News

New molecular entity: Ecallantide (Kalbitor) was approved in December 2009, to treat hereditary angioedema (HAE).

Middle-aged (35 to 54 years) women are gaining ground on their male counterparts in their prevalence of myocardial infarction (MI) and their cardiovascular risk factor scores, according to an examination of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over time.

Kasier Permanente is concerned that its physicians will be cut out of FDA programs

Here's a case where the payers were willing to talk, but the hospitals weren't

Insurers are no longer shy about letting members comment on care experiences

Poor adherence is the most common cause of treatment failure. Months of treatment and observation produces improvement

Clinic openings slowed from 350% growth in 2007 to 30% in 2008

Several public health threats prompted a new but underfunded plan

More specialty drugs means more management of patient needs and more cooperation

Economic drivers likely the cause of slowdowns in healthcare spending, but the general cost curve remains unsustainable

Medication adherence is the common goal of many stakeholders. Pharma is willing to help.

Everyone assumes the waste is caused by payers-think again! Administration might cost a few bucks, but it provides downstream benefits.

A panel of experts offers insight into experiences and future promise for the patient-centered medical home model

Plan administrators must provide notice of new COBRA extension to all eligible individuals

More gender-specific research is needed to improve poorer outcomes for women

The stars may be aligning for healthcare initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2010.

While the U.S. House and Senate wrangle over the final healthcare bill, health plans aren't sitting idly by waiting for the future to arrive.

The American Diabetes Association has revised clinical practice recommendations for diabetes diagnosis to promote hemoglobin A1c as a faster, easier diagnostic test.

A group of health, consumer and aging advocates has formed a new alliance to focus on long-term services and supports in the United States.

David Cordani has officially taken the helm of the health insurance company, replacing retiring CIGNA Chairman and CEO Ed Hanway.

Anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents in late-stage development

Towards the end of 2009, FDA launched a new medication safety initiative.

Heart failure (HF) guideline-recommended aldosterone antagonist therapy was received by less than one-third of eligible patients participating in a quality improvement registry who had been hospitalized for HF.

New formulation: Diclofenac sodium topical solution (Pennsaid) was approved on November 5, 2009, to treat the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee.

In early November 2009, FDA approved revisions to the drug label for exenatide (Byetta, Amylin Pharmaceuticals), an injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Roflumilast is a novel, orally active phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor currently under review by FDA for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.

Recent FDA action (through January 2010) related to testosterone undecanoate injection, telavancin, Ampligen, doxepin, everolimus, aztreonam lysine, erlotinib, TG4010, BSI-201, midazolam, Aimspro, Motorgraft, BHR-100, dextran sulfate

A systematic review into the comparative effectiveness of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), or both, for patients with stable ischemic heart disease and preserved left ventricular (LV) function found that adding an ACE inhibitor to standard treatment can improve outcomes.

New molecular entity: Pralatrexate injection (Folotyn) was approved on September 24, 2009, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

This review examines the underlying causes associated with ED and PE and evaluates currently available treatment options and those under investigation.