Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has announced new changes to its opioid policy, including a decision that the insurer will no longer cover the standard formulation of OxyContin. The news, released Tuesday, is at least the second time this year that the insurer has changed its handling of opioids. In March it set… Read More »

ZURICH, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis, which is shifting into rare diseases, said on Monday it believes its new gene therapy for the deadly disease spinal muscular atrophy could be cost-effective to healthcare systems at $4 million to $5 million per patient. “Four million dollars is a significant amount of money, but we… Read More »

 How Manufacturers, Middlemen, Providers, PBMs, and the Government Are Keeping Us in the Dark • The healthcare industry is rife with secrets                     • Drugs and device efficacies are elusive • Prices are kept opaque                                                         • Payers/patients lack clarity Someone got screwed. I mean that literally, though not in that way. I have a patient’s… Read More »

By Harris Meyer | October 22, 2018 A set of 14 hospital-acquired conditions that the CMS considers avoidable accounted for 48,771 adverse patient outcomes, 3,219 deaths and more than $2 billion in excess hospital costs in 2016, according to a new research brief. Patients experiencing these hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) were in the hospital about 8… Read More »

“Within 24 hours of taking the pill combination, patients were puffing less, their sinuses were clearer, they had more energy,” one researcher said. All newborns in the U.S. are tested for the genes that cause cystic fibrosis. There is no cure, but new medications may improve symptoms.BSIP / UIG via Getty Images A three-drug cocktail… Read More »

Phil Baker is the founder and CEO of Memphis-based Good Shepherd Pharmacy. (Houston Cofield/Daily Memphian file) After three years, the last domino finally fell. Phil Baker, founder of Good Shepherd Pharmacy, took a call from The Daily Memphian while standing at the foot of the Washington Monument. “Wow,” he said. “I didn’t realize how much… Read More »

When the European Society of Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) was used to evaluate trials in cancer that were the basis of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals, researchers found that only one-third of the studies demonstrated a substantial clinical benefit, which was defined as grade A or grade B for… Read More »

Still, despite costs largely in line with the therapy’s benefits, the study’s author and another expert said reimbursement models have not kept up and need improvement. Novartis’ CAR-T therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in pediatric patients appears to significantly increase survival while exerting costs to the healthcare system that are in line with its benefits,… Read More »

Cervical cancer is being successfully reduced by prevention schemes Australia will become the first country to effectively eliminate cervical cancer if vaccination and screening rates are maintained, researchers say. The disease could be eradicated as a public health issue nationally within 20 years, according to new modelling. It is predicted to be classified as a… Read More »

In a massive win for dialysis giants DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday vetoed a measure that would have slashed and capped their commercial insurance reimbursements. DaVita’s and Fresenius’ stocks tumbled in late August after the California Legislature approved SB 1156, which would have capped insurer payments at 115% of… Read More »