Extended treatment with Alzheimer's drugs may provide modest cognitive benefit, study shows
July 1st 2012A new study of patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease found that extended treatment with donepezil could improve cognition and function for even severe patients; however, experts caution that the benefits of the drug were modest.
Payers seek more comparative research documenting value and affordability of high-cost therapies
July 1st 2012While scientists and biomedical researchers at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) applauded encouraging data on dozens of breakthrough cancer therapies, analysts pondered strategies for convincing payers to cover the new life-saving drugs.
Rising costs due to behavior-driven conditions significantly impact health plan costs, report says
July 1st 2012The rising cost of specialty drugs, challenges with medication adherence, and the utilizations of mail order are among the top trends impacting employers and other health plan sponsors, according to a recent report about prescription benefit management trends.
Gain a solid understanding of compendia and its impact on patient access
July 1st 2012The current compendia landscape, through constantly in flux, impacts everything from payer approval of off-label use to manufacturer patient access initiatives. Drug compendia, defined as summaries of drug information, affects coverage and reimbursement decisions for pharmaceuticals products, and as a result, it's important for pharmaceitucal manufacturers and healthcare providers to understand the role and impact of compendia off-label uses.
Atypical antipsychotics may help refractory depression
May 25th 2012The use of atypical antipsychotics in patients with major depressive disorder who have not responded to antidepressant therapy substantially increased clinical response rates at 6 weeks; however the drugs are also much more costly, according to the results of an analysis published in the May issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
Improvements in warfarin therapy reduce stroke rate, study shows
May 11th 2012Current use of warfarin as a stroke prevention therapy in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation is associated with a lower rate of residual stroke or systemic embolism compared with previous data, according to a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.