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Frustrated by the high price of antiviral drugs, thousands of patients from London to Moscow to Sydney are turning to a new wave of online "buyers clubs" to get cheap generic medicines to cure hepatitis C and protect against HIV infection...While regulators warn that buying drugs online is risky, scientific data presented at a recent medical conference suggest that treatment arranged through buyers club can be just as effective as through conventional channels...The buyers clubs' websites act as middlemen by providing details of trusted online pharmacies and drug manufacturers, exploiting a loophole in World Trade Organization patent rules that allows small-scale imports of medicines for personal use...the advent of today's buyers clubs is just the latest chapter in an ongoing war over drug prices...

Your medicine may come with a new side effect: financial pain. Prescription-drug spending grew 12.2% in 2014—five times as fast as the year before—according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. And the sickest Americans bear the biggest burden. Some 43% of those in fair or poor health say it’s somewhat or very difficult to afford their medications, and 37% say they’ve skipped out on filling a prescription because of cost...What has changed? Generic drugs, long an affordable alternative to name-brand medicines, have become part of the problem. The average price of the 50 most popular generic drugs increased 373% between 2010 and 2014...One culprit is consolidation: After a decade of mergers, three big companies now control 40% of the generics market...Weaker competition means drug companies can charge your insurer more. Meanwhile, pricey new miracle drugs—like hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi are also a key factor forcing up overall medication costs...Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for you to save. By making strategic changes in the medications you take (with your doctor’s okay, of course), the places you buy them, and the insurance plan you elect, you may be able to shave 40% or more off your total prescription-drug costs this year. Here are the steps you need to take.

1. Substitute generics for name brands.
2. Combine pills—or split them.
3. Check the formulary for your insurer’s favorites.
4. Jump through your insurer’s hoops.
5. Ask your plan to make an exception.
6. Use mail-order options.
7. Use a preferred drugstore.
8. Beware of online pharmacy scams.
9. Check your insurer’s formulary lists.
10. Check for tricky deductibles.
11. Price out Medicare options.
12. Clip coupons.
13. Ask for help.

The expansion plans of Alibaba Health Information Technology, the Hong Kong-listed health care subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, have stumbled out of the gate this year as the US$2.5 billion deal to acquire its parent’s online pharmacy business gets delayed...In a regulatory filing on Monday, Ali Health chief executive Wang Lei said “additional time is required for the relevant conditions” to complete that proposed acquisition...Beijing Chuanyun is an offshore holding vehicle that controls Alibaba’s online pharmacy operations, which is run under internet shopping platform Tmall.com...In April, Alibaba agreed to transfer that online pharmacy business to Ali Heath in exchange for US$2.5 billion worth of newly issued shares and convertible bonds...The delay in completing the online pharmacy acquisition could further challenge Ali Health with turning a profit as it continues in investment mode...Alibaba’s online pharmacy business on Tmall recorded a gross merchandise value of 4.74 billion yuan in the company’s fiscal year...There are 186 online-licensed pharmacies offering over-the-counter drugs, medical devices, contact lenses and other general health care products on Tmall...

Processing third-party claims and dealing with insurance companies can be frustrating even for the most experienced pharmacy technicians...there are a number of tools available to pharmacists and techs to make it easier to adjudicate and reconcile prescription claims…Technicians looking to improve workflow in their pharmacies might consider using one of the following services.

• eConcile (FDS) - automates the reconciliation process, eliminating the need for paper checks and verifying the accuracy of third-party payments. The tool will also identify unpaid or underpaid claims, reducing the potential for write-offs…
• EnsurePay (PBAhealth) - automated service that allows pharmacies and technicians to reconcile third-party claims electronically…works by comparing remittance files submitted by a pharmacy to incoming payments..claim will be electronically reconciled… allows its users to manage the process entirely
• Scriptmax (Innovatix) - Web-based prescription claim support program and data analytics service available to long-term care, home infusion, mail-order, retail, and specialty pharmacies…helps to improve the accuracy of the adjudication process, matching third-party payments with adjudicated amounts… performs a number of reviews,…

