Prescription Drug News and Research

RSS

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Tennessee seeks Medicaid changes

Tennessee announced this week that it hopes to become the first state to take the Trump administration up on its offer to transform funding for its Medicaid program into a block grant.

19 Sep 2019

Despite repeated calls for unity, Democrats throw some debate punches on health plans

Unity was in the air on Thursday, as a trimmed-down cast of 10 Democratic presidential candidates met on the debate stage again and nodded to the stakes: another four years of President Donald Trump.

13 Sep 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Despite booming economy, uninsured rate ticks up

The annual report from the Census Bureau, released this week, found that 27.5 million Americans were without health insurance last year, an increase of nearly 2 million from 2017.

12 Sep 2019

Legislation to end surprise medical bills has high public support — in both parties

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support legislation to protect people from surprise medical bills, a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows.

12 Sep 2019

Biosero forms four-member strategic advisory board

Biosero, Inc. has formed a strategic advisory board made up of four members who will contribute to Biosero’s mission to provide automation software solutions that enable people and technology to make complex decisions in less time, using more data.

From Biosero Inc. 9 Sep 2019

School districts double down on drug testing, targeting even middle schoolers

Thirteen-year-old Aura Brillhart and her 11-year-old sister, Morgan, will face a new sort of test in school this year: a drug test.

5 Sep 2019

Shopping at the Apotheke: Compare German pharmacies with your corner drugstore

If you're looking for bobby pins, cheap lipstick or a protein bar, well, sorry, Americans, the German pharmacy can't help you.

30 Aug 2019

Shopping abroad for cheaper medication? Here’s what you need to know

In its effort to temper the sky-high prices Americans pay for many vital medications, the Trump administration last month unveiled a plan that would legalize the importation of selected prescription drugs from countries where they sell for far less.

22 Aug 2019

Drugmakers now ‘masters’ at rolling out their own generics to stifle competition

When PDL BioPharma's $40 million blood-pressure medicine faced the threat of a generic rival this year, the company pulled out a little-known strategy that critics say helps keep drugs expensive and competition weak.

5 Aug 2019

Brand–brand competition unlikely to lower list prices of brand-name drugs

Greater brand–brand competition alone will likely not lower list prices of brand-name drugs in the US, according to a study published July 30 in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Ameet Sarpatwari of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues.

From PLOS ONE 31 Jul 2019

Opioid use score does not predict adverse patient outcomes after spinal surgery

An opioid use score based on state prescription databases does not predict complications or other adverse outcomes in patients undergoing spinal surgery, reports a study in the journal Spine.

29 Jul 2019

Study analyzes the prevalence of antipsychotic use in youths with ADHD

Although fewer young people with ADHD are treated with antipsychotic drugs than suspected, many prescriptions for the drugs do not appear to be clinically warranted, according to a new study from psychiatry researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

26 Jul 2019

GOP senators distance themselves from Grassley and Trump’s efforts to cut drug prices

The fight between policymakers intent on lowering prescription drug prices and the drugmakers who keep raising them intensified Thursday, as a slew of Republican senators threatened to side with manufacturers against legislation supported by their own committee chairman and president.

25 Jul 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Cue the drug price debate

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Finance Committee this week unveiled a sweeping proposal that seeks to lower prescription drug prices for the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

25 Jul 2019

Adolescents using multiple sources for prescription drugs at high risk for substance use disorders

Roughly 11% of high school seniors reported prescription drug misuse during the past year, and of those, 44% used multiple supply sources, according to a pair of University of Michigan studies.

18 Jul 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Could the ACA really go away?

The Affordable Care Act was back in court again this week — this time before a three-judge panel at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

11 Jul 2019

How to get a cheaper prescription before leaving the doctor’s office

When Mary Kay Gilbert saw her doctor in May for a skin infection on her leg, she wasn't surprised to receive a prescription for an antibiotic cream.

10 Jul 2019

Role of hospital and health-system pharmacists in drug therapy monitoring

As hospitals look for ways to stem the opioid crisis, a survey of health-system pharmacy directors released today found that most large health systems have active stewardship programs to prevent the misuse of opioids -- with pharmacists playing a key role in detecting drug diversion and identifying strategies to encourage appropriate opioid prescribing.

4 Jul 2019

Many grandparents’ medications are not safely stored around grandchildren, poll finds

Whether it's a rare treat or a weekly routine, spending time with grandchildren brightens life for many older adults. But a new poll suggests many of them could do more to reduce the risk of their medications harming their grandchild.

1 Jul 2019

‘Medicare for All’ emerges as early divide in first democratic debate

During Wednesday night's Democratic presidential primary debate — the first in a two-night event viewed as the de facto launch of the primary season — health policies, ranging from "Medicare for All" to efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices, were among the key issues the 10 hopeful candidates onstage used to help differentiate themselves from the pack.

27 Jun 2019