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High opioid doses, concurrent sedative use are key factors for overdose risk in Medicaid recipients

Among Medicaid recipients taking prescription opioids, high opioid doses and concurrent treatment with benzodiazepine sedatives are among the key, potentially modifiable risk factors for fatal overdose, reports a study in the August issue of Medical Care.

13 Jul 2018

Can insurers use genetic testing results? A reader wants to know

This week, I answer questions from readers concerned about health insurance roadblocks in the face of a serious illness or medical crisis.

10 Jul 2018

State prisons fail to offer cure to 144,000 inmates with deadly hepatitis C

State prisons across the U.S. are failing to treat at least 144,000 inmates who have hepatitis C, a curable but potentially fatal liver disease, according to a recent survey and subsequent interviews of state corrections departments.

9 Jul 2018

Ocular Therapeutix resubmits NDA for DEXTENZA

Ocular Therapeutix™, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the formulation, development, and commercialization of innovative therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye, has announced the resubmission of the Company's New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its lead product candidate DEXTENZA™ 0.4mg, for the treatment of ocular pain following ophthalmic surgery.

30 Jun 2018

Researchers focus on delivery of insulin in pill form

One mother vividly remembers her three-and-a-half-year-old son's pleas when he received insulin injections several times each day. "He would beg and plead, 'Don't do it Momma!'" she recalls.

29 Jun 2018

Top policy expert’s ties to giant drugmaker often go unstated

When Dr. Mark McClellan sat for an in-depth 30-minute question-and-answer session at an April health policy forum, the audience was filled with top researchers, advocates and Capitol Hill staffers eager to hear what insight the former head of the Food and Drug Administration would dispense.

29 Jun 2018

Merck announces FDA acceptance of supplemental Biologics License Application for KEYTRUDA

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for standard review a new supplemental Biologics License Application for KEYTRUDA, Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of patients with resected, high-risk stage III melanoma and granted a Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or target action, date of February 16, 2019.

25 Jun 2018

Study highlights inadequate effort of health care insurers to combat opioid epidemic

Health care insurers including Medicare, Medicaid and major private insurers have not done enough to combat the opioid epidemic, suggests a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

22 Jun 2018

Religious involvement has no significant effect on misuse of prescription opioids, study finds

Does going to church help people avoid struggles with opioid abuse? New research from Florida State University says no.

20 Jun 2018

Administration eases way for small businesses to buy insurance in bulk

Small employers will more easily be able to band together to buy health insurance under rules issued Tuesday by the Trump administration, but the change could raise premiums for plans sold through the Affordable Care Act's online marketplaces, analysts say.

19 Jun 2018

Humana and Walgreens to provide easier access to primary care and other services for seniors

Leading health and well-being company Humana Inc. and Walgreens, a provider of trusted pharmacy services and care in communities since 1901, are teaming up to provide easier access to primary care and other services for seniors, as part of the companies' ongoing and shared commitment to the health and well-being of the Kansas City community.

19 Jun 2018

Study opens new potential avenue for treating ovarian cancer

Researchers at Houston Methodist Research Institute and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a prescription drug, Calcitriol, approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of calcium deficiency and kidney diseases, may increase the likelihood of surviving ovarian cancer.

14 Jun 2018

How America got hooked on a deadly drug

Purdue Pharma left almost nothing to chance in its whirlwind marketing of its new painkiller OxyContin.

13 Jun 2018

Young drinkers underestimate the effects of supersized alcopops, shows study

College students seriously underestimate the effects of drinking a new class of beverages being marketed across the country, according to a new George Mason University study.

11 Jun 2018

Price check on drug ads: Would revealing costs help patients control spending?

President Donald Trump wants to control spending on drugs. One of his big ideas: include prices in advertisements, just like warnings about side effects.

6 Jun 2018

Study: People taking immunosuppressant drugs less likely to develop Parkinson's disease

People who take drugs that suppress the immune system are less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

31 May 2018

Proposed National Resilience Strategy to reverse catastrophic increases in 'deaths of despair'

Startling increases in nationwide deaths from drug overdoses, alcohol, and suicides constitute a public health crisis – spurring an urgent call for a National Resilience Strategy to stem these "deaths of despair."

26 May 2018

Pfizer settles kickback case related to copay assistance for $24m

Pfizer will pay the government nearly $24 million as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it funneled money through a foundation resulting in illegal kickbacks.

24 May 2018

Drugmakers blamed for blocking generics have milked prices and cost U.S. billions

Makers of brand-name drugs called out by the Trump administration for potentially stalling generic competition have hiked their prices by double-digit percentages since 2012 and cost Medicare and Medicaid nearly $12 billion in 2016, a Kaiser Health News analysis has found.

23 May 2018

Middlemen who save $$ on medicines — but maybe not for you

Guess who's back grabbing headlines? Pharmacy benefit managers — those companies that serve as middlemen in the prescription drug pipeline.

21 May 2018