CHICAGO (Reuters)—A letter arrives in the mail with this opening line: “We are writing to let you know how you can get help paying your Medicare costs.” Your fraud detector probably goes on high alert—the mailboxes of retirees routinely are stuffed with bogus come-ons. But this letter is no scam. More than 2 million seniors…
Articles by Natasha Yetman
U.S. FDA Approves First-Ever Implant to Treat Opioid Addiction
(Reuters)—The first-ever implant to fight addiction to opioids, a class of drugs that includes prescription painkillers and heroin, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday. The matchstick-sized implant, developed by Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and privately owned Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, is by design less susceptible to abuse or the illicit resale that plagues…
Doubts Mount over Merger of Health Insurers Anthem, Cigna
(Reuters)—Wall Street expressed growing doubts about a pending $54 billion merger of U.S. health insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. on Monday as news of management squabbles added to concerns over its review by antitrust regulators. Cigna shares closed down 4% at $126.15, well below Anthem’s original $188 per share offer of cash and stock…
Patient Can’t Always Access Complete Medical Records, Doctors Say
(Reuters Health)—Technology makes it possible for patients to access medical records online, but a thicket of legal issues may still keep people from always seeing everything in their chart, some doctors say. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gives U.S. patients the right to access their medical records and control who else has…
TNF Blocking Drugs Persist in Infants after Exposure In-Utero
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Babies born to mothers who took anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents during pregnancy have detectable drug in their bodies up to 12 months of age, new findings show. These infants should therefore not receive live vaccines during their first year of life, Dr. Mette Julsgaard of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and…
Drug Company Gifts Linked to Doctors’ Prescribing Habits
(Reuters Health)—Doctors who receive payments or gifts from pharmaceutical companies are more likely to prescribe brand name medications, a new study suggests. Dr. James Yeh, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues write May 9 online in JAMA Internal Medicine that some states require doctors to report what they receive from drug companies….
U.K. Cost Body Finally Approves Limited Use of GSK’s Lupus Drug
LONDON (Reuters)—Britain’s healthcare cost watchdog has finally approved GlaxoSmithKline’s lupus drug Benlysta (belimumab) for limited use, after rejecting it since 2011 on the grounds that it failed to offer good value for money. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said on Tuesday that the drug would be made available under a managed…
U.S. Probes Contracts Between Drugmakers, Pharmacy Benefit Managers
(Reuters)—The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is investigating contracts between drugmakers and companies that manage prescription benefits, according to regulatory filings. Federal prosecutors have approached at least three companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. and Endo International Plc., demanding information about their contracts with pharmacy benefit managers. Pharmacy…
Inefficient Prescribing Costs Billions of Healthcare Dollars
(Reuters Health)—In the U.S. between 2010 and 2012, nearly $73 billion was spent on brand name medications instead of less expensive alternatives, according to a new study. A large portion of that money was spent by patients, the researchers found. “Prescription drug prescribing during the time of this paper was not efficient and still isn’t…
Medicare Telemedicine Underuse May Not Be Due to Reimbursement Policies
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Contrary to previous research, mandating commercial insurance reimbursement of telemedicine was not associated with faster growth in Medicare telemedicine use, according to a newly published study. Dr. Ateev Mehrotra of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues examined trends in telemedicine utilization by Medicare from 2004–2013 using claims from a 20% random sample…
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