Drug abuse, including misuse of prescription drugs, remains at alarmingly high levels...Feeding this epidemic, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy says, are rogue Internet drug outlets illegally dispensing prescription controlled substances...illicit online drug sellers "hiding behind sleek websites" are making it easier for people struggling with drug abuse to purchase controlled-substance medications. However, since these rogue websites often sell counterfeit and tainted substances, buyers can raise the risk of overdose and death...researchers used popular search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo), shopping websites (eBay, Craigslist, Yahoo! Shopping, Overstock.com, Etsy, Oodle, eCRATER, Bonanza, Sell.com, Blujay and Alibaba) and social media sites (YouTube and Twitter) to gauge the availability of the opioids Demerol, Dilaudid, Duragesic, Exalgo, Kadian, Lorcet, Lortab, Percocet, Roxicet, Vicodin and Zohydro. Opioids were easiest to find and readily available by using search engines, the researchers discovered. Still, no matter which online avenue was used, researchers found that the final destination was a dedicated website selling opioids illegally.

...online market giant Alibaba Group launched a pilot medical service last month in China that promises a patient can visit a doctor online and get his prescription filled the same way with home delivery and payment to boot...part of Alibaba's health business, aims to tap into a market that iResearch said had an estimated revenue stream of 16 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) last year…We want to build a health care product sales platform that links manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to offer various medical products and services to customers…The pilot saw patient Hu Tianshun enter medical data via an online form and then a video chat with a doctor in another city was held…adding the doctor made a diagnosis and places a online prescription order with an Alibaba's online shops...Hu got his drugs the next day, and completed the transaction by paying the deliveryman…

Natasha Nicol, PharmD, FASHP, director of Global Patient Safety Affairs at Cardinal Health, provides prevention strategies to reduce medication errors.

Benzer Pharmacy...launched its new website for pet medications, BenzerPetMed.com. Benzer pharmacist JiYang Chung said that compounded pet medication has become an ideal treatment for such acute and chronic conditions in pets as rashes, ear infections, wound care and diabetes...Benzer Pet Pharmacy will formulate pharmaceutical-grade ingredients into tailored medications for pet’s specific needs…The website will offer such services as home deliveries, online ordering, refill reminders, custom compounded medication and free medication flavoring...

Changes to community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond...In a letter to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee...the Department of Health and NHS England announced there would be a...reduction in funding through the community pharmacy contractual framework...this reduction in funding will have a substantial impact on pharmacy business owners, their employees and locums...it was announced that funding...would be cut by at least 6%, equating to £170 million ($242 million); lowering the funding available through the community pharmacy contractual framework from £2.8 billion ($4 billion) to £2.63 billion (3.75 billion). It is anticipated these changes will take effect in October 2016...Alongside the cut in funding...further changes that the Government would like to see, including:

• To better integrate pharmacy into the wider primary care and community health system – such as closer working with GP surgeries, care homes and urgent and emergency care departments - so that patients can benefit from pharmacists’ clinical skills through a "Pharmacy Integration Fund".
• A "Pharmacy Access Fund", which would provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
• The potential for automation and centralising dispensing to provide efficiencies. Also, in some areas, the distribution and number of pharmacies does not match local patients' needs.
• The view of the Government that patients would like to order prescriptions online and that "click and collect" and delivery options would be easier to arrange.

...latest fallout over the role that specialty pharmacies play in boosting prescription drug sales, Express Scripts has ended a contract with a company that is used by Horizon Pharma to distribute some of its medicines…Express Scripts cancelled its contract with Linden Care after determining the mail-order pharmacy was apparently dispensing drugs that are mostly made by Horizon, according to a spokesman. Express Scripts, which is the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager, is scrutinizing what it calls captive pharmacies. Those captive pharmacies appear to sell products for mostly one drug maker…In response, Linden filed a lawsuit accusing Express Scripts of making “a trumped-up charge that Linden Care is mailing drugs out of state purportedly in violation of [its] contract.” The pharmacy also maintains Express Scripts failed to provide adequate notice that the contract was ended. Express Scripts sent its termination notice yesterday, Nov. 10.