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NYTimes: Prescription Painkillers ‘Nation’s Biggest Drug Problem’
In yet another sign of changing times, federal law enforcement officials now concede that prescription painkillers are the nation’s biggest drug problem, eclipsing traditional heavyweights such as cocaine and heroin. As the New York Times reported on July 17th, more Americans died in 2008 from …
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AmeriSource Bergen: We Give Independent Pharmacies ‘the Aggregation Benefits of Contracting, like a CVS or Walgreen or Rite Aid’
If you haven’t checked out Adam Fein’s Drug Channels blog lately, it is always a great resource. Yesterday, Drug Channels’ posting about a Philadelphia Inquirer interview with AmeriSource Bergen’s top executive caught my eye, particularly in regards to one line of business owned by the Fortune …
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Express Scripts & Walgreens Reach Multi-Year Agreement
Express Scripts and Walgreens announced a multi-year pharmacy network agreement today that Walgreens will participate in the broadest retail pharmacy network available to new and existing Express Scripts clients. The effective date is September 15, 2012. The companies also said they are not disclosing the …
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Calcium Supplements Linked to Higher Heart Attack Risk
Calcium supplements are often recommended to postmenopausal women to help prevent bone thinning. However, studies recently published online in the journal Heart and in the British Medical Journal, as well as a re-evaluation of data from the Women’s Health Initiative, all point to a link …
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The Costly Impact of Prescription Painkiller Abuse
On July 5th, NBC’s news magazine Rock Center with Brian Williams did a segment called “Born that Way” on painkiller abuse by pregnant mothers. In the U.S., the birth of addicted babies has become one of the fastest growing epidemics. Considering that the number of …
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New Massachusetts Law Reverses Discount Card Ban
We have previously written about concerns related to the use of copay discount cards. See “Warning to Physicians on Drug Discount Cards,” and “The Dark Side of Brand-Name Co-Pay Discount Cards.” In a new development, discount cards, which had previously been banned under a Massachusetts …
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Maine Tackles Painkiller Abuse
Drug abuse is among the most serious social problems affecting Americans today. A recent investigation done by the Maine Today Media shows that painkiller abuse, identified as an epidemic over a decade ago, has recently reached record-high levels. Nearly 1,400 Maine residents died from pharmaceutical …
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More on Trend to Narrow Pharmacy Networks
In a post last month, we told you about a CNBC segment looking at the cost-saving trend towards narrow PBM pharmacy networks. Now Dow Jones has published an in-depth piece [subscription required] looking at the same issue, “Express Scripts, Walgreen Flap Opens Door for ‘Narrow …
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SCOTUS Ruling a ‘Boon’ to Drug Supply Chain
Reactions are pouring in to the Supreme Court’s ruling today upholding the Affordable Care Act. According to an item in the Wall Street Journal, the Court’s decision is a ‘boon’ for the drug-supply chain. With an estimated 30 million newly insured Americans, the demand for …
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HHS Inspector General Report On Questionable Retail Pharmacy Billing of Medicare Part D
The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) recently released a detailed report on “Retail Pharmacies with Questionable Part D Billing.” For its research, the OIG examined all of the records for prescriptions filled by retail pharmacies for 2009. …
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