Sixty-five percent (65%) of respondents would be interested if their employer offered easy and affordable access to genetic testing for health purposes, and the results were private and only shared between the employee and their doctor. Twenty-six (26%) percent want genetic testing but only if it is free, and 9% would have no interest in an employer offer of access to genetic testing. Further, 52% of respondents are willing to pay up to $250 for genetic testing. [Read more…]
Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy News
Prescription drug costs are one of the fastest-moving parts of health care spending, and they are shaped by decisions made far from the pharmacy counter. Drug manufacturers set list prices. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the companies that administer drug benefits for health plans and employers, negotiate rebates and build formularies, the lists of drugs a plan covers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves new drugs, generics and biosimilars. Health plans then decide what members pay at the pharmacy.
What We Cover
This section covers drug pricing and coverage decisions, FDA approvals and recalls, PBM practices and reform, formulary changes, pharmacy industry news, and the self-pay and direct-to-consumer programs that manufacturers have launched for high-demand drugs such as GLP-1 medications for diabetes and weight loss. We also report on insulin pricing, specialty drugs, and the vaccines and therapies that health plans add to coverage.
For Medicare beneficiaries, Part D rules and the annual out-of-pocket cap determine what they pay for prescriptions; that coverage appears in our Medicare section. Legislative and regulatory action on drug pricing and PBMs is covered in Healthcare Policy and Law, and carrier pharmacy partnerships appear in Health Insurance Companies and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Clinical research and public health findings about medications are covered in Public Health and Research.
The latest prescription drug and pharmacy news appears below, newest first.
DrFirst Enables Free mobile Medication Management Tool for Prescribers affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
Hurricane Irma is expected to cause catastrophic destruction across Puerto Rico, Florida, and possibly other states, even as the Gulf Coast is working to recover from Hurricane Harvey. Many healthcare facilities and pharmacies are already unavailable for extended periods, and others soon will be. As the waters subside, patients in affected areas may be displaced, many care locations will be temporarily closed, and prescribing patterns could be disrupted due to evacuations, power outages, and massive flooding across the region. [Read more…]
New Life Agency Announces Trifecta On Fertility Medication Savings
For nearly two decades, New Life Agency has been committed to providing the best value and service in the Assisted Reproduction Insurance industry. Today, New Life Agency announces a powerful three-way partnership designed to deliver substantial savings on today’s expensive fertility medications. [Read more…]
Sempre Health launches health plan partnerships
Sempre Health, the leading solution for behavior-based healthcare pricing, officially launched health plan partnerships today to empower consumers to lower their own medication costs. Sempre works with health plans and pharma manufacturers to dynamically adjust a patient’s co-payment based on individual adherence and behavior, seamlessly at the point of fill. [Read more…]
Typical American Family Faces $26,944 in Annual Healthcare
Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, has released the 2017 Milliman Medical Index (MMI), which measures the cost of healthcare for a typical American family of four receiving coverage from an employer-sponsored preferred provider plan (PPO). In 2017, costs for this family will increase by 4.3%—which marks the lowest rate of increase in the history of this study—though the total dollar increase of $1,118 is consistent with the last decade of healthcare cost increases. [Read more…]
EPIC adds Reba Mathew, Pharm.D., R.Ph to Employee Benefits Consulting Pharmacy Practice
EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, a retail property, casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Reba Mathew Pharm.D., R.Ph has joined the firm’s Employee Benefits Consulting Practice as Pharmacy Practice Director. [Read more…]
Half of Patients’ Out-of-Pocket Spending for Brand Medicines Is Based on List Price
More than half of commercially-insured patients’ out-of-pocket spending for brand medicines is based on the full list price, according to a new analysis from Amundsen Consulting, a division of QuintilesIMS. The data also show cost -sharing for nearly one in five brand prescriptions is based on the list price. [Read more…]
PhRMA Report on Cost-Sharing Misses the Mark
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) today released the following points regarding a new PhRMA report on patient out-of-pocket spending:
— According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the average amount spent out-of-pocket for drugs continues to decline, projected to be 13% of drug spending in 2016, down from 23% in 2006.
— Rising drug costs is a pricing problem, not a coverage problem. Health plans don’t have unlimited funds to pay first dollar coverage on every drug, regardless of its price.
