HHS withdraws exclusionary rule
June 25th 2007The Department of Health & Human Services has withdrawn a controversial proposed rule that would have allowed it to exclude from government health programs any provider that submitted reimbursement claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal and state healthcare programs that were held to be "substantially in excess" of the provider's "usual charges," unless the provider had "good cause" to submit the claim.
Experts reach consensus on personal med record parameters
June 25th 2007A medication list that includes patients' current medications and only the most relevant information about their care will be an effective tool to tackle one of the most challenging obstacles to the smooth delivery of care facing patients.
FTC accepts Rite Aid, Jean Coutu Group agreement
June 18th 2007The FTC has accepted, subject to final approval, an Agreement Containing Consent Order with Rite Aid Corp. and the Jean Coutu Group. The agreement is designed to remedy the likely anticompetitive effects arising from Rite Aid's proposed acquisition of the Brooks and Eckerd retail pharmacies from Jean Coutu.
NCPA pushes prompt pay as cure for Part D
June 18th 2007After repeated warning about the devastating impact of the Medicare Part D benefit, NCPA officials finally have the data to back it up. In 2006, the first year of the new drug benefit, more than 1,100 community pharmacies closed shop and those that survived saw dramatically lowered net operating income and sales income even as their prescription sales rose.
Dose counters to help with pediatric inhalers
June 18th 2007Fluticasone propionate inhalation aerosol (Flovent HFA 44 mcg) and fluticasone propionate inhalation powder (Flovent Diskus 50 mcg), both inhaled corticosteroids from GlaxoSmithKline, will now offer a dose counter for children aged four and older with mild, persistent asthma.
Report finds Januvia may become favored therapy
June 18th 2007The recent safety concerns regarding the use of the thiazolidinediones pioglitazone (Actos, Takeda) and rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) and the risk that they lead to cardiac failure may cause an increased market uptake of other drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Latebreakers: New once-daily antihistamine to make its debut
June 18th 2007Long-acting levocetirizine (Xyzal, UCB/Sanofi-Aventis) has received regulatory approval for the relief of symptoms associated with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis and for uncomplicated skin manifestations of chronic idiopathic urticaria in adults and children six years of age and older.