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In the fight against brain disease, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is putting its money on the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health...The mixed martial arts organization...announced a $1 million donation over five years in support of the center's Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, which aims to understand the long-term effects of brain trauma...UFC Chief Operating Officer Ike Lawrence Epstein announced the donation....The goal of the study is not just to gather data on trauma but also to determine if brain damage can be detected early enough for intervention...CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a degenerative brain disease found in people who have suffered repeated head trauma..."We're really pushing all of our athletes to make sure they come to this facility and get tested and be part of this study because that's the key to all of this," Epstein said.

Last week, the Department of Health Care Services announced the addition of a number of adult vaccines to the Medi-Cal fee-for-service outpatient drug benefit. This means that Medi-Cal beneficiaries in the statewide fee-for-service network can now receive coverage for adult immunizations when administered in a pharmacy. Newly added vaccines include those for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV, MMR, and more. Coverage does contain vaccine-specific restrictions...CPhA (California Pharmacist Association) applauds this coverage change to improve patient access to pharmacists' services. "We are excited to see momentum in many areas of SB 493 implementation, including expanded immunizations," said CPhA President Sarah McBane, PharmD. "As more of SB 493's authorities gain recognition by Medi-Cal and other payers, pharmacists stand ready to assist our patients."

The ongoing outrage over the cost of hepatitis C treatments is, once again, prompting consumers to fight back against insurers that deny them access to the medicines. In the latest instance, a pair of lawsuits was filed that accuse two large insurers in the state of Washington of rationing...The lawsuits...seek class action status, charge that Group Health Cooperative and BridgeSpan restricted access to the medicines except to the "most severely ill" people, but not for a "clinical purpose." Instead, the consumers charge the insurers do so due to "financial concerns." And they want the insurers to provide coverage...BridgeSpan requires "infected individuals wait for treatment...until they demonstrate serious scarring or cirrhosis of the liver from hepatitis C infection," one lawsuit charges. Meanwhile, patients are "forced to live with…an increased risk of cancer or death."...The newest crop of hepatitis C medicines...boast cure rates exceeding 90 percent...Health care experts had predicted still more lawsuits would be filed while prices remain high. What remains to be seen is whether the arrival of a new Merck hepatitis C drug, which is priced at $54,600, will generate sufficient discounting so that insurers loosen restrictions.

A new health care quality standard has been released to help protect both care providers and patients...The updated United States Pharmacopeia-National Formulary includes a new general chapter, <800> Hazardous Drugs – Handling in Healthcare Settings, to decrease the risk of residual exposure to potentially dangerous medications...USP <800> applies to physicians, nurses, veterinarians, pharmacists, and technicians in health care facilities that handle or store hazardous drugs to prevent and limit exposure... This new standard developed by the USP Compounding Expert Committee, which builds upon other prior publications, included insight from a panel of medical industry experts. The panel helped guide best practices, different techniques, engineering controls, and other elements for handling hazardous drugs...

A Los Angeles-area doctor convicted of murder for prescribing exorbitant amounts of painkillers that left a dozen patients dead was sentenced...to 30 years to life in prison...The conviction of Dr. Hsiu-Ying "Lisa" Tseng and her long prison sentence are rare for a doctor...Minutes before she was sentenced, Tseng apologized in court to the families of her dead patients and others who became addicted to prescription drugs under her care...In handing down the harsh sentence, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George Lomeli said he found it egregious that Tseng continued to write reckless prescriptions even after learning her patients were dying..."(She’s) a person who seemingly did not care about the lives of her patients in this case but rather appeared more concerned about distributing dangerous controlled substances in an assembly line fashion so as to collect payments which amounted to her amassing several million dollars," Lomeli said...

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has approved the recommended adult immunization schedule for 2016. The recommendations are published as a clinical guideline in the Feb. 2 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine...The researchers note that the major changes to the schedule relate to human papillomavirus, pneumococcal, and serogroup B meningococcal vaccines. The nine-valent HPV vaccine was added to the schedule, and can be used for routine vaccination against HPV for males and females. For immunocompetent adults aged 65 years and older, the vaccine interval for 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine followed by 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine was changed from "six to 12 months" to "at least one year." Immunocompromised adults, and those with anatomical or functional asplenia, cerebrospinal fluid leak, or cochlear implant, aged 19 years or older, should receive PPSV23 at least eight weeks after PCV13. All persons aged 10 years and older who are at increased risk for serogroup B meningococcal disease should have the MenB vaccine series.

Mike Glaicar, Business Development: Pharmacy Times...(PTNN)...This weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee convened...to hold an oversight meeting about the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2010...Among the stakeholders in the enactment of the law is the Generic Pharmaceutical Association’s Biosimilars Council...GPhA president...Chip Davis commented on the hearings, noting the need for more straightforward naming conventions for biologics and biosimilars and calling for price calculations that ensure sufficient reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...Biosimilars Council...is concerned that different international nonproprietary names for biologics and biosimilars could lead to patient and provider confusion, increasing the likelihood of prescribing errors...The Council also urges [CMS] to provide non-interchangeable biosimilars with a unique average sales price calculation and billing code, to ensure a competitive reimbursement…

In an effort to combat the growing epidemic of prescription drug and heroin abuse, leaders of the FBI and DEA today unveiled a documentary aimed at educating students and young adults about the dangers of the addiction. "Chasing the Dragon" is a 45-minute documentary film that profiles the stories of several people who either abused opiates or had family members become addicts. It profiles the cycle of addiction and looks at the tragic consequences associated with opioid abuse. The documentary also features interviews with medical and law enforcement professionals discussing the effects of the addiction, and how this epidemic is unlike any this country has seen before...(Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict - downloadable here)...

Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli was scheduled to testify to Congress today, but exercised his 5th Amendment right to not incriminate himself. Shkreli's lawyer...