— The simplest, most obvious way for drugmakers to reduce costs and improve access is to cut their prices.
— The report ignores the most obvious and important point: rising out-of-pocket costs are a by-product of rising drug prices and the wave of new high-priced specialty brands coming to market.
— While not all health plans apply manufacturer rebates to reduce cost-sharing on each drug, it’s usually because the savings are being used to reduce premiums.
— Higher cost-sharing on certain brand drugs is often used to promote less expensive but equally effective generics, which comprise almost 90% of prescriptions.
— The employers and unions that offer coverage know better than the drug industry what’s best for their patient populations. Whether health plans decide to reduce costs by reducing premiums for all or cost-sharing on certain drugs should be up to them – not drugmakers.
PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs administer prescription drug plans for more than 266 million Americans who have health insurance from a variety of sponsors including: commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, union plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), state government employee plans, Medicaid plans, and others.
SOURCE Pharmaceutical Care Management Association
Related Coverage
- Half of Patients’ Out-of-Pocket Spending for Brand Medicines Is Based on List Price
- 2017 Greets PBMs With New CMS Report
- EmpiRx Health Applauds Blue Shield of California’s Adoption of a Value-based Model for Prescription Drugs, Announces a Four-Point Plan To Accelerate PBM Transformation
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
2017 Greets PBMs With New CMS Report
The President and CEO of the Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) today predicted the increasingly apparent role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) as unaccountable middlemen in the national drug pricing chain will result in a higher level of scrutiny from Congress, regulators and the media in 2017. [Read more…]
MailMyPrescriptions.com Agreement with Aon Benefit and National General Subsidiaries
MailMyPrescriptions.com has entered into an agreement with Alliance HealthCard of Florida, Inc. Alliance HealthCard of Florida, Inc., a division of Aon Benefit Solutions, Inc., an Aon subsidiary (NYSE: AON), will make mailmyprescriptions.com available to America’s Health Care Plan/RX Plan Agency, Inc. (AHCP) owned by National General Insurance Company (NASDAQ: NGHC). [Read more…]
7 TV News Stations Have Aired No Coverage of Drug Price Reform Initiative Prop 61
Seven California news stations have not aired a single story about Proposition 61 to educate voters on the measure that would cap state prescription drug prices, despite receiving nearly $1.7 million in ad money from the pharmaceutical industry’s record-breaking $126 million No campaign. [Read more…]
Kaiser Family Foundation Under Fire
Consumer Watchdog today called out the Kaiser Family Foundation for holding a one-sided debate on drug price controls tomorrow that allows the opponents of Prop 61, the drug makers who raised $90 million against the effort to rein in California’s drug bills, a seat but leaves proponents out. [Read more…]
Adapt Pharma Announces NARCAN® coverage with California’s Medi-Cal Program
Effective October 1, 2016, the Medi-Cal Fee-For-Service program provides unrestricted, $0 copay access to NARCAN® Nasal Spray for its beneficiaries. As a result of this decision, beneficiaries can now obtain NARCAN® Nasal Spray from pharmacists across the state within 24 hours, establishing an unprecedented level of access and coverage. [Read more…]
CentraState Medical Center Streamlines Administration of Medication Education
CentraState Medical Center is establishing a new benchmark for patient education best practices by integrating video medication education with a patient’s Electronic Medical Record (EMR) using in-room televisions. Partnering with TeleHealth Services, the 284-bed hospital is optimizing clinical workflows while proactively addressing readmissions, HCAHPS score improvement and Meaningful Use initiatives. [Read more…]
Millennium Health To Host And Participate In Events At PAINWeek 2014
Millennium Health, a leading health solutions company, will have a significant presence at PAINWeek® 2014, the nation’s largest annual meeting for frontline clinicians with an interest in pain management. PAINWeek takes place Sept. 2-6 in Las Vegas.
Highlights of Millennium Health events include:
Sponsored Educational Symposium
Millennium Health will lead a symposium titled My Grandma’s Not a Zombie: Medication Monitoring & Pharmacogenetic Testing (PGT) Can Help Clinicians Individualize Safer Opioid Management, which will explore the growing need to improve care coordination for the treatment of pain and anxiety-related conditions in seniors. The symposium will examine the differences in patient medication responses and assess approaches for providing personalized care in cases of difficult-to-manage pain. The session will feature a panel of four nationally recognized pain experts, representing Millennium Health and partners:
Jeffrey Fudin, Pharm.D.
