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Opioid Overdoses In Children Soar

The number of children ages 1 to 17 admitted to hospitals for an overdose of opioids nearly doubled from 797 patients between 2004 and 2007 and 1,504 between 2012 and 2015. The oldest children in the study in Pediatrics, those between 12 and 17, accounted for over 60% of patients admitted for opioid overdose.

FDA's Gottlieb Blames Industry 'Kabuki Drug Pricing' for High Costs

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, criticized pharmacy benefit managers, health insurers, and drug-makers Wednesday for “Kabuki drug-pricing constructs” that profit the industry at the expense of consumers, Reuters reported. The comments, made at a conference organized by a leading U.S. health…

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,”…

FDA Grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to Voxelotor for Sickle Cell Disease

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to voxelotor (previously called GBT440, Global Blood Therapeutics) for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD). Voxelotor is being developed as a disease-modifying therapy for SCD. The breakthrough therapy designation for voxelotor was based…

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…

Roche Ends Development of Several Drugs

In an update on pharmaceutical pipeline projects tucked inside its financial results, FierceBiotech reports, Swiss drugmaker Roche announced that it was pulling the plug on several early- and late-stage candidates. The casualties: Lampalizumab (RG7417), a phase 3 drug that last fall failed two tests:…

Karl Brown’s Hardscrabble Roots Prepared Him for His Medicaid Mission

The CMO of Molina Healthcare of Utah grew up, let’s say, not rich. He says that and a varied background—including a stint in the Air Force—helps him deal with changing policies involving a challenging population.

Briefly Noted January 2018

CMS’s Patients Over Paperwork program aims to lessen the regulatory burden on physicians. CMS administrator Seema Verma likens the effort to scraping off old layers of paint before repainting a house, reports MedPage Today. She said that requirements concerning what and how much information physicians…

Drug Charity Sues U.S. Over Restrictions on Donor Communications

A U.S. charity offering assistance to patients for their out-of-pocket drug costs has sued the federal government over restrictions on its ability to communicate with drug-makers who donate to it, according to a Reuters report. The charity, Patient Services, Inc. (PSI), filed the lawsuit in federal…

Survey: 1 in 5 Health Workers Would Sell Confidential Data to Unauthorized Parties

Nearly one in five health employees (18%) said they would be willing to sell confidential data to unauthorized parties, according to a new survey from consultant Accenture. The survey of 912 employees of provider and payer organizations in the United States and Canada found that the respondents willing…

Value-Based Contracts May Lower Patients' Out-of-Pocket Costs by 28%

Commercially insured patients in health plans with value-based contracts for diabetes, high cholesterol, and human immunodeficiency virus medicines in the past two years had copays that averaged 28% lower for those medicines compared to patients in other plans, according to an analysis from the Pharmaceutical…

It's a Century Since the 1918 Flu Pandemic. Could It Happen Again?

One hundred years ago, the deadliest influenza pandemic of all time made a ravaging march across the globe. The "Spanish" flu of 1918-19 infected an estimated one-third of the world's population and killed between 50 million and 100 million people, modern epidemiologists estimate. That raises the inevitable…

FDA Approves Single-Pill, Three-Drug Biktarvy for HIV

The FDA has approved Biktarvy (Gilead Sciences, Inc.), a once-daily, single-tablet regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection that includes 50 mg of bictegravir, 200 mg of emtricitabine, and 25 mg of tenofovir alafenamide. Bictegravir is a novel, unboosted integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI),…

FDA Declines to Approve Braeburn Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

The FDA has sent a complete response letter to Braeburn Pharmaceuticals regarding its new drug application for CAM2038, an investigational buprenorphine weekly and monthly depot injection for the treatment of adults with opioid use disorder (OUD). The FDA has requested additional information in order…

Trump Administration Offers New Rule That May Erode PPACA

Workers would be allowed to band together to buy health insurance under a proposed rule released by the Department of Labor, The Hill reported. The proposal was issued in response to an executive order by President Trump, which would allow associations of workers to purchase cheaper health insurance…

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