Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Opioid Overdoses Behind Drop in Life Expectancy for Americans
Dec 29 2017 // Life expectancy among Americans has fallen for the second year in a row as the opioid crisis continues to drive up overall death rates in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. A total of...
California Couple Used Drone to Deliver Drugs, Police Say
Dec 28 2017 // Authorities say a Southern California couple used a drone to deliver illegal drugs to their customers. Benjamin Baldassarre and Ashley Carroll, of Riverside, were charged with possessing controlled substances for sale and...
Judge Nixes $150M Damages Against Testosterone Drugmaker AbbVie
Dec 27 2017 // A U.S. judge on Friday overturned a $150 million verdict against AbbVie Inc. that was the first to result from lawsuits claiming that the company fraudulently misrepresented the risks of its testosterone replacement drug...
Court in California Rules Novartis Can Be Sued Over Generic Drug Injuries
Dec 22 2017 // California’s top court has opened the door for consumers to sue Novartis AG and other makers of brand-name pharmaceutical products over injuries blamed on generic versions of the drugs manufactured by other...
South Carolina Gov. to Form Opioid Response Team, Limit Prescriptions
Dec 20 2017 // South Carolina’s governor announced Monday that he’s using executive orders to limit opioid prescriptions under two state programs and start a response team to look for ways to fight abuse of the powerful...
CVS-Aetna Merger Will Influence Employers’ Benefits Decisions: Aon
Dec 18 2017 // CVS Corp.’s proposed purchase of Aetna Inc. will affect decision-making by a majority of large and mid-size U.S. corporations on employee health benefits, a survey by benefits consultant Aon Plc found. CVS, the...
Arkansas Medical Board OKs Draft Regulations Aimed at Curbing Opioid Abuse
Dec 12 2017 // The Arkansas State Medical Board has approved draft regulations aimed at reducing opioid abuse. The board unanimously voted in favor of the regulations on Dec. 7. The requirements are based on guidelines issued last year...
Drug Industry Files Suit to Halt California’s Drug Price Law
Dec 11 2017 // The trade group representing U.S. drugmakers said it has a filed a lawsuit to stop California from implementing a law aimed at reining in prescription drug prices. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,...
McKesson Board Minutes Indicate Little Oversight by Directors of Opioid Operations, Lawsuit Says
Dec 11 2017 // McKesson Corp.’s board failed to audit the company’s system to spot suspicious shipments of opioid-based painkillers even after agreeing to do so as part of a settlement, according to a summary of board minutes...
California Workers’ Comp Division to Adopt a Drug Formulary, Host Webinars
Dec 8 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation will adopt an evidence-based drug formulary for medical providers treating injured workers beginning Jan. 1, 2018, following approval by the Office of Administrative...
Growth in U.S. Healthcare Spending Slowed in 2016: CMS
Dec 7 2017 // In 2016, overall growth in national spending on healthcare slowed in 2016, increasing 4.3 percent following 5.8 percent growth in 2015, according to a report by actuaries with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
Jury Says J&J, Bayer Must Pay $28 Million for Woman’s Injuries from Xarelto Drug
Dec 7 2017 // Johnson & Johnson and Bayer AG are responsible for a woman’s injuries tied to the blood-thinning drug Xarelto and must pay almost $28 million in damages, jurors concluded in the companies’ first loss at a...
West Virginia Planning Response to Fight Statewide Opioid Epidemic
Dec 4 2017 // As West Virginia sees record numbers of drug overdose deaths, state officials say they’ll submit plans for responding further to the opioid epidemic to Gov. Jim Justice by mid-January. “There is a critical need...
Note to the Insurance Industry: Marijuana Is a Thing
Dec 4 2017 // It’s high time the insurance industry embraces marijuana. That’s because pot has entered the mainstream. To date, 29 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, eight states (plus...
Fewer Opioids Prescribed in Louisiana Following Medicaid Expansion
Dec 4 2017 // Data from the Louisiana Department of Health and the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy show there are fewer opioids being prescribed since Medicaid expansion began in July 2016, the Louisiana governor’s office...
Drug Repackagers, Compounding Pharmacies Continue to Stress Workers’ Comp Systems
Dec 4 2017 // Although the number of physician dispensed prescriptions declined considerably from just a few years ago, the workers’ compensation industry continues to battle an adapting market seeking to maintain high prices by...
Utah Seeing Increase in Drug-Related Deadly Crashes, Report Shows
Dec 4 2017 // The number of fatal car crashes linked to drivers on drugs has spiked in the last two years in Utah while alcohol-related fatal wrecks have declined slightly, state figures show. The Legislature’s annual report on...
CVS to Pay $67.5B for Aetna to Create Giant Health Firm with ‘10,000 New Front Doors’
Dec 3 2017 // CVS Health Corp. will buy Aetna Inc. for about $67.5 billion, creating a healthcare giant that will have a hand in everything from insurance to the corner drugstore. CVS will pay $207 a share for Aetna, with $145 a share...
Express Scripts Not Looking But Open to Deal with an Insurer, Amazon
Dec 1 2017 // Express Scripts Holding Co.’s chief executive said he’s open to a deal with a health insurer or partnering with Amazon.com Inc. CEO Tim Wentworth’s pharmacy benefits company has been battered by departing...
How Payment Policies of Insurers, Government Discourage Opioid Alternatives
Dec 1 2017 // For the drug industry, building a better pain pill is a problem. Pharmaceutical companies have introduced new medicines to treat dependence, reverse overdoses, and deal with opioids’ side effects. But few effective...