Anita Gupta, D.O., Pharm.D.
Kenneth Kirsh, Ph.D., vice president of research and advocacy, Millennium Health
Steven Passik, Ph.D., vice president of research and advocacy, Millennium Health
My Grandma’s Not a Zombie will be presented on Thursday, Sept. 4, from 12-1:30p.m. PST, Gracia 4, Level 3, at The Cosmopolitan.
Special Interest Session
Dr. Passik also will lead a separate special interest session titled “The Iceberg Cometh,” on the topic of prescription opioids and the stigma surrounding their use.
The Iceberg Cometh will be presented on Thursday, Sept. 4, from 10:50-11:50 a.m. PST at The Cosmopolitan.
Poster Presentation
Millennium Health, along with the Millennium Research Institute, a nonprofit national research center, and the University of Washington, will be presenting a poster: Value of CYP Genetic Testing for Opioid Therapy: An Exploratory Combined Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Study in a Chronic Pain Cohort.
The poster session will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4, at the Scientific Session and Reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. PST.
American Academy of Pain Medicine Educational Program
Millennium Health has provided an educational grant to support the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s (AAPM) presentation of four learning modules at PAINWeek. The module topics from the AAPM’s Essential Tools for Treating the Patient in Pain™ curriculum are: the Brain in Pain, Neuropathic Pain, Headache, and Myofascial Pain Syndromes, and will include Strategies for Success with Chronic Opioid Therapy and Myofascial Pain Syndromes for the AAFP Assembly.
Related Coverage
- Avella to Improve Access to Naloxone
- EPIC adds Reba Mathew, Pharm.D., R.Ph to Employee Benefits Consulting Pharmacy Practice
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Nonin Medical Announces FDA Clearance of Nonin Model 3231 USB Pulse Oximeter
Nonin Medical, Inc., the inventor of finger pulse oximetry and a leader in noninvasive medical monitoring, today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Nonin Model 3231 OEM/eHealth finger pulse oximeter for use in the United States. The finger pulse oximeter plugs into a telemedicine hub or kiosk through a USB connector and measures oxygen saturation and pulse rate in pediatric to adult patients. The Model 3231 received EU certification last year.
The Model 3231 features accuracy advantages, including:
— Nonin’s clinically proven PureSAT® Pulse Oximetry (SpO2) technology, which utilizes intelligent pulse-by-pulse filtering to provide precise oximetry measurements—even in the presence of motion, dark skin tones, low perfusion, rapid SpO2 changes and other challenging conditions. PureSAT automatically adjusts to each patient’s condition to provide fast and reliable readings that clinicians can act on.
— Exclusive Nonin CorrectCheck™ technology, which provides feedback via a digital display if the patient’s finger is not placed correctly in the device. CorrectCheck is helpful since improper finger placement may lead to incorrect readings.
— SmartPoint™ capture, an algorithm developed by Nonin that automatically determines when a high quality measurement is ready to be stored. This helps to ensure that each reading transmitted by the Model 3231 is accurate. [Read more…]
September is Senior Vaccination Month at CVS/pharmacy and MinuteClinic
In recognition of the increased risks that seniors have of developing health complications from the flu, pneumonia, shingles and other illnesses, CVS/pharmacy® and MinuteClinic® have declared September to be Senior Vaccination Month. Because people’s immune systems weaken as they age, it is important that adults ages 65 years and older stay up to date on their vaccinations. CVS pharmacists and MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and physician assistants will be raising awareness about the importance of vaccinations for their senior patients throughout the month.
All 7,700 CVS/pharmacy locations and all 900 MinuteClinic locations inside select CVS/pharmacy stores can administer vaccinations to patients to help protect them against the flu and other illnesses every day with no appointment needed, including evening and weekends. In addition to flu and pneumonia vaccinations, other shots such as the shingles vaccine are available at CVS/pharmacy and Hepatitis vaccines are available at MinuteClinic.
In addition to the regular flu shot that is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for everyone who is at least six months old, all CVS/pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations also offer the Fluzone® High-Dose vaccine for people 65 years and older. Fluzone High-Dose contains four times the antigens as the seasonal flu vaccine and is designed to provide a stronger immune response in people 65 years and older.
