The National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) today announced a new initiative in the war on methamphetamine. The National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx) is a multi-state electronic tracking program that enforces purchase limitations on over-the-counter (OTC) medicines containing pseudoephedrine in real-time at the point of sale. [More]

The US government reported Monday that one in seven Americans struggled to get enough food to eat. This startling statistic highlights the difficulties of older adults who are rapidly aging into poverty. [More]

Dendreon Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided written acknowledgement that the Company's amended Biologics License Application (BLA) for PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T) is a complete response. The FDA has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date of May 1, 2010, by which time it will respond to Dendreon's amended BLA. Dendreon is seeking licensure for PROVENGE for men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). [More]

CombinatoRx, Incorporated and Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Neuromed a letter extending its review of the New Drug Application (NDA) for the product candidate Exalgo™ (hydromorphone HCl) extended-release tablets by three months. [More]

Drug approvals are taking just as long as they ever did despite increased expenditure on new information technology at the Food and drug Administration. So says a statistical analysis of approval intervals from 1997 to 2006, published in the International Journal of Electronic Healthcare. [More]

Purchasing prescription drugs in a three-month supply rather than a one-month supply has long been regarded as a way to reduce the cost of drugs for patients and third-party payers. New research from the University of Chicago quantifies the savings for the first time. [More]

"It is disappointing that the Senate is determined to fund health care reform by restricting access to flexible spending accounts (FSAs), a valuable benefit relied upon by more than 35 million Americans to help hold down health care costs. Severely curtailing the use of FSAs will not only force participants to pay more in health care costs, it flies in the face of President Obama's pledge to not raise taxes on the middle class. [More]

eHealthInsurance, the leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses, that now offers a new online Medicare resource, www.eHealthMedicare.com, today released a six-point checklist to help Medicare recipients make informed decisions about their Medicare options. [More]

Effective Jan. 1, 2010, Humana will begin administering the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition (LI-NET) program for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This program allows individuals who receive Medicare’s low-income subsidy to also receive immediate prescription drug coverage at the point of sale if they are not already enrolled in a Part D plan. [More]

Minnesota Public Radio reports: "Since 2006, senior citizens have been able to choose plans for Medicare prescription drug coverage, but that coverage contains a gap known as the 'doughnut hole,' a gap that health care reform plans being debated in Congress would address." [More]

NicOx S.A. today announced that it has received a filing communication from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that the New Drug Application (NDA) for naproxcinod is accepted for filing. NicOx submitted the NDA on September 24th, seeking approval for the relief of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis. [More]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the approval of Qutenza (capsaicin) 8% patch, a medicated skin patch that relieves the pain of post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a serious complication that can occur after a bout with shingles. [More]

With the kick-off of the Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) this week, Health Net, Inc. reminds those eligible for Medicare that Health Net’s Medicare Advantage (MA) product portfolio offers a comprehensive range of budget-friendly health plan choices to beneficiaries for 2010. [More]

A new poll of Illinois AARP members released today finds strong support across party and ideological lines for elements of health care reform included in the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives. [More]

“Today’s New York Times’ article exposes the short-comings of the ‘pharma deal’ and how it gives with one hand while taking with the other. Rather than relying on ‘shell games’ to lower prescription drug costs, policymakers should return this debate to the need for more competition in the form of real biogenerics reform. [More]