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Buried in Congress’ opioid bill is protection for personal drug imports

The final version of the massive opioid bill Congress released Wednesday would grant the Food and Drug Administration new powers to crack down on drug imports, but it also includes a provision — nearly killed in the Senate — to shield people who are just trying to buy cheaper, needed prescription medication from other countries.

27 Sep 2018

As states try to rein in drug spending, feds slap down one bold Medicaid move

States serve as “laboratories of democracy,” as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said. And states are also labs for health policy, launching all kinds of experiments lately to temper spending on pharmaceuticals.

21 Sep 2018

Ensysce receives award from NIDA to undertake development of opioid overdose protection platform

Ensysce Biosciences Inc. today announced receipt of Notice of Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a four year award to undertake the pre-clinical and clinical development of the company's opioid overdose protection platform MPAR

17 Sep 2018

New Medicare Advantage tool to lower drug prices puts crimp in patients’ choices

Starting next year, Medicare Advantage plans will be able to add restrictions on expensive, injectable drugs administered by doctors to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, macular degeneration and other serious diseases.

17 Sep 2018

Study: Poor older Americans most likely to rely on prescription opioids

Among older Americans, the poorest are the most likely to have used prescription opioids, according to a University at Buffalo study providing new insights into unexplored contours of the opioid crisis.

12 Sep 2018

Unwitting patients, copycat comments play hidden role in federal rule-making

A proposal to sharply cut a drug discount program that many hospitals rely on drew some 1,400 comments when the Trump administration announced its plan last year. Hundreds appeared to come from patients across the country — pleas from average Americans whose treatments for diseases such as cancer depend on costly medicines.

11 Sep 2018

NCCN updates Clinical Practice Guidelines to include new recommendations for CABOMETYX tablets

Exelixis, Inc. today announced that the National Comprehensive Cancer Network updated its Clinical Practice Guidelines to include new recommendations for CABOMETYX tablets.

7 Sep 2018

Insulin’s high cost leads to deadly rationing

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a terrible way to die. It’s what happens when you don’t have enough insulin. Your blood sugar gets so high that your blood becomes highly acidic, your cells dehydrate, and your body stops functioning.

7 Sep 2018

Nursing viewpoints on opioid crisis

Addictions nursing specialists have a unique role to play in caring for patients, families, and communities affected by the crisis.

6 Sep 2018

Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm had hand in halting Florida’s opioid investigation

Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show.

5 Sep 2018

The pluses and minuses of allowing medical marijuana at school

Every school day at noon, Karina Garcia drives to her son’s South San Francisco high school to give him a dose of cannabis oil to prevent potentially life-threatening seizures.

30 Aug 2018

Researchers take major step forward in finding safe and non-addictive pain killer

With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have been working to find a safe, non-addictive pain killer to help fight the current opioid crisis in this country.

30 Aug 2018

Helping young patients gain more access to stroke preventive medications

People who survive a stroke in their 40s, 50s or early 60s may still have decades to live – but only if they take blood thinners, blood pressure drugs and other medications that can reduce their risk of a second stroke.

28 Aug 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Opioids, epipens and health funding

The Senate is still working, well into August - something it hasn't done in years — and it’s debating the funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services.

24 Aug 2018

New proposal aims to improve drug harm assessment process

A drug policy researcher is proposing a suite of changes to overhaul the Multi-Criteria Drug Harm Scale, which informs drug policies across Europe.

20 Aug 2018

Shortage of insurance fraud cops sparks campaign debate

Ask Steve Poizner about how he'll tackle health care costs if he recaptures his old job as California's insurance commissioner, and he has a ready example.

17 Aug 2018

Trump administration sinks teeth into paring down drug prices, on 5 key points

Three months after President Donald Trump announced his blueprint to bring down drug prices, administration officials have begun putting some teeth behind the rhetoric.

10 Aug 2018

Clinicians who learn of a patient’s opioid death modestly cut back on prescriptions

Physicians and other medical providers modestly reduced the volume of opioids they prescribed after being told one of their patients had died of an overdose, according to research published Thursday.

10 Aug 2018

Pharmacy-made pain creams flagged on fears of Medicare fraud and risk

Medicare pays hundreds of millions of dollars each year for prescription creams, gels and lotions made-to-order by pharmacies — mainly as pain treatments. But a new report finds that officials are concerned about possible fraud and patient safety risks from products made at nearly a quarter of the pharmacies that fill the bulk of those prescriptions.

9 Aug 2018

How rival opioid makers sought to cash in on alarm over oxycontin’s dangers

As Purdue Pharma faced mounting criticism over deaths linked to OxyContin, rival drugmakers saw a chance to boost sales by stepping up marketing of similarly dangerous painkillers, such as fentanyl, morphine and methadone, Purdue internal documents reveal.

2 Aug 2018