A recent consumer survey by CVS/pharmacy showed that three in five adults in the U.S. are not aware of the importance of the high dose flu vaccine in preventing the flu for adults ages 65 and up. The survey also showed that nearly one in three Americans say they have a role in helping an elderly family member or loved one make health care decisions, including whether to get a flu shot.
Related Coverage
- Top 10 COVID-19 Vaccine Questions
- Florida Blue Covers COVID-19 Vaccine
- Top States for Vaccinating Against COVID-19
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Eisai Adds 200 Sales Specialists to Field Force for BELVIQ
Eisai Inc. will add more than 200 new contract sales representatives to its Metabolic Business Unit, bringing the total sales force for BELVIQ® to approximately 600, triple the size from when the FDA-approved prescription therapy for chronic weight management became available in June 2013. This expansion, which becomes effective on July 1, 2014, will allow Eisai to reach approximately 90,000 physicians.
The increase in sales representatives follows Eisai’s recent launch of a national television advertising campaign which encourages those who continue to struggle with their weight to speak to their doctor about the potential of BELVIQ, when combined with diet and increased activity, to help them lose weight and keep it off. (To view the advertisement for BELVIQ, visit http://www.multivu.com/mnr/7161051-eisai-launches-national-television-campaign-belviq-lorcaserin-hcl-civ)
Related Coverage
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Morgan & Morgan Investigating Ariad Pharmaceuticals ARIA
Morgan & Morgan is investigating whether or not Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Ariad” or the “Company”) (ARIA) and certain of its officers violated the federal securities laws when making statements to investors regarding its experimental drug Iclusig.
On October 9, 2013, the Company updated the data from its PACE trial of Iclusig and revealed that the drug was shown to cause a higher rate of blood clots and heart-related side effects than previously disclosed. As a result, the FDA placed a hold on new patient enrollment for Iclusig testing, and the Company advised patients currently receiving the drug to lower their dosage.
Following this news, shares of Ariad fell $11.31, almost 66%, to close at $5.83 per share on October 9, 2013.
Health Plan News will post updates to this story if warranted.
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- NRx Pharmaceuticals Provides Update on Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) Request for ZYESAMI® (aviptadil)
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For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Anthera Pharmaceuticals Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock
Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANTH) today announced that it intends to offer and sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares of common stock offered in the public offering. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.
Jefferies & Company, Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager in the offering and Leerink Swann LLC is acting as co-manager.
Related Coverage
- Access Pharmaceuticals to Acquire Somanta Pharmaceuticals
- Morgan & Morgan Investigating Ariad Pharmaceuticals ARIA
- NRx Pharmaceuticals Provides Update on Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) Request for ZYESAMI® (aviptadil)
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Enterologics Unveils Strategy to Develop Live Biotherapeutics for Gastrointestinal Diseases
Enterologics, Inc., (OTCBB: ELGO.OB) a biotechnology company, is dedicated to the development of live biotherapeutic products for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders that it believes are poorly addressed by current therapies. Key examples include pouchitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and Clostridium difficile infections.
Enterologics intends to license or acquire technology to build a product pipeline based on producing probiotic bacteria in novel, shelf-stable, high potency formulations that are delivered orally. Unlike probiotic bacteria that are sold over-the-counter as dietary supplements or in food products such as yogurt, we intend to develop products to meet the exacting standards necessary to gain FDA approval as prescription drugs and biologics, with demonstrated safety and clinical benefits for specific GI indications. [Read more…]
Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support Strong Medical Device Safety Oversight
A new Consumer Reports poll shows overwhelming public support for strong medical device safety oversight. The poll was released just as House and Senate Committees have issued draft legislation to reauthorize the statute governing medical devices and at a time when the FDA’s process for reviewing new implants has come under intense criticism.
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee’s draft bill would significantly weaken device safety oversight and should be rejected by Congress, according to Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports. While the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s draft bill provides some additional protections for patients once devices are on the market, it misses the opportunity to enact a clear process for preventing unsafe devices from being sold in the first place.
