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What’s in That IV Bag? Don’t Use Saline, Studies Suggest

Two new studies suggest that patients do better when providers switch from using intravenous saline therapy to balanced fluids that closely resemble the liquid part of blood. Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers believe the studies could improve survival and decrease kidney complications.…

When Is It Safe to Drop Contact Precautions for Drug-Resistant Infections?

New expert guidance released by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America offers advice to hospitals on determining when they can safely discontinue contact precautions for patients with multi-drug resistant bacteria. The framework, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology,…

Questions Health Plans Must Ask Before Considering a Laboratory Benefit Management or Prior Authorization Program

These eight questions show that the use of an LBM or a PAP should be just one of the potential results of your laboratory benefit management program, not the program itself. You shouldn’t have to pay for services you already provide yourselves or add a middleman that’s not necessary.

Price of Teva’s Generic Drug for Wilson’s Disease Sparks Outrage

Wilson’s disease patients had been champing at the bit for Teva Pharmaceuticals’ generic of Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ Syprine (trientine hydrochloride), which the company billed as a “lower-cost generic.” But after the drug launched this month, patients discovered Teva’s generic isn’t much…

Injectable Hyaluronic-Acid–Based Bone Repair Treatment Cleared by FDA

The FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to Anika Therapeutics for a new hyaluronic-acid (HA)–based injection indicated for filling bone voids or defects of the skeletal system (i.e., extremities and pelvis), which are not intrinsic to the stability of the bone, created during surgery or resulting from…

Partnership Seeks to Improve Success of Parkinson’s Disease Clinical Trials

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is teaming with government, biopharmaceutical, life science, and nonprofit organizations to overcome obstacles and increase success for advancing promising treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Part of the NIH Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP), AMP…

First Generic of HIV-1 Antiretroviral Atazanavir Launches in the U.S.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has launched the first generic version of Reyataz (atazanavir, Bristol-Myers Squibb) capsules in the U.S. Atazanavir sulfate capsules are a protease inhibitor indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of human immunodeficiency…

Skeptics Say Trump’s Efforts To Lower Drug Prices Don’t Go Far Enough

The Trump administration has outlined policy changes it says will lower drug prices, but some experts are skeptical that the actions will accomplish that goal, according to a FierceHealthcare article. The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) issued a 30-page report that offers a slew of…

Ruling Removes Final Patent Protection for Zytiga

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has overturned the sole unexpired patent keeping generic competition at bay for the prostate-cancer medication abiraterone acetate (Zytiga, Janssen Oncology). Generic drug-maker Argentum Pharmaceuticals LLC successfully challenged all claims of a Janssen patent…

FDA Warns American CryoStem Over Unapproved Stem-Cell Product

The FDA has issued a warning letter to American CryoStem Corporation for marketing an adipose-derived stem cell product without the agency’s approval and for significant deviations from current good manufacturing practice requirements, including some that raise potentially significant safety concerns.…

Study: High Doses of Vitamin D Rapidly Reduce Arterial Stiffness

In just four months, high doses of vitamin D reduced arterial stiffness in young, overweight/obese, vitamin-deficient, but otherwise still healthy African-Americans, researchers say. Rigid artery walls are an independent predictor of cardiovascular-related disease and death, and vitamin D deficiency…

New FDA Drug Approvals Reach 21-Year High in 2017

U.S. drug approvals hit a 21-year high in 2017, with 46 novel medicines winning a green light—more than double the previous year—while the figure also rose in the European Union, according to a Reuters report. The E.U. recommended 92 new drugs, including generics, up from 81, and China laid out…

Opdivo/Yervoy Combination Fares Well in Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Trial

Positive results have been reported from a crucial immunotherapy trial that used a combination of two Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) drugs, nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy), to treat patients with a specific type of non–small-cell lung cancer patients. But previously undisclosed changes BMS…

Report: Medicare Part B Payment Hikes Could Offset 340B Cuts for Many Hospitals

Increased reimbursements under Medicare Part B overall could offset potential losses for hospitals under changes to the 340B discount program, according to a new analysis. FierceHealthcare reports that consulting firm Avalere Health analyzed hospital-level data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…

Report: Novartis Could Put Sandoz on the Auction Block Within Weeks

Less than one week after it scored approval from the FDA for Glatopa (glatiramer acetate injection), a generic version of Teva’s multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, Novartis may be looking to sell off its generics subsidiary Sandoz, BioSpace reports. Citing unnamed sources “familiar with the matter,”…

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