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Small and medium-sized Indian drugmakers are decrying a move by the government to impose new bar-code requirements and say the action shows the government is taking sides with big multinational players to elbow out smaller competition. The larger companies are saying the move is necessary to protect the country's reputation…Pharmaceutical companies in India are now required to establish a "parent-child" relationship with all drugs from Oct. 1, which means a bar code will be used on every drug strip that goes into a unique package…The regulation is an attempt to track the origins of a shipment and to stamp out fake drugs. Indian officials representing the smaller drug companies believe they will be forced out of business because of the requirement.

Sir Richard Branson…talks with Betty Liu about the criminalization of drugs and his release of a report from the United Nations suggesting treating drugs a health care issue and whether or not the United States is trying to suppress the report.

Despite the best intentions of medical professionals, patients often don't feel as if their voices are being heard in the care process… that providers can do more to improve care results and the consumer experience…five ideas for providers to bridge that disconnect:

1. Engage patients as equal partners in the care process
2. Focus on listening
3. Tell patients to seek a diagnosis, not a test
4. Bring care to patients
5. Take better advantage of available data

Ronna B. Hauser, PharmD, vice president of pharmacy affairs for the National Community Pharmacists Association,  discusses what pharmacists need to know about the memorandum of understanding regarding the interstate shipment of compounds.

…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.

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...

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.

…Daiichi Sankyo will cut as many as 1,200 jobs in the U.S. as it braces for the loss of patent protection on top treatment Benicar (olmesartan) and shakes up the organization for a transition to a specialty portfolio in cardiovascular, pain management and oncology. "As we face the loss of exclusivity in the coming year of our largest product, we also look ahead to great opportunities...The cuts will come in the head office at Parsippany, New Jersey, and field-based sales…

We can’t just say we need more and more people engaged, we need to have particular targets'…There's little question that patient engagement is one of the most promising trends in healthcare today…the potential – in terms of cost-savings, personalized patient care and healthier populations …The reality…is that the industry has a long way to go before reaching the Holy Grail of patients harnessing technologies to own their own healthcare and more effectively interact with caregivers and clinicians… five things that need to happen for patient engagement to move from the abstract to the concrete:

• It's time to end information asymmetry
• Less engagement, not more
• Understand what really matters
• Design matters but senses are the real opportunity
• The natural next step: hard science

...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?