The medical device industry has been pushing Congress to scale back oversight of implants and other devices, which it claims is necessary to promote innovation and make it easier to get new devices approved. But according to the new Consumer Reports poll, 82 percent of Americans believe that preventing safety problems is more important than limiting safety testing in order to prevent delays and encourage innovation. [Read more…]
Cardinal Health Statement in Response to Preliminary Injunction Hearing February 29, 2012
Earlier today the federal district court denied our motion for a preliminary injunction against the DEA’s immediate suspension of our license to ship controlled substances from our Lakeland, Fla., distribution center. We disagree with this decision and have noticed our appeal of this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Our contingency plans will be immediately activated, and we will make every effort to meet our customers’ needs with minimal disruption. [Read more…]
Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Companies Shift Medical Education Focus
In the current environment, medical education groups are faced with the challenge of holding down costs while adding new programs and expanding into emerging markets. As a result, pharmaceutical and medical device leaders are beginning to leverage their resources in these emerging areas, such as China and India, in order to help fuel overall growth.
Medical Device companies only allocate 7.5% of their Medical Education FTEs to the Asia-emerging areas and an even smaller percentage of their Medical Education budget, 6.4%, according to primary research on “Professional Medical Education Excellence: Structures, Resources, Services & Performance Levels to Optimize” conducted by Best Practices, LLC. Similarly, pharmaceutical companies offer even greater potential for growth into emerging markets, as they currently dedicate only 1.9% of their Medical Education FTEs and budget to these geographic areas.
Download a complimentary white paper at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr1143.htm that includes selected best practices drawn from extensive primary research with executives from 35 leading companies, including 10 medical device firms and 25 pharma companies. In addition, more than 80 percent of the benchmark class includes executives at the Vice President and Director levels.
The full 85-page report contains over 350 benchmark metrics and more than 17 narratives, delivering benchmarks around medical education groups’ geographic focus, utilization of staff, and outsourcing of program creation and deployment provided by 40 top medical education leaders.
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For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Cardinal Health Statement Regarding Temporary Restraining Order to Avoid Disruption in Controlled Medicine Shipments From Florida
On Feb. 3, 2012, Cardinal Health was granted a temporary restraining order against the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) immediate suspension order of its Lakeland, Fla. DEA registration.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Reggie B. Walton granted the temporary restraining order that allows Cardinal Health to immediately resume shipments of controlled medicines from its Lakeland facility to hospital and pharmacy customers pending a preliminary injunction hearing currently scheduled for February 13.
The order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is available here: http://ecom.cardinalhealth.com/cardinalhealth/attachments/order.pdf.
Related Coverage
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Is Heart Disease Or Stroke A Part Of Your Family History?
How many people do you know who have been affected by heart disease or stroke? How many have been your family members? Fifty-five-year-old Gail had lost nearly everyone in her family to cardiovascular disease and when she lost her father, too, she fell into poor eating habits that made her cholesterol and blood pressure levels soar. Her risk for heart disease and stroke had never been higher.
The Problem
Heart attacks and strokes cause one of every three deaths in the U.S. Americans suffer more than 2 million heart attacks and strokes each year, and every day, 2,200 people die from cardiovascular disease. If you’re over 20, there’s a 50 percent chance that you, like Gail, have at least one of the major risk factors for heart disease and stroke—high blood pressure, high cholesterol or you smoke. [Read more…]
LUNGevity Foundation Praises Recent FDA Approval of New Lung Cancer Treatment Drug XALKORI® (crizotinib)
LUNGevity Foundation applauds the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent approval of XALKORI® (crizotinib) to treat lung cancer. The drug, introduced by Pfizer, Inc. showed such promise in early trials that it was given “fast track” status by the FDA.
LUNGevity Foundation President Andrea Stern Ferris called the FDA’s approval of XALKORI incredibly positive, saying: “The trial results are remarkable, strengthening the body of evidence that targeted therapies hold great promise in treating this deadly cancer. Lung cancer is the nation’s number one cancer killer. The federal government and the private sector need to invest in accelerating all of the other promising research now underway that can change the way we diagnose and treat lung cancer and save lives.” [Read more…]
Duane Reade Media Alert in Response to Hurricane Irene
“In preparation for Hurricane Irene and for the safety of Duane Reade’s associates and customers, Duane Reade stores will begin closing at noon on Saturday, August 27, 2011. Selected locations will remain open until 9pm ET and all store locations will remain closed throughout the weekend. Please contact your local Duane Reade to check the store’s hours for today.
