All News

Two posters presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, held May 31 to June 4, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois, discussed the growing issue of financial toxicity and the costs of care in cancer treatment.

This week, the top managed care news included the Community Oncology Alliance submitting an alternative to the Oncology Care Model; more study results demonstrating diabetes drugs can prevent renal failure; US task force recommending pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has filed its alternative to CMS' Oncology Care Model (OCM) with the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee.

The American Medical Association has called for intensified oversight of the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry; the governor of Florida has signed a bill into law that would allow state residents to access cheaper medication through 2 prescription drug importation programs; the Ebola virus has crossed international borders during the second-worst outbreak in history.

Missouri's only abortion clinic will stay open after a state circuit court judge issued a preliminary injunction; the FDA overlooked red flags for esketamine after Janssen provided only limited data about the drug's safety and efficacy; opiod manufacturer Insys has filed for bankruptcy proctection after agreeing to pay $225 million to settle a federal investigation over its marketing of fentanyl.

In an era when healthcare is extremely expensive, there are many opinions on how involved our federal government should be in bringing drug prices down. However, there is one particular drug-pricing crisis that many can agree needs to be addressed sooner rather than later: the insulin crisis.

Purdue Pharmaceuticals and the company’s owners have been sued by Idaho’s Attorney General for allegedly contributing to the opioid epidemic; the governor of Texas has signed a bill into law that will raise the state’s minimum age to purchase tobacco and tobacco-related products to 21; California law makers have agreed to a budget deal that will provide healthcare to young, low-income, undocumented immigrants.