Prescription Drug News and Research

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Complicating doctors' work: Prescription drug scams and excessive paper work

News outlets examine two issues affecting doctors' work: patients fraudulently seeking prescriptions and overwhelming paper work.

12 Apr 2010

Brains on Bikes raises funds for brain cancer research and support

Anne Feeley, a 55-year-old mother and brain cancer survivor, began a 3,781-mile ride across the country today to raise money and awareness for brain cancer research and support.

12 Apr 2010

Medical clinic for the sole purpose of committing Medicare fraud

Miami residents Jose and Denisse Martinez were each sentenced today to three years in prison for their role in running a Canton, Mich.,-based drug infusion clinic designed to defraud Medicare, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS). U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts also ordered Jose and Denisse Martinez to pay $649,000 in restitution, jointly with co-defendants, and to each serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms.

12 Apr 2010

Ness Technologies led consortium to provide Electronic Healthcare Services system for Slovak Republic

Ness Technologies, Inc., a global provider of information technology solutions and services, announced today that Ness, as the leader of a consortium with its partner Lynx, Ltd., has won a public tender with the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic to provide the first phase of an Electronic Healthcare Services system, valued at EUR32.4 million, or approximately $44 million, excluding VAT. The term of the initial phase is 24 months.

12 Apr 2010

FDA holds public meeting to obtain comments on PDUFA program

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a public meeting on April 12, 2010, to obtain comments on the Prescription Drug User Fee Act program. The program authorizes user fees for FDA product reviews, which currently fund more than half of new drug review costs.

12 Apr 2010

Aetna faces Medicare sanctions

Health insurer Aetna announced Friday it will suspend "marketing to and enrollment of new members to its Medicare plans for the elderly because of sanctions imposed by the U.S. government," Reuters reports.

12 Apr 2010

Democrats, Republicans using health reform votes to plot November strategies

The Associated Press: Vulnerable Democrats around the country are "tiptoeing" during the recess as they prepare for midterm elections. "Tough votes for Obama's health care plan have further complicated the re-election prospects of dozens of already vulnerable freshman and second-term Democrats. There's even a chance the party could lose control of one or both houses in the midterm elections."

9 Apr 2010

Data illustrates methods for improving adherence to medication, lowering prescription drug costs

CVS Caremark presented data at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy that illustrate successful methods for improving adherence to medication and lowering prescription drug costs. The company showed results from three studies which demonstrated the positive impact of various tools available to pharmacy benefit managers – including automated telephonic messaging, fax alerts to physicians about gaps in care, and strategic co-pay waivers for generic medications.

8 Apr 2010

Health care reform: Clarification for seniors

From the time presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt first discussed health care reform in 1912, the topic has been a precedent-setting issue in the U.S. The 2010 passage of health care legislation is no different, but has many Americans in a quandary about how it will affect them. This is especially true of senior citizens.

7 Apr 2010

Concerns over safety and effectiveness of "natural" treatments for treating anxiety

In a broad-based review of studies focused on drugs that treat anxiety, a Saint Louis University doctor found no evidence supporting the use of so-called "natural" treatments in combating the effects of anxiety.

7 Apr 2010

Health security will increase with new reform law

This afternoon, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will deliver a speech entitled, "Health Reform and You: How the New Law Will Increase Your Health Security" at the National Press Club. Secretary Sebelius' remarks as prepared for delivery are below.

7 Apr 2010

Senator Grassley issues warning about 'phanton pharmacies' while Tampa officials arrest pharmacists on fraud charges

Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week saying federal officials have failed to stop the growing trend of "phantom pharmacies" that bill millions to Medicare in prescription drug costs then disappear, ABC News reports.

7 Apr 2010

Medicare advantage insurers won't see increase in 2011

Payments for Medicare Advantage plans, which are operated by private health insurers, will be frozen at this year's rates in 2011, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports.

7 Apr 2010

Prescription overdoses are second leading cause of unintentional deaths in US

"Unintentional poisoning is now the second leading cause of unintentional death in the US," reports Dr. Jeffrey H. Coben of West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown. Among people 35 to 54 years old, unintentional poisoning surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of unintentional death in 2005.

6 Apr 2010

CMS aids Medicare counseling programs

In the latest healthcare reforms there was a mandatory freeze in payments of $130 billion over the next decade. This was criticized by President Obama as a corporate giveaway. Initially Medicare had proposed a preliminary increase of 1.28% in February. Since this was vetoed due to the new health care law that mandates the rates remain unchanged, an announcement under the Medicare Advantage program from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was made yesterday. Under this program it was expected that it would be 14% of the total earning in 2011 at Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth and 42 percent for Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana, Dave Shove.

6 Apr 2010

Prescription drug abuse reaches epidemic proportions

Poisoning is now the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in the U.S. While several recent high-profile Hollywood celebrity cases have brought the problem to public attention, the rates of unintentional poisoning deaths have been on the rise for more than 15 years.

6 Apr 2010

NHS cancer patients to receive latest and best treatments available

Cancer patients on the National Health Service may soon be offered expensive life extending drugs which are currently denied to them. David Cameron has proposed on behalf of the Conservatives that the drugs that are licensed and prescribed by the health consultant of the patient should be made available to the cancer patient, irrespective of the NHS rationing.

5 Apr 2010

Growing problem of prescription drug abuse

Prescription painkiller abuse is a rapidly growing and widespread problem, recently coming into full view due to high profile stories and tragic celebrity deaths.

3 Apr 2010

Prescription drug spending up in 2009

Prescription drug spending in the United States rose 5.1 percent in 2009, acording to a new report from IMS Health., a data collection company.

3 Apr 2010

More corporations announce tax impact of health law

Verizon Communications, Inc. announced Thursday "it will record a related $970 million non-cash charge in the first quarter," The Associated Press reports. "So far at least 15 companies have disclosed about $2.8 billion in charges prompted by the health care overhaul. Verizon's charge is the second-largest after AT&T, which last week announced a $1 billion charge related to the tax bill. Verizon and other companies currently receive a government subsidy to keep prescription drug benefits for retirees.

3 Apr 2010