- U.S. oncology group rates blood cancer regimens, including cost (reuters.com)
…most influential source for U.S. oncology treatment guidelines…unveiled ratings aimed at helping doctors and patients assess the costs versus benefits of current therapies for two types of blood cancer…National Comprehensive Cancer Network…its new "Evidence Blocks" for multiple myeloma and chronic myelogenous leukemia are the first in a series that by the end of next year will encompass all oncology therapies, other than surgery or radiation… These are crafted to provide a little bit more information about cost, effectiveness, safety - all those things that the NCCN guidelines in the past haven't provided...The blocks give each therapy a score of between one and five in five categories: efficacy, safety, quality and consistency of evidence and affordability.
- Everything you need to know about that just-released female libido drug (qz.com)Medication Guide before you start taking ADDYI™ (addyi.com)
...first FDA-approved drug (Addyi,flibanserin) for female sexual dysfunction is available in the United States today (Oct. 17), marking a much-anticipated milestone for women who struggle with sexual desire. Sprout, the pharmaceutical company behind the drug, has spent $50m to develop the treatment. But female sexual desire is biologically complex, and this drug won’t work like similar products for men. Here are the key details:
- Who is it for?
- How does it work?
- What are the effects?
- What are the risks?
- How much will it cost?
- Australia to allow marijuana to be grown locally for medical trials (reuters.com)
Australia is altering its drug laws to allow for the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes, removing a major hurdle to the establishment of clinical trials of the drug, the government said…Draft amendments to the Narcotics Drugs Act are being finalised to allow for the controlled cultivation of marijuana, giving patients access to "a safe, legal and sustainable supply of locally produced products for the first time,"…Australian manufacturers, researchers and patients currently have to access international supplies of legal medicinal marijuana, with cost, limited supply and export barriers making this challenging.
- Investigation Reveals FDA Was ‘Lax’ In Approving Blood Thinner Pradaxa (ibtimes.com)Drug Problems: Dangerous Decision-Making at the FDA (pogo.org)
…nonpartisan watchdog group called Project on Government Oversight published a report…that highlights flaws in the FDA’s 2010 approval of Pradaxa…group says this case study is a "cautionary tale" for U.S. legislators considering the 21st Century Cures Act which aims to expedite the drug approval process…Food and Drug Administration was "lax" and "permissive" in its approval…analysis suggests the FDA rubber-stamped the drug on the basis of a single poorly designed clinical trial that overlooked safety concerns…damning report comes at a time when Congress is considering the 21st Century Cures Act…
- RelayHealth counts $25 billion in ICD-10 claims already (healthcareitnews.com)6 glaring and disruptive ICD-10 glitches (healthcareitnews.com)
ICD-10 claims "are flowing successfully," to the tune of approximately $25 billion thus far…"Now the industry must be ready to tackle the next set of challenges: timely and correct reimbursement,"…tracking…days until final bill, an important metric that will signal just how disruptive the code change is to the industry… days until final bill has averages 14.8 days since the Oct. 1, but most of those claims were coded in ICD-9. There are still a few weeks until the wave of ICD-10 claims begin to be paid…troubles with ICD-10 could be felt soon… we continue to anticipate a groundswell of issues in getting claims out the door and an increase in denials and rejections...
- 8 Discrepancies in Drug Sales, Prescription Patterns (pharmacytimes.com)
The best-selling brand-name drugs are not necessarily the most-prescribed medications in the United States…IMS Health recently revealed the 50 most-prescribed brand-name drugs and the 50 best-selling brand-name drugs between April 2014 and March 2015…Here are some noteworthy discrepancies between prescription drug sales and prescribing patterns for particular conditions:
- Hepatitis C
- Contraceptives
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Hypertension
- HIV
- Arthritis
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Cancer
- Hospital treatments severely threatened by antibiotic resistance (medicalnewstoday.com)Potential burden of antibiotic resistance on surgery and cancer chemotherapy antibiotic prophylaxis in the USA: a literature review and modelling study (thelancet.com)
Up to a half of infections after surgery and over a quarter of infections after chemotherapy are caused by organisms already resistant to standard antibiotics in the US… Researchers have reported the strongest evidence yet that rising antibiotic resistance could have disastrous consequences for patients undergoing surgery or cancer chemotherapy… A 30% reduction in the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis could result in 120,000 additional infections and 6,300 infection-related deaths every year… Prophylactic antibiotics are used routinely in surgery, organ transplantation and cancer chemotherapy to prevent infections…Increasing antibiotic resistance threatens the safety of these procedures and could result in increased rates of morbidity, amputation or death.
- The world’s first female sex drug could spur similar meds (finance.yahoo.com)
Safety issues with first female libido pill (Addyi,flibanserin) may spur better alternatives for women...Most women with low sexual desire won't rush to get the first prescription drug to boost female libido when it becomes available…But they may…spur development of better treatments for women's sexual problems after more than a decade of neglect by most of the world's large drugmakers…Treatments for women's libido issues are an untapped financial opportunity for drugmakers. Analysts estimate the market could be worth over $2 billion, based on academic estimates that between 5 million and 9 million U.S. women may suffer from desire disorders.
- Using Order Sets Reduces Hospitalization and Medication Errors in COPD (specialtypharmacytimes.com)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients could spend less time in the hospital if their doctors utilize a checklist of steps called order sets, according to findings published in the Canadian Respiratory Journal…Researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto…examined the effects of order sets on hospital stay…Using order sets to manage worsening COPD can lead to better medical care and better results for patients…By providing doctors with the best, evidence based information at the point in time when they are deciding on medications and tests for their patients, we can improve doctors' adherence to best practices…Our next step is to advocate for these order sets to be implemented across the healthcare system, to ensure that these patients receive best evidence based and standardized care..
- Pharma’s newest nemesis? Nestlé works at the intersection of food and drugs to attack illnesses (fiercepharma.com)
Swiss food company talks turkey with the FDA even as it researches conditions like Alzheimer's…If Big Pharma didn't already have enough to worry about, with patent cliffs, drug price investigations and reluctant payers, it now will have to face the onslaught of a large, well-funded company trying to create hybrid pharma and food products company that would treat conditions from stomach disorders to Alzheimer's disease…the four-year-old health-focused unit of Swiss food giant Nestlé is acting very much like a Big Pharma player these days. It is doing deals for pipeline projects, talking to the FDA about approvals on health-proven products and eyeing the same emerging markets that Big Pharma players have looked to improve their margins…