- NCPA Supports Arkansas Law, Decries Shameful PBM Corporation Lawsuit (ncpanet.org)
National Community Pharmacists Association,.. issued the following statement..to champion a generic drug pricing transparency law enacted in Arkansas and to condemn a lawsuit filed on behalf of pharmacy benefit manager corporations to attempt to overturn the common-sense law…bipartisan law to bring more transparency to the generic drug pricing and reimbursement process...
- FDA approves use of opioid painkiller in 11-16 year olds (reuters.com)CDER Conversation: Pediatric pain management options (fda.gov)
Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of opioid painkiller OxyContin in patients aged 11 to 16 who have not benefited enough from alternatives….warnings and precautions for pediatric patients are the same as those for adults...
- Are you paying more for your Rx meds? (consumerreports.org)
Consumer Reports’ poll shows one-third of Americans hit by high drug prices…Not all surprises are good, especially when that surprise means you pay more for a prescription drug you take all the time. Yet in the last 12 months, that’s exactly what happened...People said they paid an average of $39 above the usual cost for their prescription—and one in 10 said they paid a whopping $100 or more out-of-pocket..
- State-level price caps? Massachusetts drug-cost pushback breaks new ground (fiercepharma.com)
Massachusetts is joining the state-level push to tamp down drug prices. Lawmakers are proposing new disclosures about pharma's pricing decisions, just as they are in other states. But unlike California's move to limit price increases, for instance, Massachusetts could actually cap prices on specialty meds… state officials would have the power to limit prices...
- Largest Portion of Pharmacy Expenditures Stem from Pediatric Hemophilia Treatment (pharmacytimes.com)
Hemophilia therapies account for 41% of outpatient pharmacy expenditures among publicly insured children with serious chronic illness… records showed that outpatient pharmacy expenditures totaled more than $475 million, or 20% of total health care expenditures…
- Rising Drug Costs the Real Stumbling Block for Defense Measure (bloomberg.com)
..benefits for the estimated 9.6 million users of the Pentagon’s Tricare health system and resulting profits for retail drugstores including those run by CVS Health Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Rite Aid Corp…Senate negotiators are supporting an Obama administration plan to increase co-payments for military retirees and families over 10 years, while House conferees oppose passing on so much of that cost to veterans.
- Raleigh’s Sprout Pharmaceuticals awaits FDA ruling on female libido drug (newsobserver.com)
Sprout Pharmaceuticals is a small drug company with a potentially very big drug – the world’s first pill to boost women’s sex drive….Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce Tuesday whether it has approved Sprout’s drug, Addyi (flibanserin), ..plans to market as the "little pink pill"… Interest in Sprout’s libido pill is expected to run so high that, to curb potential misuse, Sprout has promised the FDA it won’t advertise the drug for 18 months on TV and radio.
- Most Health Insurance Co-ops Are Losing Money, Federal Audit Finds (nytimes.com)
Most federal insurance cooperatives created under the Affordable Care Act are losing money and could have difficulty repaying millions of dollars in federal loans, an internal government audit has found,…the inspector general… said that most of the insurance co-ops enrolled fewer people than they had predicted, and that 22 of the 23 co-ops lost money last year.
- Journalist fights Amgen subpoena in Aranesp class action suit (fiercepharma.com)
It isn't too often that drugmakers and journalists go head to head in court. But as part of Amgen's latest legal battle, it's asking a federal judge to force a reporter to testify about an article he wrote that prompted a shareholder suit against the company and to spell out how he got information about an abandoned clinical trial…. shareholders claiming the company failed to disclose information about the study...
- Drug execs behind female libido pill have run afoul of FDA (apnews.myway.com)
small drugmaker…may succeed…in winning approval for the first drug to boost women's sexual desire…team that founded Sprout Pharmaceuticals is not new to the..business …previous company, Slate Pharmaceuticals, sold an implantable testosterone pellet.. ran afoul of federal rules,… FDA sent Slate an 11-page warning letter…"I can't remember seeing a warning letter with so many examples of misbranding in it," said Fugh-Berman, who … signed a petition urging the FDA to reject Addyi (flibanserin)






