Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Web reporting fellow, interned with the Texas Tribune as both a general assignment intern and a Kaiser Family Foundation media intern before coming to KHN.
Shkreli, 35, is serving a seven-year prison term for securities fraud (unrelated to Daraprim). Turing has renamed itself Vyera Pharmaceuticals. But Daraprim, which costs pennies to make and is used to treat the parasitic infection toxoplasmosis still retails for more than $750 per pill, according to drug website GoodRx.com.
A 2-to-1 ruling by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a Maryland law meant to limit “price-gouging” by makers of generic drugs. The appeals court held that Maryland’s law overstepped limits on how states can regulate commerce.
The Michigan team is pushing its new prescribing guidelines online, in hopes of encouraging other hospitals to adopt similar practices.
Number crunchers say how much would be saved depends on how the state negotiates, how industry responds and what the program covers.
As Congress stalls on what voters say is a top health concern — high pharmaceutical costs — states increasingly are tackling the issue. California, Nevada and New York are among those joining Maryland in passing legislation meant to undercut skyrocketing drug prices.
The Affordable Care Act, which President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal, threw a number of life-savers to rural hospitals. And its full repeal, without a comparable and viable replacement, could signal their death knell.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Patients who saw a female doctor were less likely to die within 30 days of leaving the hospital. They were also less likely to get readmitted within a one-month span of their initial discharge, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The move is prompting worry from some physicians who say it could have the unintended consequence of keeping appropriate medical treatment from people with chronic pain.
Some ethicists and advocates say it represents a double standard, citing evidence that female contraception also may be related to depression and other side effects. They argue men are being protected from the same unpleasant consequences that women are forced to accept.
In states expanding Medicaid, rural hospitals saw a greater increase in Medicaid revenue than urban hospitals did.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
What is needed? Better bedside manner, so patients actually trust their doctors. Communication that is easily understood by everyday people. And transparency about what medical care costs, plus a willingness to discuss how price points fit into consumers’ health decisions.
People who got insurance through the ACA were significantly more likely to get prescription medications than they were before. And when they did, they typically ended up spending less of their own money for those drugs.
Half of U.S. states have legalized medical marijuana but they are finding a need to plug training gaps so physicians can address patient questions on the issue.
Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers analyzed the effect of a web-based tool that uses patient medical records to enhance communication during the patient handoff.
The study, which appears in Health Affairs, is the first to examine whether legalization changes doctors’ clinical practice and whether it could curb public health costs.
