Pharmaceuticals news and information

The battle continues between drugmakers and healthcare providers over the breadth of the federal 340B drug discount program, which assists providers serving indigent and uninsured patients.
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The Pennsylvania Medical Society is threatening to pull its support for a proposed statewide prescription drug monitoring effort over an amendment that would automatically alert police every time a patient is ordered to take certain drugs. The bill could violate federal patient privacy laws, said...
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PhRMA has sued to block implementation of a rule that lets providers in the 340B drug discount program buy orphan drugs at reduced prices if the drugs are used to treat non-orphan conditions.
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Merck & Co. plans to cut another 8,500 jobs as the drugmaker continues its struggle with competition from cheaper generic medications that have squeezed the pharmaceutical industry for several quarters now.
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A biotech drug from Roche has become the first medicine approved to treat breast cancer before surgery, offering an earlier approach against one of the deadliest forms of the disease.
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b>What it does: BioRx distributes specialty pharmaceuticals and supplies and provides clinical, reimbursement and in-home support services for the treatment of hemophilia, AAT deficiency, severe nutritional deficiencies and other afflictions.
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What it does: Prime, owned collectively by 13 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, is a pharmacy benefit manager that handles patient prescription drug benefits for health plans, employers and government programs.
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The House easily approved bipartisan legislation Saturday aimed at improving the safety of drugs produced by compounding pharmacies that mix customized pharmaceuticals.
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Actavis has agreed to sell the rights to three generic oral contraceptives and one other drug to resolve the government's antitrust concerns with the drugmaker's $8.5 billion acquisition of Warner Chilcott.
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A bill in Congress aimed at strengthening oversight of compounding pharmacies would make drug compounders' participation in a new regulatory category voluntary rather than mandatory.
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