“Duane Reade anticipates reopening each store location on Monday morning, resuming normal business hours. However, each store reopening will be dependant upon the availability of mass transit and electricity at that location.
“Customers needing essential prescriptions are urged to contact their local Duane Reade pharmacy as early as possible today to ensure that they are able to obtain their prescriptions.
“In addition, taking into account the suspension of mass transit today beginning at noon, Duane Reade has a plan in place to ensure that all employees can safely get home this evening before the impending storm.”
SOURCE Duane Reade
Related Coverage
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
CVS Caremark: Dispense as Written Prescriptions Will Add $7.7 Billion to Annual Health Care Costs
According to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and CVS Caremark, “Dispense as Written” Prescriptions costs the health care system up to $7.7 billion annually.
About 5 percent of prescriptions submitted by CVS Caremark Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) members in a 30-day period during 2009 included a “dispense as written” (DAW) designation. According to CVS Carmark, this “practice – whereby doctors or patients demand the dispensing of a specific brand-name drug and not a generic alternative – costs the health care system up to $7.7 billion annually, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and CVS Caremark. Moreover, these requests reduce the likelihood that patients actually fill new prescriptions for essential chronic conditions.”
The study reviewed 5.6 million prescriptions adjudicated by CVS Caremark for two million patients from January 1 to January 31, 2009. The review found that 2.7 percent of those prescriptions were designated DAW by doctors, while another two percent were requested DAW by patients.
If existing safe and effective generic alternatives had been provided in place of those brand-specific prescriptions, patients would have saved $1.7 million and health plans would have spent $10.6 million less for the medications. The researchers said that assuming a similar rate of DAW requests for the more than 3.6 billion prescriptions filled in the U.S. annually, patient costs could be reduced by $1.2 billion and overall health system costs could be reduced by $7.7 billion.
The study is a product of CVS Caremark’s previously announced three-year collaboration with Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to research pharmacy claims data in order to better understand patient behavior, particularly around medication adherence. Annual excess health care costs due to medication non-adherence in the U.S. have been estimated to be as much as $290 billion annually.
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- Study Finds Consumers Want Their Physician to Lead
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For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
Topamax Lawsuits on the Rise
Topamax (topiramate), when taken by pregnant women, greatly increases the risk that their babies will develop birth defects, like cleft lips and cleft palates, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned recently. Alternative medications have lower risks of causing birth defects, and women treated with Topamax during pregnancy whose children were born with birth defects are increasingly filing suit to be compensated. Johnson Law Group is evaluating and accepting Topamax cases now.
“More than 4.3 million patients filled Topamax prescriptions in the U.S. in the last four years,” said Attorney Nick Johnson, founder of Johnson Law Group. “That includes a significant number of women who may never have known how dangerous Topamax could be for their developing infants. Those women and children deserve justice.”
The FDA has said, “…topiramate is being placed in Pregnancy Category D. Pregnancy Category D means there is positive evidence of human fetal risk … an increased risk for oral clefts … based on human data.” Previously the drug was listed as a Category C drug, which recognizes that animal studies “suggested potential fetal risk.”
Topamax (topiramate) is an anticonvulsant medication used, sometimes in conjunction with other medications, to treat epilepsy patients with certain types of seizures, and sometimes to prevent migraine headaches.
If you would like to file a complaint, or simply need more information about the birth defects caused by Topamax, call 1-800-217-9891 or visit: http://pharmaceuticals.johnsonlawgroup.com/topamax-and-birth-defects.
Johnson Law Group is comprised of experienced personal injury attorneys. The firm offers legal and medical professional investigative skills, expert witnesses, cutting-edge technology, and state-of-the-art techniques for maximum recovery. Nick Johnson leads the Johnson Law Group. He graduated from Duke University and the University of Houston Law Center. Mr. Johnson practices in all areas of personal injury law, with a primary focus on pharmaceutical and asbestos related lung cancer cases.
Related Coverage
- CVS Caremark: Dispense as Written Prescriptions Will Add $7.7 Billion to Annual Health Care Costs
- LUNGevity Foundation Praises Recent FDA Approval of New Lung Cancer Treatment Drug XALKORI® (crizotinib)
For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.
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