Category:

In a letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Thursday, the Coalition for Affordable T-DM1 said the government should grant a compulsory license for patents covering Kadcyla, or T-DMI (ado-trastuzumab emtansine)…allowing other companies to supply so-called biosimilar versions…As well as being rejected by NICE, from next month Kadcyla will also not be covered by the Cancer Drugs Fund…prompting Roche Chief Executive…to call Britain's drug system "stupid"…Issuing a compulsory license would put Britain on a collision course with the pharmaceuticals industry, something the government is unlikely to want given its desire to encourage life sciences.

After a new donation pledge from Publix Super Markets Charities, Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the southeastern U.S. will be able to build 40 new houses in 2016. The $4 million donation,…will go to more than 80 different Habitat for Humanity affiliates… In addition to the...pledge, Publix will donate groceries for the homes sponsored by the donation, and Publix associates will invest in Habitat for Humanity for their 2016 Publix Serves community impact campaign.

Pharmacies can more easily manage their patients on medication synchronization...PrescribeWellness …launched StarWellness+, an add-on service to PrescribeWellness’ popular Med Sync software, StarWellness…empowers pharmacies…to streamline their workflow for patients enrolled in medication synchronization….the pharmacist can push synced medications into the workflow queue of virtually any pharmacy management system… will help them expand their med sync offering and improve adherence with hundreds of their patients…

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's research chief said...the drug industry must act responsibly when it comes to pricing medications, given the mounting anger over the high cost of therapies in the United States…True innovation needs to be rewarded, he said, citing strides against HIV, recent cures for hepatitis C, and those working to develop effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease…"But we need to be responsible too. Our goal is not to make money and disrupt the whole healthcare system,"…

Renown Health announced $63.7 million has been committed to capital projects in the year ahead. This marks the largest single-year investment by the organization since…in 2008…projects will range from purchasing new technology for leading-edge cancer care to building brand new facilities in growing parts of our community and renovations to improve patient safety, care and comfort.

• $7.5 million commitment toward building and technology for a newly expanded radiation treatment facility in Renown’s Institute for Cancer…with new Varian radiation technologies
• $1.8 million for a 3-D mammography tomosynthesis machine
• $3 million to upgrade 122 prescription dispensing cabinets at our three acute care hospitals and Surgical Arts facility
• $8 million to build a new comprehensive patient care facility offering a number of services including imaging, therapy, primary care, urgent care and lab services…The location and details of the new facility will be announced at a later date

Sometimes, patients have a hard pill to swallow...Around 40% of Americans report having some difficulty swallowing pills,…As a result of their struggle, 14% have delayed taking their medication, 8% have skipped a dose, and 4% have stopped using their medication altogether…Here are 7 ways pharmacists can help patients overcome their pill-swallowing fears and increase medication adherence.

1. Teach head posture techniques
2. Suggest a specialized pill-swallowing cup
3. Use guided imagery
4. Suggest a flavored throat spray
5. Tell patients to take a deep breath
6. Help patients practice with candy
7. Provide ideas for disguising pills

It's October 1, 2015, the ICD-10 diagnostic code set is live at last, and medical professionals now have nearly 70,000 codes to choose from when filing patient claims…Healthcare IT News and sister site Healthcare Finance will be reporting on the changeover throughout the day, using the live blog below to highlight the latest news, real-time reactions and frequent updates from our cadre of volunteer ICD-10 correspondents, a group of healthcare insiders who have agreed to keep us posted on what they're seeing post-switchover.

At its September meeting, the IACP Board of Directors unanimously voted to support a bipartisan Congressional letter,…demanding that the FDA withdraw its Guidance for Industry #230: Compounding Animal Drugs from Bulk Substances…. the letter points out that the agency does not have statutory authority to interfere with the state-regulated practice of veterinary medicine…the guidance attempts to create new regulatory authority without legislation to support that effort.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation announced a model to test strategies to improve medication use...Medication therapy management,…can improve health care and outcomes for patients and has the potential to lower overall health care costs….Part D Enhanced Medication Therapy Management model will assess whether providing selected Medicare Prescription Drug Plans with additional incentives and flexibilities to design and implement innovative programs will better achieve the overall goals for MTM programs, including:

• improving compliance with medication protocols, including high-cost drugs, ensuring that beneficiaries get the medications they need, and they are used properly;
• reducing medication-related problems, such as duplicative or harmful prescription drugs, or suboptimal treatments;
• increasing patients’ knowledge of their medications to better achieve their or their prescribers’ goals of therapy;
• improving communication among prescribers, pharmacists, caregivers and patients.

Enhanced MTM model test will begin January 1, 2017 with a five-year performance period. CMS will test the model in 5 Part D regions....

Cancer immunotherapy is one of the hottest areas of cancer research these days, and the market looks to be worth billions. Which big pharma do we think will be the biggest winner in the space?...the fight against cancer is the growing field of immunotherapy, which aims to harness the power of a patient's own immune system…Given the huge opportunity that exists for this new class of medicine, we asked our team of Motley Fool healthcare contributors to share with us the big pharma company they think has the best chance of grabbing a big piece of this emerging market.