(Reuters)—Health insurer Aetna Inc said on Thursday it will sell its standalone Medicare prescription drug plan business to WellCare Health Plans Inc as it seeks U.S. antitrust approval for a planned acquisition by CVS Health Corp. The $69 billion CVS-Aetna deal would be the second large deal this year between insurers and pharmacy benefit managers,…
Articles by Cindy Devone-Pacheco
Depression Tied to Arthritis Pain
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Depressed individuals over age 50 should be screened for arthritis pain because the two conditions often occur together, worsening mental and physical health outcomes, researchers say. “Our findings shed light on the high rates of self-reported, doctor-diagnosed arthritis in U.S. older adults with varying degrees of depression,” Dr. Jessica Brooks of the…
Bone Mineral Density Most Important Determinant of Fracture Risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—In what is believed to be the largest study investigating genetic and clinical determinants of osteoporotic fracture risk, only a genetic predisposition to low bone mineral density (BMD) had a potential causal role to play. “Notably, genetic predisposition to lower levels of vitamin D and estimated calcium intake from dairy sources were…
Oklahoma Medicaid Tests New Tactic to Curb U.S. Drug Costs
LOS ANGELES (Reuters)—A new front in the battle over the cost of expensive medicines in the United States is opening up in Oklahoma, the first state where the government’s Medicaid program is negotiating contracts for prescription drugs based on how well they work. In June, Oklahoma received approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and…
U.S. to Boost Drug Price Negotiation in Medicare Advantage Health Plans
(Reuters)—The Trump administration said on Tuesday it would give Medicare Advantage health plans for the elderly new tools to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said Medicare Advantage plans will be allowed to require that patients first try certain lower-cost drugs before moving to a more expensive…
AMA Opposes Merger of CVS & Aetna
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—the The American Medical Association, which represents U.S. physicians, urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to stop CVS Health Corp’s plan to buy insurance provider Aetna Inc, saying the deal could result in higher prices for prescription medicines. The AMA said that the $69 billion deal, announced in December, would lead to a…
Adalimumab Appears Safe for Treating Pediatric Patients with Autoimmune Disease
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Adalimumab appears to be safe for treating pediatric patients with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), psoriasis and Crohn’s disease (CD), according to data from company-sponsored clinical trials. Adalimumab is an anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody with demonstrated efficacy in these conditions, but pediatric safety data remains limited. Dr. Gerd…
Insys to Pay $150 Million to Settle U.S. Opioid Kickback Probe
(Reuters)—Insys Therapeutics said on Wednesday it had reached a deal to pay at least $150 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into claims that the drugmaker paid doctors kickbacks to prescribe a powerful opioid medication. The tentative deal announced by the Arizona-based drugmaker marked a major step in Insys’ efforts to resolve an…
Switch to Electronic Health Records Tied to Fewer Hospital Deaths
(Reuters Health)—Hospitals that switch from paper to electronic health records may eventually see lower death rates than they had before, but a U.S. study also suggests that fatalities may first increase as the transition gets underway. Researchers examined the degree of digitization and 30-day death rates for patients age 65 and older at 3,249 hospitals…
Pfizer-Lilly Pain Drug Meets Late-Stage Trial Goals
(Reuters)—An experimental osteoarthritis drug developed by Pfizer Inc and Eli Lilly and Co achieved its main goal of lowering pain in a late stage trial, the companies said on Wednesday, potentially offering a safer alternative to opioids. Opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and drugmakers have been looking for less addictive…
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