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There was a time when the success of a pharmaceutical sales representative depended on product knowledge, presentation, sales skills, reach and frequency, confidence and persistence. But that combination alone no longer yields the same results. It’s become increasingly difficult for reps to gain access to individual healthcare practices and institutions,…However, the "Death of a Pharma Salesman" paradigm is at odds with what many consider a new era in pharmaceutical sales—an entirely restructured professional reality…what’s happening now is not the death of an entire profession, but rather the decline of an outdated model.

Nevada Health CO-OP is struggling to the end…Nevada Division of Insurance…filed a petition in Clark County District Court to place the CO-OP into a conservation-rehabilitation receivership. If the court grants the petition, the division would take control of the CO-OP's assets, distribution of funds and administration… CO-OP was created by the federal Affordable Care Act...It borrowed $65.9 million from the federal government to get off the ground…It has not made profits to pay back the loans: The CO-OP reported a $19.3 million operating loss in 2014, and losses of $22.7 million from January through June…It's the fourth of 23 Obamacare CO-OPs to fail nationwide.

..pharmacy benefit management industry is experiencing subtle changes, and a leadership shuffle at the country's largest PBM has experts speculating about whether PBMs will remain stand-alone companies…More healthcare organizations view prescription drug use as a critical element of keeping patients healthy and reducing costs, and controlling a PBM could help with a population health strategy…"You could see a pathway forward where the PBMs become more integrated with the payers,"...

Global standards of practice used by hospital pharmacists around the world have been revised by FIP's (International Pharmaceutical Federation) Hospital Pharmacy Section. The standards, known as the "Basel Statements” and first published by the HPS in 2009, cover six main areas of hospital pharmacy:

• Procurement
• Influences on prescribing
• Preparation and delivery of medicines
• Medicines administration
• Monitoring medication
• Human resources and training

..Humira's dominance as the best-selling drug in the world expected to come to an end in the coming years, look for these drugs to potentially take its spot…Last year global pharmaceutical sales topped the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever. By 2018…predicts sales will rise by another 30% to $1.3 trillion. This is a major growth opportunity for investors, but only if they understand what blockbuster drugs are on their ascent, and which ones could be on the decline…I'd keep my eye on a handful of therapies to step up as the best-selling drugs in the world by 2020.

• Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir)
• Revlimid (lenalidomide)
• Aducanumab (investigational, BIIB037)

Texas prison officials are helping their counterparts in Virginia prepare for a scheduled execution next week by providing the state with pentobarbital, a lethal drug that corrections agencies nationwide have had difficulty obtaining…Virginia prison officials also confirmed the trade…Texas and Oklahoma are among a handful of states with laws — being challenged by death penalty opponents — that allow prison officials not to disclose where they get execution drugs…Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death penalty organization, said the drug exchange raised concerns about government transparency.

Here's the CliffsNotes version of how most drugs go from idea to reality: Basic academic research provides the foundation for a series of clinical trials, first in animals and then in humans, which eventually tell us whether a new treatment is safe and effective…the reality of drug development is rarely that linear or precise…the path to creating a life-saving treatment can be an extremely long, labor-intensive effort that involves thousands of scientists over many decades...

Rapidly rising drug prices have drawn the ire of the American public, who now want reform...reforming the…pharmaceutical industry could prove to be nearly impossible…attempting to change the prescription drug industry could force jobs to overseas markets where price restrictions are deemed less invasive…playing hardball with drugmakers…likely won't work in the U.S...Look what happened with the implementation of the medical device excise tax…Stryker laid off 5% of its workforce, and…Boston Scientific announced a major investment initiative in China around the time the 2.3% medical device excise tax was implemented…imagine what would happen to pharmaceutical jobs and even innovation if the government began curbing drug prices...

The drug industry wants us to think Martin Shkreli is a rogue CEO. He isn’t.This week, a roiling controversy was ignited after Turing Pharmaceuticals chief executive … Shkreli hiked the price for his drug…by…4,000 percent…major pharmaceutical and biotech industry groups have portrayed Shkreli's actions as totally repugnant and the work of just one company, acting alone, with a flippant young chief executive who doesn't reflect the broader values, practices, or trends of other companies…But it's not,…Here's why:

1. Brand-name drugs are getting more expensive.
2. Even among generic drugs, a class of medicines that is saving us money, some prices are going through the roof.
3. When researchers calculate how much a drug is really worth, it's often a fraction of the list price.
4. This didn't happen overnight

Learning together with other health professionals might become more mainstream for pharmacists, according to a report published..by the International Pharmaceutical Federation Education Initiative…. Interprofessional curriculums could become more common in classrooms and clinical settings, according to the report…"As the number and complexity of treatments grow, it’s no longer possible for any one health provider — no matter how knowledgeable — to be able provide top quality care working in isolation,"...