All News

With an ear out for pharmacy owners hollering that allowing logos on Part D Rx cards tilts the playing field toward their big chain rivals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed tightening the rules for co-branding Medicare drug plans. And the agency also wants to hear whether co-branding should be outlawed altogether.

Pharmacists, patient advocacy groups, and drugmakers are trying to revive the latest unintended victim of Medicare Part D?patient assistance programs, or PAPs. Most manufacturers are cutting back on free or discounted pharmaceuticals distributed under PAPs because of potential conflicts with antikickback laws.

President Bush nominated acting FDA commissioner Andrew vonEschenbach, M.D., to permanently head the agency. Eschenbach, whoalso heads the National Cancer Institute, may faceconflict-of-interest charges at his confirmation hearings, andSenate Democrats have threatened to hold up his confirmation overFDA's inaction on OTC status for the emergency contraceptive PlanB. NCPA and NACDS had no comment on the Eschenbach nomination, butAPhA views him as an "excellent choice."

Wyeth is launching "Dialogues: Time to Talk," a nationwide program for Spanish-speaking patients with depression who are taking Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCl). Patients who enroll in the program will receive educational materials.

President Bush nominated acting FDA commissioner Andrew vonEschenbach, M.D., to permanently head the agency. Eschenbach, whoalso heads the National Cancer Institute, may faceconflict-of-interest charges at his confirmation hearings, andSenate Democrats have threatened to hold up his confirmation overFDA's inaction on OTC status for the emergency contraceptive PlanB. NCPA and NACDS had no comment on the Eschenbach nomination, butAPhA views him as an "excellent choice."

Community Care Rx, the Part D plan created by NCPA, has enrolled more than one million Medicare beneficiaries in its three plan offerings. CCRx will roll out its medication therapy management (MTM) component in June, using pharmacists for face-to-face patient consultation.

Signing up at the rate of 380,000 per week, more than 27 million Medicare beneficiaries are now enrolled in the Part D drug plan, according to CMS. Only about seven million of the enrollees are individuals who have signed up voluntarily.

Just when Biogen Idec and Elan were hoping for the red light to turn green, it changed to yellow instead, as the FDA announced it would wait up to another 90 days before giving its final decision on the reintroduction of natalizumab (Tysabri). According to the FDA, extensions such as this often occur after a manufacturer submits a major amendment to the existing application, requiring extra time for the agency to review.

Seattle-based Bartell Drugs announced the purchase of Fairwood Pharmacy, a family-owned drugstore serving the Renton, Wash., area since 1970. With the acquisition, Bartell Drugs will own and operate 53 stores in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. The store will operate under the Bartell Drugs banner.

Wyeth is launching "Dialogues: Time to Talk," a nationwide program for Spanish-speaking patients with depression who are taking Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCl). Patients who enroll in the program will receive educational materials.

CMS began notifying 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in two Part D plans that they must indicate which plan they wish to use for their drug benefit. Beneficiaries who want to remain in their original plan must contact the insurer, while beneficiaries who do nothing will be dropped from their original plan and remain covered by the second plan.

A group of seven drug plans has filed a class action lawsuit against Pfizer Inc., claiming the company used off-label promotion of atorvastatin (Lipitor) to boost sales. According to New York-based Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A., the securities litigation firm representing the group, the plaintiffs contend that Pfizer's physician and hospital marketing materials have misrepresented treatment protocols established by the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III), and that the drug was approved by the FDA only for use in accordance with ATP III.

Which were the top 10 branded biotech drugs in 2005? In descending order, they are Procrit, followed by Aranesp, Epogen, Neulasta, Remicade, Enbrel, Rituxan, Lupron Depot, Lantus, and Avastin.

Since 1998, the Food & Drug Administration has had theregulatory authority to require pharmacies to distribute MedicationGuides to patients getting certain high-risk drugs. MedGuides,which provide written information to patients on their Rxs, areprepared by drug manufacturers and approved by the FDA. To date,the FDA lists more than 75 drugs on its Web site that require thedistribution of a MedGuide from a community pharmacy or uponhospital discharge. They include antidepressants, nonsteroidalanti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and others. Manufacturers ofthese high-risk drugs are responsible for ensuring that asufficient number of MedGuides are available in pharmacies.

