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Drug Enforcement Administration…and United States Attorney...that nine individuals have been charged by indictment with participating in a drug trafficking ring that obtained more than 80,000 oxycodone pills by way of fraudulent prescriptions….and distributed the drug in the greater New Haven area. As part of the conspiracy, members of organization obtained the personal identifying information of medical practitioners and used the information to create fraudulent prescriptions…also purchased legitimate prescriptions for oxycodone from individuals…then used individuals, or "runners," to fill the fraudulent prescriptions at pharmacies throughout Connecticut. Once a runner provided his or her personal information to a member of the organization, the runner’s information was kept on file and used to create other fraudulent prescriptions.

Ashley Talamo, Publisher: Pharmacy Times...(PTNN) This weekly video program highlights the latest in pharmacy news, product news, and more. (video)

CNBC's Meg Tirrell reports on a little-known law from 1983 that could negatively impact fair pricing in the drug marketplace.

…Food and Drug Administration's unapproved-drugs initiative,...program is well known to some physicians and hospitals and their patients, who blame it for huge increases in the price of drugs that have been in common use for decades…it underscores an enormous flaw in our drug-approval process that rewards a few clever manufacturers at the expense of patients. The agency's unapproved-drugs initiative has laudable aims…to bring grandfathered medications that were in use before the FDA instituted rigorous testing requirements for safety and efficacy into line with modern standards…federal law also allows the FDA to incentivize drug research and development by granting marketing exclusivity to manufacturers who demonstrate a new use for a drug, or even a new dosing regime

Biotech stocks closed out their worst week in four years after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton vowed to address 'price gouging'…Among the worst performers in trading Friday, Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and Celgene were all sharply lower.

European health regulators…conditionally approved Amgen Inc's rare blood cancer drug, Blincyto (blinatumomab), which is one of the world's most expensive cancer treatments…Food and Drug Administration in December approved Blincyto for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which has few treatment options once a patient has relapsed…Blincyto is a so-called bispecific antibody, an emerging class of drugs that could prove more potent than conventional antibodies,…

Dozens of women urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration… to withdraw Bayer AG's permanent contraceptive device, Essure, saying not enough is known about its potential to harm users…complaints from thousands of women who said it had caused life-altering side effects from chronic pain and bleeding to autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis and lupus…. More than 5,000 adverse events have been reported to the FDA, though it is not always clear what role Essure played in the event…Mark Bell, a metals engineering consultant…, said he analyzed a number of Essure devices after they had been removed…believes there are latent manufacturing processing problems with the devices.

Medical practices across the U.S. are now spending a lot more on technology this year, up nearly 34 percent from four years ago,…"As technology continues to evolve, medical practices must likewise also evolve,…"The way patients ask for and receive care is changing. The increased use of technology can improve the quality of patient care by improving records management, optimizing workflow and meeting HIPAA compliancy requirements."

If you're looking for trends in cyber-crime, it's best to follow the money…Healthcare information is being exposed in more places every day, creating new risks for patients, providers, payers, and other organizations…medical devices…are already being hacked, a trend that is alarming hospitals and other healthcare organizations…these devices are being hacked to unlock portals into larger medical systems and steal protected health information… economics of cyber-crime,..stolen medical identities can bring in many times the price of a stolen credit card number.

A new analysis of pharma research and development data shows that drugmakers have become increasingly successful in identifying the right candidates for drug development and getting them to market in recent years…From 2010 to 2014, one out of every 13 drugs in phase-I development came to market—compared to one of 19 phase-I drug candidates making it from 2007 to 2011,…Developing a drug takes 10 years on average currently, which is 40% longer than it took 15 years ago…Drug discovery—defined as all the work leading up to human clinical trials—has remained steady, taking four years on average.