Omnicare on its own had revenues of over $6 billion and Pharmericas is just under 2 billion so this would be big financially as well.  We all know what lack of competition does in the pharma world and this probably would be no exception.  Just a few months ago we had Walgreens swap businesses with Omnicare so they got out of the long term care business, so Omnicare picked up business there as well and Walgreens picked up the home infusion business.

Walgreens and Omnicare Swap Businesses–Giving Long Term Pharmacy Care to Omni and They Get Omni’s Home Infusion Business

This is not the first time the eyes of the government have been watching Omnicare as they agreed to pay fine for kickbacks from the pharmaceutical business a couple years ago.  Kickbacks in nursing homes are watched a little closer due to the fact that patients can be subjected to over prescribing drugs for patients with Alzheimer's and other aging or mental issues. 

Omnicare Agrees to Pay Close to $100 Million To Settle Case with Justice Department – Paying and Receiving Kickbacks From Ivax and Johnson and Johnson

Omnicare Kickbacks Payments to Illinois Nursing Homes – Alleged Violation of Medicare/Medicaid

So in view of the past history with drugs, it’s not a big surprise that such mergers and acquisitions are monitored as along with monitoring for kickbacks, the prices would go higher too.  BD 

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. regulators sued Omnicare Inc. to block its $440.8 million takeover of rival drug-supply company PharMerica Corp., a deal they said would increase prices for elderly nursing-home residents covered by Medicare.      Omnicare’s acquisition of Louisville, Kentucky-based PharMerica would give it the bargaining leverage to raise medicine prices for those covered by Medicare prescription drug plans, passing those costs on to U.S. taxpayers, the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday in a statement.

Omnicare offered $15 a share in August in an unsolicited bid for PharMerica, which the Covington, Kentucky-based company extended yesterday for a fourth time before the FTC’s announcement. The regulators’ complaint leaves little room for Omnicare to make changes or negotiate further, probably killing the deal, said A.J. Rice, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group LLP in New York. That would make PharMerica attractive to private equity firms, he said.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-28/omnicare-sued-by-u-s-regulators-to-block-takeover-of-pharmerica.html

Technorati Tags: FTC,OnmiCare,Pharmerica,lawsuit,Medicare,private equity,competition,drugs,mergers and acquistions,cost,seniors

Bydureon took three tries to make it through approval with the FDA.  The active ingredient comes from a synthetic version of saliva from the Gila Monster.  I am originally from Arizona and I know what those are and way back in 2007 the talk was in the exploration of saliva with lizards.  Bydureon is not insulin and is not for people with diabetes type 1.  Byetta is the non extended version of the drug that has been around for a once a day injection and has been associated with acute pancreatitis, so I would guess the same warnings would apply here as well. 

Lizard spit and bongs - Medication Origins and Future

BYDUREON has been approved with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) and there are a number of post market requirements to assess the impact of the drug relative to thyroid cancer or heart disease as some rats in the testing phase had those issues. 

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alkermes Plc succeeded in their third attempt to gain U.S. clearance for Bydureon, a once-weekly version of Amylin’s diabetes shot.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for adults with Type 2 diabetes, the agency said today in a letter posted on their website.

Bydureon is a long-acting form of Byetta, a twice-daily injection that San Diego-based Amylin developed with Eli Lilly & Co. in a partnership that ended last year. Amylin lost almost half its market value on Oct. 20, 2010, after the FDA rejected Bydureon for a second time and sought a study on cardiac effects. The companies refiled for approval last year after the trial didn’t tie the drug to dangerous heart-rhythm changes.

