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Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s deal to acquire Rite Aid Corp. is expected to draw antitrust scrutiny not only because the company would grow to 12,700 locations, but because of what goes on behind the scenes with drug payments…Federal Trade Commission…will look closely at whether the merging of the No. 1 and No. 3 pharmacy chains in the U.S. will lead to higher prices for prescription drugs...the FTC will probably review the approximately $9.4 billion deal market-by-market instead of on a national basis, since CVS, Walgreens, Wal-Mart and Rite Aid together control only about half of the U.S. retail pharmacy market...The rest is held by independent stores, smaller chains and mail-order companies. Walgreens is likely to sell or shutter some stores...

Two influential  senators called for close scrutiny of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc's plan to buy Rite Aid Corp for $9.4 billion, a deal that would unite two of the three biggest U.S. drugstore chains...Walgreens Chief Executive Stefano Pessina said the company had analyzed the antitrust aspect of the deal but would not speculate on the number of drugstores it might need to divest in order to win regulatory approval...The top two antitrust lawmakers in the Senate...urged antitrust enforcers to give the plan careful scrutiny because of the importance of healthcare in the U.S. economy..."I have fought tirelessly to promote competition in the health sector and I believe the proposed merger of two of the three largest drug store chains in the country raises serious issues," Senator Amy Klobuchar...on the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee...subcommittee's chair...Senator Mike Lee, said he hoped antitrust agencies would "closely scrutinize" the deal....

Food and Drug Administration warned Novartis AG last week after the Swiss firm was found in violation of manufacturing practices last year at two of its India drug-making plants…The warning, issued to Novartis's generic drugs unit Sandoz on Oct. 22, came after FDA officials inspected its Turbhe and Kalwa sites in western India…The FDA has banned more than 30 drug manufacturing plants in India since 2013, as it ramps up inspections of foreign facilities that supply to the United States. Several of India's largest drugmakers have faced rebukes, hurting the reputation of the industry, an important supplier of cheap generics.

For those concerned about the rising cost of pharmaceuticals, Congress is proposing some relief. The two-year budget deal proposed by lawmakers this week unexpectedly includes a provision that would require generic drug makers to pay additional rebates to state Medicaid programs for any medicine that increases in price faster than the inflation rate…The cost of new medicines for hard-to-treat diseases, such as cancer and hepatitis C, worry public and private payers, who call them budget busters. And there is growing outrage at companies such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals and...Turing Pharmaceuticals for buying drugs and then boosting the prices to sky-high levels.

FDA has once again delayed its enforcement of product tracing requirements for pharmacies under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act...Although these track-and-trace requirements took effect on July 1, 2015, the FDA said it would not enforce the product tracing obligations for pharmacies until November 1, 2015, which it has now extended to March (March 1,2016)…FDA granted this latest extension because “some dispensers—primarily smaller, independent pharmacies and health systems—have expressed that they need additional time,” …In the meantime, pharmacies that do not capture and maintain product tracing information, or accept prescription drugs without product tracing information prior to or during a transaction, will not be penalized…this compliance policy does not extend to other requirements for dispensers under the DSCSA, which include verification related to suspect and illegitimate product (including quarantine, investigation, notification, and record keeping) and engaging in transactions only with authorized trading partners.

The Leapfrog Group has released the second round of its bi-annual hospital safety scores, which show “sluggish” improvement in patient safety among the nation's hospitals…Despite some improvement…hospitals are performing worse in critical areas like the rate of foreign objects left in a patient after surgery and other critical measures that cause hospital acquired conditions. But 133 hospitals, about 5% of all graded facilities, have earned an A, the highest grade, in every score since spring 2012.

San Francisco supervisors have accepted a $400,000 payment from Nevada to settle allegations that psychiatric patients were wrongly shipped to California upon discharge...Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved the settlement without comment...San Francisco sued Nevada in September 2013 after the Sacramento Bee published accounts of patients who were discharged from Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas, and given bus tickets to California cities for further care.

Hospitals are continuing to make big investments in technology as they recognize the need to effectively manage population health, according to C-suite execs polled for Premier's Fall 2015 Economic Outlook survey…More than 64 percent of respondents reported an increase to capital budgets this year, reflecting the need for investments in advanced technology to meet value-based care goals…39 percent of these respondents increased their budgets by at least 10 percent…The biggest investment for hospital expenditures is on health information technology, according to 72.2 percent of respondents to the survey…"Investments in HIT, data analytics and modern clinical infrastructure are foundational for providers to seamlessly deliver population health services across their inpatient, outpatient and alternative care sites,"…

Michigan health professionals said… the state's recommendations for curbing prescription drug abuse are on the right track, particularly the call for overhauling or replacing the current prescription monitoring program…The…Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force…released a report with about three dozen recommendations. They included a revamped, stricter prescription monitoring program, more training for physicians and an increase in the number of drug addiction treatment specialists in the state…CEO of the Michigan Pharmacists Association…said it was important to develop regulations around the state's automated prescription service, called MAPS. The system is currently not mandated and has had technical issues in the past…Recommendations for updating or replacing the system as well as requiring all licensed prescribers to register were key…

Northern Nevada Medical Center (Sparks) recently received a 2015 HealthInsight Quality Award for its high performance in quality care measures and satisfaction. NNMC was one of only two local hospitals to earn the award and one of only seven statewide…HealthInsight Quality Award recipients have demonstrated delivery of high quality health care and excellent performance on a combination of quality of care measures and on patients’ perception of care measures. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report these measures, which evaluate care provided for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical infection prevention…NNMC, as do hospitals nationwide, focuses on patient involvement in care, and the award criteria include performance on patients’ perspectives in hospital care...