Trumm Drug

August 2008 Drug News

House Report: Medicare Part D A Boon For Drug Companies
U.S. drug manufacturers are reaping a windfall from taxpayers because Medicare’s privately administered prescription drug benefit program pays more than other government programs for the same medicines, according to a report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Taxpayers are paying up to 30% more for prescription drugs under Medicare’s privatized Part D program for seniors and the disabled than under the government’s Medicaid program for the poor. “Medicare Part D has given the major drug companies a taxpayer-funded windfall worth billions of dollars,” stated committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), who stated he would introduce legislation to guarantee that federal taxpayers would not be charged higher prices under Medicare Part D than under Medicaid. The Los Angeles Times (Free Registration Required), House Report

Counterfeit Drugs Proliferate on Internet
Source: United Press International;Publication date: 2008-07-21
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been struggling as it tries to deal with rogue Internet sites that sell medications, a researcher says. Francis Palumbo of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, the author of the report, Policy Implications of Drug Importation, said U.S. consumers face a growing risk of getting counterfeit drugs because of rising Internet sales of medical drugs — projected to reach upwards of $75 billion by 2010. When consumers buy from those, it is definitely buyer beware. They are often not licensed anywhere we are aware of, Palumbo said in a statement. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been pulling its hair out over the years trying to deal with rogue Internet sites, the terminology they (FDA) use, he said. During the past 10 years, many people have been importing prescription drugs that were available for purchase in the United States and justifying the foreign purchases based on the FDA’s policy of personal use exemption, Palumbo said. The policy was never intended to allow this practice to be institutionalized, the report says. The report concludes that both FDA and U.S. Customs officials can’t handle the volume of medication entering the country.

DEA: Majority Of Drug Websites Do Not Require Proper Prescriptions
A majority of the 365 internet sites that advertise or sell controlled medications by mail are offering to supply the drugs without a proper prescription, according to a study by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The sites are helping to increase the rising abuse of addictive and dangerous prescription drugs, according to the authors and federal officials. However, efforts to police the sites have reduced the number offering such drugs from 581 last year, stated Joseph A. Califano Jr., director of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. DEA found that 85% of all internet prescription sales involved controlled drugs, compared with 11% of those filled through regular pharmacies. The New York Times on the Web

Doctors To Get Bonuses From CMS For E-Prescribing
Doctors can earn some extra money beginning next year if they adopt electronic prescribing. The four-year bonus program from Medicare is meant to streamline prescription processing and prevent errors. It is also expected to save taxpayers as much as $156 million over the next five years, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. The Washington Post

Cholesterol Drugs Now Recommended For Children
For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that some children as young as eight be given cholesterol-fighting drugs to ward off future heart problems. The new advice is based on mounting evidence showing that damage leading to heart disease, the nation’s leading killer, begins early in life, according to Dr. Stephen Daniels, who is on the academy’s nutrition committee. It also stems from recent research showing that cholesterol-fighting drugs are generally safe for children, stated Dr. Daniels. The Associated Press

---