Boom time for HCV testing: US health officials released proposed guidelines Friday recommending that all baby boomers should be tested at least once for the hepatitis C virus, which is transmitted through contaminated blood and is often undiagnosed. Infection rates of the silent epidemic have dropped since the 1990s thanks to better blood and organ screening technology, but according to the CDC one in 30 baby boomers (defined as born between 1945 and 1965) are … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: May 5 – May 12
Pharmaceutical Lemonade: Revitalizing “failed” pharmaceuticals isn’t new. Successful medicines like Evista, AZT, Viagra, and thalidomide have all been repurposed. But with pharmaceutical R&D departments under pressure to improve their productivity, the goal of resurrecting drug candidates that may have failed in their first indication is gaining steam—especially if there are ways to do the scientific studies on someone else’s dime. That’s essentially what the National Insitutes of Health is doing with its $20 million grant … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 4/28 – 5/5
Here’s to price transparency: Transparency of procedure and physician costs remains an important initiative as the healthcare industry works to rein in healthcare spending and control the wide price variation seen for similar treatments. On Tuesday May 1, Castlight, which offers a user-friendly tool to compare treatment prices for tests and procedures based on cost and quality, announced it raised $100M in a Series D round. That’s a huge sum for any privately held life … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 4/20 -4/27
Last year, Sanofi bought the biotech company Genzyme in a $20.1 billion deal that also included earn-outs tied to the biotech’s promising, albeit risky, multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada. This week at the 2012 American Academy of Neurology meeting Sanofi reported eagerly awaited head-to-head trial data measuring the efficacy of the Phase III product against competitor Rebif. In a trial designed to drive market access in an increasingly competitive specialty arena, Lemtrada outshone Rebif: twenty-nine percent … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 4/14 – 4/21
The next big data visualization graphic: This week Express Scripts published its annual drug report. The big news: the cost of nonadherence. Indeed, $317 billion of the $408 billion in pharmacy-related waste accumulated in 2011 was due to failed medical adherence, more money than the combined drug costs associated with treating diabetes, congestive heart failure and cancer – combined. Working towards solutions for nonadherence obviously frees up a lot of resources that might be devoted … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 4/6 – 4/14
First ACO’s under Medicare’s Shared Savings Program: In addition to TEDMED, which this week gathered healthcare luminaries to discuss all things innovative, ACO was the other au courant acronym of the news cycle. Even as debate swirls about the fate of the healthcare reform law, there’s an obvious need to better coordinate healthcare, with ACOs being a topic of rare bipartisan politicking. Thus, its no surprise that accountable care organizations are alive—and growing rapidly—in numbers. … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 3/28 – 4/4
Reducing unnecessary care: On Wednesday April 4, nine physician societies, together with the ABIM Foundation and Consumer Reports, released a list of 45 procedures or tests (5 per specialty) that are overused and adding to soaring healthcare costs as part of a new educational initiative called Choosing Widely. Another 8 specialty boards are preparing lists of relevant tests their members should be more judicious about ordering. Once again it’s a reminder that there’s growing support … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 3/21 -3/28
All eyes are on Capitol Hill this week as the Supremes hear oral arguments in one of the most important –and politicized—cases in decades: the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the signature piece of legislation passed thus far in Barack Obama’s presidency. It’s anybody’s guess how the Court will vote –questions on day 2 tied to the constitutionality of the individual mandate were pointed and seemed to fluster the administration’s lawyer Donald Verrilli. One … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 3/14 – 3/21
Put a spring in your step and read Real Endpoints’s weekly round-up of reimbursement related news. Overseeing Cancer Drug Regimens: Here’s a scary find. On March 16 researchers from Medco Research Institute reported new data at the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics annual meeting showing that a high percentage of patients on oral kinase inhibitors like Gleevec or Tarceva are also taking medicines that reduce the effectiveness of the cancer treatment. In total, … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 3/7 – 3/13
The Legality of Co-pay cards: It’s no secret co-pay cards are a contentious issue; now, they’ve been taken to the courts. Last week, the consumer advocacy group, Community Catalyst, filed suit against 8 drug companies seeking to ban the use of co-pay cards on behalf of unions that provide drug benefits for civilian and uniformed municipal workers in New York City, carpenters in New England, and plumbers in various states. Among the drug companies specifically … Continue reading