The Food & Drug Administration would like to alert healthcare practitioners to three cases of medication dispensing errors in which the Alzheimer's medication Razadyne (galantamine, Janssen Pharmaceutica) was dispensed instead of the insomnia agent Rozerem (ramelteon, Takeda Pharmaceuticals) to geriatric patients. In two cases the wrong drug was actually administered to the patient but with no reported adverse outcomes, while the third error was caught prior to patient administration. Errors between these products could result in unnecessary adverse events or lack of efficacy.

Pharmacists say Medicare Part D caused chaos in their pharmacies at start-up; they hope for better days ahead

Among the sources of confusion accompanying the implementation of Medicare Part D is the distinction between drugs covered under Part B and Part D. CMS officials held a teleconference late in January to listen to provider concerns, answer questions, and correct misinterpretation.

The third echinocandin to hit the market in five years, anidulafungin (Eraxis, Pfizer) received Food & Drug Administration approval in February and joins both caspofungin (Cancidas, Merck) and micafungin (Mycamine, Astellas Pharma) in the fight against fungal infections in seriously ill patients. Anidulafungin is indicated to treat candidemia, other forms of Candida infections (intra-abdominal infections and peritonitis), and esophageal candidiasis.

CVS Corp. has reached an agreement with 42 states and the District of Columbia by promising to strengthen practices that keep minors from buying tobacco products. Under the voluntary settlement, the pharmacy chain agreed to check the identities of customers who attempt to purchase tobacco products if they look younger than 27.

Food retailers are differentiating their businesses from competition by launching target market-focused stores and expanding specialty services, according to the 2005 edition of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) study, "Facts About Store Development." In-store pharmacies (55.7% of companies) continue to be a popular feature.

Seniors who take multiple medications are at increased risk for accidental poisonings, according to ASHP. Older patients have complex medication regimens, often involving multiple medications prescribed by several physicians, which make them vulnerable to accidental poisonings.

Longs Drug Stores announced a new long-term supply contract with AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. for the supply of prescription pharmaceutical products. The agreement will become effective July 1, 2006, and will run for a term of at least three and as long as seven years, with the actual duration depending on the time when the company's total purchases of branded prescription pharmaceuticals under the agreement reach a certain amount.

Reimbursement for retail and mail-service pharmacy continues to decrease, according to the findings of the Prescription Drug Benefit Cost and Plan Design Survey Report, conducted by the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI). The average retail brand-drug dispensing fee decreased from $2.05 in 2003 to $1.95 in 2004.

H.D. Smith, the fourth largest national pharmaceutical wholesaler, was recently awarded a multiyear agreement with Novation, the healthcare contracting service organization, to provide members of VHA Inc. and University HealthSystem Consortium (HC) with H.D. Smith's extensive list of products and services.

A Palm Beach, Fla., woman is suing Walgreens on grounds that when she picked up a prescription for the sleep aid Ambien (zolpidem, Sanofi-Aventis), she found a message attached in the section reserved for patient information that said "Crazy!" The patient, Janey Karp, said the prescription also said, "She's really a psycho! Do not say her name too loud, never mention her meds by names, and try to talk to her when..." The information continued on to another page, which was not attached. Karp is suing for defamation, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Following reports of two fatalities in women who took mifepristone (Mifeprex, Danco Laboratories) to terminate their pregnancies, the FDA has issued a public health advisory to providers and patients. The agency said they are investigating the cases, but at this time are not certain of the exact cause of death.

A new monophasic oral contraceptive (OC) from Berlex Inc. may offer women less hormonal fluctuation between monthly cycles than traditional OCs. Yaz contains both 3 mg of drospirenone and 20 mcg ethinyl estradiol in a 24-day active pill regimen-a longer period of time than traditional OCs, which typically provide 21 days of hormone-containing tablets.