- Nevada proposal could curtail surprise medical bills (reviewjournal.com)
No one loved a bill heard in committee...that would keep emergency room patients from getting socked with surprise medical bills from an out-of-network provider that treats them...But no one hated the bill enough to oppose it...The bill...would bar an out-of-network provider treating an ER patient with “medically necessary emergency services” from charging more than the patient’s insurance co-payment, co-insurance or deductible. It also establishes procedures for insurers and third-party providers to work out payments between them, without putting the patient in the middle, and for transferring patients from an out-of-network facility where they were initially treated to one within their network within 24 hours of becoming stable...READ MORE
- Cigna’s Express Scripts PBM To Cap Insulin Costs Amid Drug Price Scrutiny (forbes.com)
Cigna and its Express Scripts pharmacy benefit management unit...said they are rolling out a new program to cap out-of-pocket costs at $25 per 30-day insulin prescriptions for “non-government funded” drug plans...“Through the Patient Assurance Program, individuals who are eligible for the program will save approximately 40%, as well as gain peace of mind in knowing they will have access to improved affordability,” the companies announced. “Individuals with plan designs that involve coinsurance and/or a high deductible, will benefit the most from this new program."...READ MORE
- April 5 Pharmacy Week in Review: Guidance on Topical Corticosteroids Varies, PrEP Persistence Lower in Woman and Young Adults (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.
- Swiss drugmaker Novartis must face doctor kickback suit, U.S. judge rules (reuters.com)Did Novartis hand out kickbacks or host educational dinners? A jury may decide (fiercepharma.com)
Novartis AG must face a U.S. government lawsuit accusing it of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to doctors so they would prescribe its drugs, after a federal judge ruled in a decision...that the government had offered evidence of a “company-wide kickback scheme.”...U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan also rejected the Swiss drugmaker’s bid to keep key government evidence out of the case, and ruled that the government does not have to prove a direct “quid pro quo” agreement between Novartis and doctors for the company to be liable...READ MORE
- April 12 Pharmacy Week in Review: Muscle Strength May Lower Risk of Diabetes, CDC Offers Tips From Former Smokers (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.
- How cannabis is firing up the U.S. supply chain (reuters.com)
U.S. companies cannot stop talking about marijuana, hoping in part they can catch investor interest as the booming economy around the drug lifts revenues throughout the supply chain...With the recreational use of cannabis now legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia and medical marijuana legal in 23 states, marijuana is on its way to becoming an $80 billion industry in the United States by 2030...That outsized growth is starting to bleed into adjacent industries ranging from energy to packaging to point-of-sale technology whose products are used in the production or sale of marijuana. As investors circle the cannabis space, supply-chain companies are showing a new willingness to associate themselves with an industry that remained largely illegal a decade ago...READ MORE
- Pharma spends big as Massachusetts lawmakers review drug-pricing bills (fiercepharma.com)
State legislators in Massachusetts are preparing to review a slew of bills aimed at state-level drug pricing, and the pharmaceutical industry is opening its checkbook to fight back...The state’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on April 11 will examine 21 bills targeting price transparency and affordability for patients. State Sen. Cindy Friedman...will take a hard look at measures to open up drugmakers' pricing secrets and lower sticker prices for patients...But pharmaceutical companies aren’t taking that challenge sitting down...the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America, told FiercePharma that the state’s push to cap prices would keep patients from getting the drugs they need...“We oppose government price-setting proposals in the states,” spokeswoman Priscilla VanderVeer said. “Government price controls limit access to medicines for patients and they stifle new innovation.”...READ MORE
- Exclusive: Pain-care specialist agrees to testify against Purdue, other drug makers – court documents (reuters.com)
A physician ally of Purdue Pharma LP...has agreed to testify against the OxyContin maker and other drug companies, newly disclosed court records show...Dr. Russell Portenoy, a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was an early advocate for the use of opioids for chronic pain...He also was named as a defendant in some of the lawsuits filed by cities, counties and states seeking to hold opioid makers - including Endo and Mallinckrodt Plc...But Portenoy...struck a deal with the plaintiffs to serve as a cooperating witness, the records show. In exchange for his dismissal from the suits, Portenoy provided the plaintiffs with documentation of opioid makers’ payments to him over the years, as well as a 36-page declaration that lays out what he would say on the witness stand...READ MORE
- This Week in Managed Care: April 5, 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
- Outgoing FDA chief Scott Gottlieb gets personal about leaving ‘the best job’ he’s ever had (cnbc.com)
After running the FDA for two years, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s last day is Friday...Gottlieb discusses the personal toll of commuting to work in Washington, D.C. from his home in Westport, Connecticut...Gottlieb said he has “no idea” what he will do next other than spending time with his three young daughters...READ MORE