Posts tagged drugs

Are those AstraZeneca investors jumping ship? AstraZeneca’s new boss said sales and profits would both fall sharply in 2013 as the drugmaker struggles to turn itself around by investing more in-house and on potential acquisitions.

AIDS physician groups tell pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of their drugs and expand access to their medicines, expanding co-pays, ensuring formulary coverage.

Do expired prescriptions still reside in your medicine cabinet? A study found that many expired drugs were still potent and effective.

Drugs refilled without patient’s approval. According to the Los Angeles Times, at least some pharmacists at CVS, the nation’s second-largest drugstore chain, have refilled prescriptions and submitted claims to insurers without patients’ approval.

Cancer Drug Shortages Impacting the Pittsburgh Market. UPMC recently notified 12 patients that their bladder cancer treatment has been temporarily halted due to the shortage of cancer drugs.

A Health Affairs article by Ubel et al. reveals that while oncologists are sensitive to price in the abstract, they tend to yield their cost-effectiveness notions when considering treatment for individual patients.

Forbes reports on drug rebates: the free market is alive and well when it comes to drug prices – if you’re an insurance company or a government program. But not if you’re a consumer.

Many nursing homes are typically using anti-psychotic drugs in residents who display agitation and combative behavior, but who should not be administered the powerful sedatives, a Boston Globe report based on government data has found.

Forty years after the National Cancer Act launched the “war on cancer,” the battle is not just finding cures and better treatments but also being able to afford them.

New drugs often cost $100,000 or more a year. Patients are being put on them sooner in the course of their illness and for a longer time — sometimes for the rest of their lives. The latest trend is to use these drugs in combination, guided by genetic tests that allow more personalized treatment but also add to its expense.