Category: Infectiousdisease

MEwens
Medical Device Price Gap: A report from the Government Accountability Office finds that some hospitals pay thousands of dollars more than others for the very same medical device, the WSJ reports. The higher prices could affect Medicare spending, since payments to hospitals are in part based on the institutions’ costs, the paper says.
New […]

MEwens
Lipitor Benefit Changes: Pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts will move brand-name Lipitor to the third tier of its national drug formulary from the second tier as of Feb. 1, increasing co-pays for some patients and emphasizing Pfizer’s challenge of holding on to sales of the drug, the WSJ reports. The generic versions of Lipitor […]

MEwens
Paying More for Primary Care: Beginning in the summer, WellPoint will increase reimbursement for primary-care services — offering those physicians a fee increase of around 10% with the chance of additional payments that could bolster what they receive for covered patients by as much as 50% — in an attempt to lower acute-care […]

MEwens
Keeping Birth-Control Rule: The Obama administration refused to scrap a rule that will require most employers to offer health insurance that provides FDA-approved contraceptives with no copayments or deductibles, the WSJ reports. There is an exemption for certain employers if birth control violates their religious beliefs, and those who object but don’t qualify […]

MEwens
By Katherine Hobson and Christopher Weaver
The authors of a pair of studies on a deadly strain of H5N1 virus — also known as avian or bird influenza — have signed a letter saying they will “pause” such research for 60 days to allow an international scientific discussion about the controversy.
The researchers had created […]

MEwens
Ending Dimebon Development: Pfizer and Medivation are ceasing development of Dimebon, an experimental Alzheimer’s treatment, the WSJ reports. It was the second phase 3 trial of the drug to fail. In 2008 Pfizer agreed to pay Medivation $225 million upfront plus up to an additional $500 million if milestones were met for development […]

MEwens
Orange Juice Worries: Coca-Cola said it found an unapproved fungicide in some of it and its competitors’ orange juice imported from Brazil, though it wouldn’t identify the brands, the WSJ reports. Coke makes Simply Orange and Minute Maid.  The FDA is testing OJ from supermarket shelves for the fungicide, but the EPA said […]

MEwens
Waiting to Restock: Wal-Mart, Walgreen and Supervalu are waiting to restock a batch of Enfamil Newborn formula until the federal government completes tests for a potentially harmful bacteria, even though the manufacturer’s own tests have turned up no traces of contamination, the WSJ reports. The FDA and CDC are trying to figure out […]

MEwens
A second high-profile paper in the long-running XMRV saga has been retracted, although an NIH study looking at the issue will continue.
The paper in question, published in August of 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at the blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy blood donors. […]

MEwens
Formula Comes Up Clean: Mead Johnson Nutrition said Sunday that fresh tests on its Enfamil Premium Newborn formula, a batch of which was pulled from the shelves of retailers including Wal-Mart, Walgreen and Kroger, have turned up no traces of a bacteria implicated in the death of a 10-day-old infant, the WSJ reports. […]