existing expertise to kickstart new research efforts...

Addiction is more common than people realize. There are approximately 22 million people in the United States over the age of 12 with an addiction, according to The National Survey on Drug Use and Health...Almost 80 percent of individuals who struggle from a substance abuse disorder in 2014 also struggled with an alcohol use disorder. And a shocking report recently published by the National Safety Council says that Americans are more likely to die of an opioid overdose than in an automobile crash...“Drug misuse and abuse are major health problems,” said Dr. David Nutt, a British psychiatrist who set out to find which are the most addictive and dangerous drugs. His purpose was to pave the pathway for more effective ways to develop drug policies...In a study published in the Lancet, Nutt and his colleagues rated the addictiveness and harmfulness of popular drugs, based on how pleasurable a substance was, how much psychological dependence it induced, and how physically dependent it made its users.

- Heroin
- Cocaine
- Nicotine
- Barbiturates
- Alcohol

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

An artificial pancreas system that uses a smart phone app coupled with a glucose sensor and an insulin pump has shown promise in a preliminary trial in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers report...Currently, patients with type 1 diabetes must check their blood sugar levels throughout the day. Many use insulin pumps that deliver a set amount of the hormone to the body through a catheter 24 hours a day. But meal consumption, exercise and other factors can boost blood sugar levels or cause them to drop, and then the patient needs to adjust the amount of insulin being pumped into the body...The new app, which was tested under Food and Drug Administration protocols on six adults with type 1 diabetes, works with two different brands of pumps and two types of glucose sensors...Larger studies are needed to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the new artificial pancreas app. But a big advantage would be that it can be used on the person’s own cell phone...

The European Medicines Agency has begun its relocation from its headquarters in London to the organisation’s new location in Amsterdam, the Netherlands...In early January, Dutch authorities handed over a temporary building for EMA staff...the staff relocation into will be finalised on 30 March 2019...It is hoped that the move to a temporary location in time for the UK’s planned departure from the EU in March 2019 will allow the agency to remain operational during the relocation...The relocation is because the EMA must have its HQ in a European member state, meaning after the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, the EMA had to choose a new location...

A seven-year venture between tech giant Microsoft Corp and the US pharmacy retail chain Walgreens Boots Alliance is expected to bring competition to the healthcare sector on the back of lower costs...In a deal signed recently – which will see Walgreens use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform – the companies signalled their common ambition to take on Amazon.com Inc, another tech giant disrupting the healthcare space...Walgreens will roll out 12 new “digital health corners” for its US stores this year, which have been designed to promote the sale of health-related devices and to help patients manage chronic diseases...The deal will help Walgreens accumulate personalised data about patients’ health, which it said will allow pharmacists to give customised nutrition and wellness solutions using digital devices and apps as well as in-store expert advice...

Novartis has announced the execution of contingency plans, including the stockpiling of medicines that it provides in the UK, to ensure there is no disruption of supply to patients in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal...Amid increasing concerns over a no-deal Brexit, the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical giant said that measures are being taken to maintain the provision of the 120 million packs it imports to the UK from Europe each year...The company added that patient access to Novartis, Sandoz and Alcon drugs and products will be its priority...the UK National Health Service provided pharmacists with contingency plans to ensure there is no disruption to medicines supply in the event of a no-deal Brexit...Novartis urged NHS trusts and pharmacists to follow the government’s advice and refrain from stockpiling medicines in order to manage the supply centrally and better address shortage risk...Roche and GlaxoSmithKline are also building up their inventories to tackle any shortages.

The internet, while not officially recognized as an addictive substance, similarly hijacks the brain's reward system by triggering the release of pleasure-inducing chemicals and is accessible from an early age..."The brain really doesn't care what it is, whether I pour it down my throat or put it in my nose or see it with my eyes or do it with my hands,"..."A lot of the same neurochemicals in the brain are occurring."...Even so, recovering from internet addiction is different from other addictions because it is not about "getting sober,"...The internet has become inevitable and essential in schools, at home and in the workplace...It's always there...IS IT A REAL DISORDER?...Medical experts have begun taking internet addiction more seriously.

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.