Under a deal struck with the White House to aid health reform, drug makers agreed in 2009 to begin offering discounts for seniors who fall into the Medicare “doughnut hole” in 2011. The “doughnut hole” coverage gap requires seniors to pay for medications out of pocket after they reach the $2,830 limit. Once yearly spending […]
Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced a recall of its blood pressure medication Avalide. The recall covers 60 million tablets that were manufactured before 2009 in Puerto Rico and distributed in the United States and Puerto Rico. The recall is a precaution after it was discovered that there might be variations in one form of the active […]
Avalere Health, a private research firm, has release figures that indicate that the Medicare plans that cater to about 70% of seniors will increase rates by an average of 10%. Seniors on Medicare are being urged to check their coverage and shop around for better plans to suit their needs. Complicating the issue are new […]
The whistle blower lawsuit against Pfizer and its subsidiary Wyeth has now become a federal matter. The Department of Justice is continuing an ongoing crackdown on drug fraud by joining the case that alleges that Wyeth inappropriately marketed their drug Rapamune which, at the time, was only approved to prevent rejection for kidney transplant patients. […]
A recent study released in the Canadian Medical Association Journal indicates a link between flu vaccinations and a reduced risk of heart attack. The researchers examined medical records of first time heart attack patients as well as a control group of patients with no heart attack history. After accounting for a wide range of additional […]
Since its release, the Plan B emergency contraception pill has created controversy among pharmacists. For some pharmacists, religious beliefs about this form of contraception conflict with the requirements that they make the pill available to anyone with a prescription. In 2007, the Washington State Pharmacy Board issued a ruling that required all pharmacies to dispense […]
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has a new idea for lowering prescription medication costs for the state’s residents. Schweitzer has a plan to create a Medicaid program for all the state’s residents that will give them access to the discounts that the state is given from the drug companies. He will be asking the federal government […]
An FDA advisory committee recently suggested that the labeling for the diabetes drug Avandia be changed to reflect concern about the increased risk of heart disease associated with the medication. A recently released study compares the increased risk of heart disease for patients using Avandia and Actos, another diabetes medication. The results indicated that the […]
