Prescription drugs

Says FTC Investigation Of CVS/Caremark Merger Is Necessary To Ensure Fair Competition

November 6, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) today welcomed the news that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the 2007 merger of CVS and Caremark, saying it is necessary to ensure fair competition in the prescription drug market.

In July, Senator Dorgan, along with Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), sent a letter to the FTC stating that the combination of Caremark and CVS “created a heightened opportunity for anticompetitive conduct in the prescription drug market.” They requested that the FTC investigate the merger because it was hurting Main Street pharmacies.    » read more »

Oct. 19, 2009 -- GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE: GSK] announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Votrient™ (pazopanib) to treat patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a form of kidney cancer. Approximately 57,700 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with kidney cancer this year, and 13,000 people will die from this disease.    » read more »

Senator applauds extension of access, continues work on permanent fix

October 19, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Senator Jon Tester today announced that a bill to preserve access to medical supplies for seniors in rural areas was signed into law by the President.

Tester championed the measure in the Senate to postpone new regulations on the sale of medical supplies by community pharmacies.

Without the extension, community pharmacies would have been required to be accredited before selling certain medical supplies. These supplies include wheelchairs, walkers, canes, diabetes testing strips and prosthetics.    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- HELENA – Montana's two U.S. Senators and Attorney General have joined forces to combat the growing misuse of over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester along with Attorney General Steve Bullock announced their support Tuesday for designating October as National Medical Abuse Awareness Month. Baucus and Tester have signed on as co-sponsors of a measure in the Senate that will raise awareness of the misuse of over-the-counter and prescription medications and urge communities to implement educational programs associated with medicinal abuse.    » read more »

June 23, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—By the end of this summer, more than one million older Americans will have fallen into the “doughnut hole”—a coverage gap in Medicare’s prescription drug program that leaves individuals on the hook for all of their own drug costs while still paying premiums. AARP is launching a new online resource to help older Americans avoid this dreaded coverage gap.    » read more »

Will Help Curb Cost of Health Care Reform

June 22, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), sponsors of the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act, welcomed the decision of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to contribute $80 billion over the next 10 years to improve drug benefits for seniors under Medicare. The Senators said this was a first step, and urged Congress to continue to work to reduce prescription drug costs for Americans.    » read more »

President Praises Dodd leadership on Health Care Reform

June 22, 2009 -- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Chairman Kennedy’s chief deputy for Health Care Reform, released the following statement today after joining President Obama, Senator Max Baucus, and AARP CEO A. Barry Rand to announce that the Administration has a reached a deal with the Pharmaceutical industry to reduce the gap in coverage in the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit program. The agreement is expected to save an estimated $80 billion.    » read more »

June 22, 2009 -- Washington, DC – At an event at the National Press Club, Surescripts today announced that their annual state rankings and progress reports detailing e-prescribing use and adoption statistics for all 50 states.

Today’s event featured Governor Jim Douglas and Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen as co-chairs of the State Alliance for E-Health and as co-hosts of the Fourth Annual Safe-Rx Awards. The State Alliance was created by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices in January 2007 to improve the nation's healthcare system by forming a collaborative body that enables states to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the health information technology initiatives they develop.    » read more »

Statement from President Obama on Agreement to Bring Down Drug Prices for Americans Seniors

June 20, 2009 -- "I am pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached between Senator Max Baucus and the nation's pharmaceutical companies that will bring down health care costs and reduce the price of prescription drugs for millions of America's seniors.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) questioned the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, about the administration’s plans to grant SeniorCare a waiver through 2012. SeniorCare is Wisconsin's senior drug coverage program, and the only program of its kind left in the United States that offers state residents an alternative to Medicare Part D.

“As you know, the waiver for Wisconsin’s SeniorCare program is scheduled to end on December 31 of this year. Currently, SeniorCare provides seniors in my state with high quality, cost effective prescription drug coverage. And, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it does so while achieving ongoing savings for the federal government.    » read more »

Assumes Primary Responsibility for Alemtuzumab in Multiple Sclerosis; Expands Hematologic Oncology Portfolio

June 2, 2009 -- Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ) announced today that it has completed the transaction with Bayer HealthCare to acquire the worldwide rights to Campath®/MabCampath® (alemtuzumab), giving Genzyme primary responsibility for the development and commercialization of this promising multiple sclerosis (MS) therapeutic candidate. Genzyme is conducting two rapidly progressing phase 3 studies of alemtuzumab in relapsing-remitting MS patients.    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced his proposal to raise the income limit for the Lottery-funded PACENET prescription drug benefit for older Pennsylvanians, providing help to an additional 30,000 people who have little or no drug coverage now.

“As older adults struggle to make ends meet in these challenging economic times, providing comprehensive prescription medication coverage is more important than ever. It is my goal for everyone in Pennsylvania to have sufficient drug coverage and this is another step in making that happen,” Governor Rendell said. “I urge the General Assembly to quickly approve this proposal and help our older citizens.”    » read more »

Mechelen, Belgium, (May 28 2009): Virco BVBA has today signed a global research and development, non-exclusive licensing agreement with Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc (NY, USA). Under this agreement Siemens is providing Virco a license which will enable Virco to develop and commercialize a new hepatitis C research service testing platform.

This platform will initially be utilized by pharmaceutical companies for drug development support of the new hepatitis C virus (HCV) antivirals. The platform will have the potential to provide HCV clinical diagnostic testing services in the future.    » read more »

Contributes to effort to bend spending curve to help move health reform forward

June 1, 2009 -- Statement of Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, President, American Medical Association:

“The American Medical Association (AMA) joined with five other organizations in the health sector today to outline initiatives to help achieve President Obama’s goal of decreasing the health-care cost growth rate by 1.5 percent, saving $2 trillion or more over the next 10 years.    » read more »

Payment Reform, Negotiating Prescription Drug Prices Seen as Potential Solutions; Health Care Opinion Leaders Support Many of President Obama's Strategies for Reducing Health Care Costs, See Current Spending Growth Rates as Untenable

New York, N.Y., April 27, 2009—Health care leaders believe the U.S. must rein in the growth of health spending, and most believe it is possible to keep the share of gross domestic product (GDP) now spent on health care steady over the next 10 years.    » read more »