News and notes from the day in MedCity, Ohio:
State and local officials gave $117 million in tax incentives to win expansion of a West Chester pharmaceutical plant whose owner, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., never had serious intentions to go anywhere else, corporate watchdog group Good Jobs First claims, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Prescription copayments and other changes that took effect today for many people covered by the Ohio Medicaid program’s managed care plans are supposed to save the state $243 million a year, WKYC-TV reported.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
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.
Parma Community General Hospital will stop hiring smokers on March 1, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
State officials complain they don’t have the money or the staff to do anything with information collected by a registry that tracks Ohio trauma patients, according to an Associated Press story in the Akron Beacon Journal.
DATATRAK International Inc., the Mayfield Heights maker of software for the clinical trials industry, has signed a contract to provide its technology for a Phase IV, 8-year, 500-site, 5,000-patient study worth approximately $900,000 with a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company, according to a PRNewswire release.
Advanced Sterilization Products, a division of Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc., will launch an educational and financial assistance program on Feb. 12 to help hospitals find alternatives to the System 1 sterilizer made by STERIS Corp. in Mentor, which earned a safety alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early December, according to a PRNewswire release.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
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.
Physicians and researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus are using a treadmill system to conduct physical therapy on children with cerebral palsy, according to a health system release.
Akron General Medical Center, Aultman Hospital in Canton and Summa Health System’s Akron City and St. Thomas hospitals were rated in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide in a study released last week by HealthGrades, the Beacon Journal reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a notice reminding health providers that doctors need to wear masks during spinal procedures, in part because of two cases of bacterial meningitis at Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
