Prescription Drug News and Research

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Neptune Technologies & Bioressources not to proceed with private placement

Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. announces that, due to market conditions, it will not be proceeding with the private placement as announced in a news release dated May 4, 2010.

17 Jun 2010

Proportion of substance abuse treatment admissions involving older Americans doubles: SAMHSA

A new study reveals that between 1992 and 2008 the proportion of substance abuse treatment admissions involving older Americans (aged 50 and older) nearly doubled -- from 6.6 percent of all admissions in 1992 to 12.2 percent in 2008. The study, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also shows a sharp rise during this period in the proportion of older Americans admissions related to illicit drug abuse -- even though alcohol abuse is still the leading cause for admissions involving this age group.

17 Jun 2010

AmWINS Group Benefits re-launches EGWP program to help reverse negative effects of RDS

AmWINS Group Benefits launched the nation's first Employer Group Waiver Plan in 2006, and now in the wake of health care reform is re-launching their program as a direct and immediate approach to help reverse the negative effects of the Retiree Drug Subsidy, now taxable under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

15 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 15, 2010

Susan Jaffe, writing for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with The Washington Post, reports: "For consumers looking for bargains on refrigerators or restaurants, ratings can be helpful. But a score card doesn't work as well for selecting a Medicare private health plan" (Kaiser Health News).

15 Jun 2010

Behind the Numbers report: Employers' medical costs to increase by 9% in 2011

The nation's employers can expect medical costs to increase by 9 percent in 2011, a decrease of 0.5 percent from the 2010 growth rate, according to the annual Behind the Numbers report published today by the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Health Research Institute. For the first time, the majority of the American workforce is expected to have a health insurance deductible of $400 or more, as more employers return to "indemnity style" cost-sharing by raising out-of-pocket limits, replacing co-pays with co-insurance and adding high-deductible health plans.

15 Jun 2010

Health overhaul skirmishes simmer over government fliers, drug benefits

Republicans are complaining that, while the IRS sent out 4 million fliers to publicize $40 billion in tax credits for small businesses, the agency did not make a similar effort to inform tanning salons and their customers about a new 10 percent tax on their services, Politico reports.

14 Jun 2010

CVS Caremark board authorizes new $2 billion stock repurchase program

CVS Caremark Corporation today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program for up to $2.0 billion of its outstanding common stock. The share repurchase authorization, which is effective immediately and expires at the end of 2011, permits the Company to effect the repurchases from time to time through a combination of open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, accelerated share repurchase transactions, and/or other derivative transactions.

14 Jun 2010

Biodel announces schedule for presentations at 70th Scientific Sessions of American Diabetes Association

Biodel Inc. announced today that the following oral and poster presentations describing results from studies of the company's product candidates will be presented during the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association this month in Orlando, Florida:

14 Jun 2010

Dems to seniors: The Medicare checks are in the mail

The Obama administration began mailing $250 checks Thursday to seniors who hit the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole - a notorious gap in coverage - as part of the health overhaul, The Columbus Dispatch reports. "The tax-free, one-time rebate is the first tangible benefit of the new health-care law and the initial step toward phasing out the coverage gap for Medicare recipients with Part D drug coverage and who do not qualify for additional assistance" (Candisky, 6/11).

11 Jun 2010

Waismann Method survey: 88% of individuals taken prescription painkillers for chronic pain relief

According to a recent survey conducted by the Waismann Method of opiate detoxification, doctors prescribing medication for the treatment of chronic pain were found to be the leading source of prescription painkiller use. Approximately 88 percent of all respondents stated they began taking prescription painkillers for chronic pain relief, with an astounding 70 percent of these individuals believing that they experience the same or a greater amount of pain than when originally prescribed painkillers.

11 Jun 2010

Senate Dems point to Medicare rebate checks to improve health law's image

Lawmakers are focusing on different aspects of Medicare policies as Democrats point to Medicare rebates to woo senior citizens and some Republicans are expressing opposition to a targeted Medicare payment provision related to California physicians and included in the Senate's tax extender bill.

11 Jun 2010

Remote monitoring and nurse case management combined improve health of Medicare beneficiaries with CHF

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is one of the most common causes of hospitalization for elderly Americans, and is also one of the nation's most costly conditions to treat.

10 Jun 2010

$250 checks in the mail for Idaho Medicare beneficiaries in "Rx doughnut hole"

Older Idahoans living in fear of the cost of their next prescription drug may be getting some good news in the mail in the coming days; a $250 check to help. The checks are being mailed automatically to Idaho Medicare beneficiaries who fall into the dreaded Part D prescription drug coverage gap know as the "doughnut hole" – which leaves many stuck paying full price for their drugs, a cost many simply can't afford.

10 Jun 2010

MonoSol Rx, APR expand film formulation development collaboration

MonoSol Rx, the developer of PharmFilm® technology and a drug delivery company specializing in proprietary pharmaceutical film products, and APR Applied Pharma Research s.a. ("APR") announced today an expansion of their relationship to identify and develop film formulations of prescription drug products beyond ondansetron and donepezil to include zolmitriptan. Zolmitriptan is currently commercially available for the acute treatment of migraine headache in adults, and facing initial patent expirations in 2012.

10 Jun 2010

Pelosi releases statement on the benefits of Affordable Care Act for America's seniors

Speaker Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for America's seniors. President Obama held a tele-town hall with seniors in Wheaton, Md. today on the legislation's provisions to strengthen Medicare, close the 'donut hole,' and protect seniors from fraud.

9 Jun 2010

Health overhaul supporters plan $25 million promotion campaign

The New York Times: "Close allies of the Obama administration, seeking to rally the public behind President Obama's landmark health care bill, are planning to spend $25 million over the next five years to promote the measure and beat back mischaracterizations of it that could harm Democratic candidates. Mr. Obama's former communications director, Anita Dunn, and longtime Democratic strategist Andrew Grossman, have teamed up to form two new tax-exempt groups.

7 Jun 2010

Research roundup: Evidence-based medicine consumer/expert divide; Pay for performance limitations; Improving community health centers

Health Affairs: Evidence That Consumers Are Skeptical About Evidence-Based Health Care - This survey of more than 1,500 patients with employer-based insurance found "there is a fundamental disconnect between the central tenets of evidence-based health care and the knowledge, values, and beliefs held by many consumers."

5 Jun 2010

Obama sets town hall meeting with seniors to tout Medicare rebate checks

President Barack Obama has scheduled a televised town hall meeting Tuesday in Wheaton, Md., "to trumpet one of the most popular provisions of his landmark health care bill: a $250 rebate to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs. ... An estimated 80,000 checks are scheduled to be sent in June, with others to follow on a rolling basis, to Medicare beneficiaries who enter the so-called 'doughnut hole' - a gap in prescription drug coverage that requires them to pay out of pocket" (Stolberg, 6/3).

5 Jun 2010

Right Medicare choices for individuals over 65

For the thousands of people turning 65 in the coming months, it can be a milestone worth celebrating. There also are hurdles to overcome, including making the right Medicare choices, according to Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security disability representation and Medicare plan selection services.

4 Jun 2010

Today's Opinions: Never-events, Medicare 'propaganda' and drug copays

According to the Labor Department, overall inflation has averaged about 2.5 percent annually, and prescription drug prices have gone up about 3.6 percent each year, over that time frame. Co-pays, though, have increased four times faster than inflation (Peter J. Pitts, 5/28).

29 May 2010