- This Week in Managed Care: November 8, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- New capsule can orally deliver drugs that usually have to be injected (news.mit.edu)
In hopes of coming up with an alternative to those injections, MIT engineers, working with scientists from Novo Nordisk, have designed a new drug capsule that can carry insulin or other protein drugs and protect them from the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal tract. When the capsule reaches the small intestine, it breaks down to reveal dissolvable microneedles that attach to the intestinal wall and release drug for uptake into the bloodstream...“We are really pleased with the latest results of the new oral delivery device our lab members have developed with our collaborators, and we look forward to hopefully seeing it help people with diabetes and others in the future,”...READ MORE
- This Week in Managed Care: November 1, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Christina Mattina, welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- This Week in Managed Care: October 25, 2019 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- November 8 Pharmacy Week in Review (pharmacytimes.com)
Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.
- CMS retains 340B, site-neutral payment cuts in final hospital payment rule (fiercehealthcare.com)CMS finalizes payment rules to spur greater use of innovative kidney drugs, home infusion (fiercehealthcare.com)
The Trump administration finalized a hospital payment rule...that retains proposed cuts to off-campus clinics and the 340B drug discount program...The changes outlined in the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule come despite both cuts being struck down in legal challenges and amid major pushback from providers...The goal is to bring payments to off-campus clinics in line with standalone physicians' offices...“With the completion of the two-year phase-in, the cost sharing will be reduced to $9, saving beneficiaries an average of $14 each time they visit an off-campus department for a clinic visit in [calendar year] 2020,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said...CMS also finalized a proposed cut for the 340B program that cuts payments by 22.5% in 2020...READ MORE
- November 1 Week in Review (pharmacytimes.com)
Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.
- Generic Drug Pricing Trends (drugtopics.com)
According to the Association for Accessible Medicines 2019 report with data from IQVIA, generic drug savings totaled $293 billion in 2018, which resulted in a 10-year savings of almost $2 trillion. Other key findings include that 4 billion generic prescriptions were filled across the U.S. in 2018, which is 90% of all dispensed prescriptions. Additionally, 95% of generic prescriptions were filled at $20 or less with an average copay of $5.63 whereas the average brand copay is $40.65. In 2017, patients who were prescribed more expensive brand products were 2-3 times more likely to leave the pharmacy without their prescriptions...There were 68,353 pharmacy stores that provided cash prices for the study; results revealed that independent pharmacies and small chains had the highest cash prices for generic drugs, while big box pharmacies had the lowest prices compared with large chains...READ MORE
- FDA downplays risks from already recalled heartburn drug Zantac (reuters.com)
...Food and Drug Administration...downplayed the risk caused by contamination of the already recalled popular heartburn drug Zantac, and said its tests suggest it does not cause carcinogens to form after ingestion by patients...Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said...that the levels of the probable carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine it found in ranitidine...“are similar to the levels you would expect to be exposed to if you ate common foods like grilled or smoked meats.”...Still, the FDA released results of its testing here on branded and generic ranitidine products that showed some versions of the over-the-counter medicine had as much as nine times the regulator's "acceptable limit" for NDMA...READ MORE
- Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid pull 22-ounce J&J baby powder off shelves (reuters.com)
Three major U.S. retailers, including Walmart, are removing all 22-ounce bottles of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder from their stores, following the healthcare conglomerate’s recall last week of some bottles due to possible asbestos contamination...CVS Health Corp said...it would remove the bottles from its online store as well, out of caution and to prevent customer confusion. The pharmacy chain said all other sizes of the talc would remain on its shelves...READ MORE