Drug Deals Tie Prices to How Well Patients Do

(From Andrew Pollack, The New York Times) Pressed by insurance companies, some drug makers are beginning to adjust what they charge for their drugs, based on how well the medicines improve patients’ health.

In a deal expected to be announced Thursday, Merck has agreed to peg what the insurer Cigna pays for the diabetes drugs Januvia Read more

Experts: Medication Errors Could Be Cut

(HealthDay News/Forbes.com) Two reports show promise of computers, pharmacists for proper prescribing.

Medication errors and adverse drug reactions cost lives and dollars each year in the United States, but two new reports suggest ways hospitals and pharmacists can work to reduce these mistakes. Read more

India’s Cipla says ready to supply flu drug copy

(AFP/Yahoo!) Indian drug manufacturer Cipla Tuesday said it could supply 1.5 million doses of a copy of the Tamiflu antiviral medication to fight the international swine flu outbreak.

“We have already received proposals from people on behalf of countries in Latin America, Mexico and Israel,” the Mumbai-based company’s chief executive Read more

Iowa judge ask pharmacy board to look at marijuana

(AP, kttc.com Des Moines) – A Polk County judge says a state pharmacy board must consider whether marijuana has accepted medical uses.

Thursday’s ruling Judge Joel Novak doesn’t legalize medical marijuana in Iowa, but it requires the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to consider whether it’s properly classified as a Schedule I substance. Read more

Administration declares health emergency in swine flu outbreak

(Health Day News) Warning the worst is yet to come, U.S. officials Sunday declared the rapid spread of swine flu to be a public health emergency, and freed up 12.5 million doses of antiviral medication to help fight the disease, which has now infected 20 people in five states. Read more

Addiction drug may relieve fibromyalgia symptoms

(Reuters) A low dose of naltrexone, a drug commonly used to treat alcoholism and drug addiction, is effective in relieving pain and fatigue in some patients with fibromyalgia, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California have found. Read more

Plan B available at the Pharmacy to women 17 and older

(wowOwow.com, fda.gov) A judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to allow Plan B to be sold without prescriptions to girls as young as 17. A press release by the FDA states that the morning-after pill, Plan B, will be available for over-the-counter purchase within the next 30 days. The statement released reads: Read more

Florida pharmacy says it wrongly prepped horse meds before match

(CNN) — A veterinary pharmacy in Florida acknowledged Thursday that it incorrectly prepared medication used to treat 21 horses who all died around the time of an international polo match last weekend. Read more

Free CE: The Continued Importance of Controlled Substance Management by Health Care Professionals

Free CE at PowerPak.com titled “The Continued Importance of Controlled Substance Management by Health Care Professionals.”

Read issues associated with maintaining proper vigilance regarding pain medications, with emphasis on Read more

More people abandoning prescriptions

(Drug Topics) There has been a continued increase in the rate of prescription abandonment among consumers, according to an annual analysis of the pharmaceutical market by Wolters Kluwer Health. Read more

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