- Your Google Searches Could Help the FDA Find Drug Side Effects (bloomberg.com)
Food and Drug Administration is talking to Google about how the search engine could help...identify previously unknown side effects of medications...using search query data to identify adverse drug reactions..
- Congress to probe Planned Parenthood use of aborted fetus tissue (newsdaily.com)
congressional leaders ..launched an investigation of Planned Parenthood after a video implying it sells the organs of aborted fetuses was released on the Internet. The reproductive health group said the video is false.
- Lawmakers press administration on Medicare fraud (thehill.com)CMS slammed over Medicare fraud and connections to opioid abuse (modernhealthcare.com)
Lawmakers...accused ...administration of being slow to implement inspector general recommendations on fraud in the Medicare prescription drug program...has not fully implemented nine recommendations...to crack down on fraud in ...Medicare Part D, even though some of those recommendations were made as far back as 2006.
- Marijuana Dispensary Opening on Hold (kolotv.com)One toke over the line: Race on to develop 'pot breathalyzer' (reuters.com)
..delay in opening is a result of the Legislature requiring the Department of Agriculture to list pesticides legal for use on marijuana.
- Deciphering healthcare buzzwords (healthcareitnews.com)
healthcare industry is infamous for its overuse and misuse of buzzwords and acronyms…arise from the ever-changing regulatory shifts designed to improve quality care and reign in increasing costs…One …commonly misused or misunderstood buzzwords today is "population health management,"…
- More than One in Four U.S. Pharmacies is Now a 340B Contract Pharmacy; Walgreens Still Dominates (drugchannels.net)
...17,000 pharmacy locations contract with a 340B-eligible covered entity...Walgreens remains the biggest player, although Walmart, CVS, and Rite Aid collectively now account for about one-quarter of contract pharmacy locations....threaten to disrupt third-party payers’ pharmacy networks and confound manufacturers’ channel strategies. The new GAO report provides further evidence of problems.
- NCPA urges measured approach on Medicare Part D fraud prevention (drugstorenews.com)
… independent pharmacies are often located in the underserved and rural areas that are home to many Medicare recipients… National Community Pharmacists Association remains supportive of efforts to prevent and reduce fraud, waste and abuse within the Medicare Part D program, they must be delicately balanced with ensuring appropriate patient access to vitally important medications…
- India’s top court seeks review of drug pricing policy (newsdaily.com)
India’s Supreme Court has asked the federal government to reexamine its pricing policy for essential medicines after a group of non-governmental organizations challenged the provisions,...the formula by which prices of essential medicines are currently being fixed in India as "unreasonable and irrational",...government currently caps the prices of more than 500 essential medicines..
- California, Oregon To Allow Hormonal Contraceptives Without A Doctor’s Prescription (khn.org)
California and Oregon will be the first states in the nation to allow women to get birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives directly from their pharmacists – without a doctor’s prescription.
- Bigger may not be better for China’s ‘super hospitals’ (newsdaily.com)
Demand for healthcare is booming in China, driven by a growing middle class, improved health insurance coverage and an aging population… some of the country’s public hospitals are adding beds by the thousand… this expansion has policymakers worried… lack of public confidence in rural healthcare...