NEW YORK (Reuters)—Spending on prescription drugs is projected to have risen to $457 billion in 2015 and will likely continue to grow as a percentage of overall healthcare spending, a U.S. government health agency said on Tuesday. That is an increase of about 8% from 2014’s prescription drug spending, which is also an estimated figure,…
U.S. Drug Benefit Managers Clamp Down on Specialty Pharmacies
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters)—In recent days, the largest U.S. managers of private prescription drug benefits have cut off at least eight pharmacies that work closely with drugmakers, intensifying scrutiny of a system that helps inflate drug prices, officials at the benefit managers told Reuters. The terminations come from payers who together manage drug benefits for…
Unwelcome News about Medicare’s Rising Drug Plan Costs
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Seniors have received some unpleasant news in their mailboxes in recent weeks: premiums for many Medicare prescription drug insurance plans will rise at double-digit rates next year. Premiums for the ten most popular Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) will rise an average of 8 percent next year—the fastest clip in five years,…
Pharma awaits FDA Guidance to Navigate the Murky Waters of Ads Via the Internet and Social Media
There’s no question that direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is a huge activity, with nearly $5 billion spent on DTC ads in 2007. There’s also no question that the Internet has a vast potential to reach consumers. But when you put DTC advertising and the Internet together, there is a potential for problems and…