The active ingredient in Byetta and Bydureon, known as exenatide, stimulates pancreas cells to produce insulin when blood sugar is high. It is a synthetic version of a substance found in the saliva of the Gila monster. Bydureon uses technology developed by Alkermes to slowly release exenatide into the bloodstream with one dose a week. The drug won European Commission approval in June.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-28/amylin-alkermes-diabetes-drug-wins-approval-on-third-try.html

Technorati Tags: diabetes,gila monster,drugs,FDA,Amylin,Bydureon,shots,insulin

Well here’s one more and Mr. Chopra was good and got everybody motivated but time to move into the next phase with implementation and perhaps a little different leader is needed to pass the baton.  We have had the word “innovation” up to our ears and now it’s time to begin some serious efforts with “collaboration” and perhaps a different personality to move to the next level with government IT.  About a year ago I made the post below saying pretty much the same thing.  BD   

Innovation Without Collaboration Is Fouling Up The US Healthcare IT System–We Need Both As We Can’t Stand on Innovation Alone

Aneesh Chopra, the first White House chief of technology, has resigned after almost three years on the job.

Chopra's resignation was announced in a post on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's blog that did not explain why he's leaving the Obama administration. The Washington Post reported that he is rumored to be considering a run for lieutenant governor in Virgina.

"When President Obama came into office in January 2009, the administration found a federal government relying too heavily on 20th century technology," John P. Holdren, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in the blog post. "On his first day on the job, the president created the position of 'chief technology officer.'"

The White House under Obama has used technology -- social media in particular -- much more than previous administrations. This can be attributed to the rise in popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but Chopra may have had an influence as well.

Before entering public service, Chopra was managing director with the Advisory Board Company, a publicly-traded healthcare think tank.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/aneesh-chopra-white-house-resigns.html

Technorati Tags: Aneesh Chopra,resignation,CTO,politics,technology,Heatlh IT,USA,Obama

This is sad and scary and makes you appreciate the FDA for sure.  I read elsewhere that the chemical content of the drug was ok but now we are left with other compounds, coatings, etc. to be checked as well.  The government shut down 3 companies where the drugs are made and by the way they also export drugs to other companies, US not mentioned as one. 

Patients all had a sudden drop of white blood cell count and broke out bleeding in some area of their body.  This all happened over a 3 week period.  The drugs were administered by the government hospital and were free.  Samples of the drug have been sent to London and Paris outside the country for additional tests. 

Pakistan Drugs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2j2Llf31S4

Technorati Tags: Pakistan,drugs,poison,cardiology,heart medicine,patients

Ok so I made my point in the title and this article too dissects the potential demographics of the situation too as if only 10-20% of the patients are covered by Blue Cross, is there enough incentive for the doctors to make a difference?  On the other hand if the insurer paid all their insurer overhead, now that would make a huge difference and get attention.  Let’s also look at the amount of the investment here since doctors only represent 8% of healthcare expenses.

Physician Salaries Represent 8% of Total US Healthcare Cost

Certainly the clinical information shared is always of value as knowledge helps all the way around.  For those doctors going broke as this recent article talked about, and there’s a lot of truth to this in the family practice area for sure, this won’t make a dent and there are doctors in affluent areas like Newport Beach, CA also going broke, so go figure. 

Doctors Going Broke–You Can’t Even Give a Practice Away–Only Folks Buying Them Are Hospitals and Insurance Companies As It Relates to Reimbursement and/or Profits

Best I can figure is that some numbers were crunched and some new algorithms were produced to show an effort here and that’s kind of what I see here to make news and show something positive, you think?  Speaking of Newport Beach, acquisitions by other insurers are creating problems too so when insurance contracts are not being bounced around maybe this tiny incentive that is built up to be such a big story will help? 

United Healthcare Acquisition of Monarch Healthcare HMO Already Causing Confusion and Access Problems for Blue Shield Patients in Orange County

So what does this promise of Wellpoint giving doctors data and staffing entail?  Are they going to cover the doctor’s red tape billing expenses?  Don’t hold your breath on that one but I guess more will roll out later but the staffing I am guessing will be more in the area of efficiencies for them to “improve” and how that rolls out will remain to be seen too.  If all the insurers kicked in to cover all the doctor’s billing expenses that would be a story

The nation's second-largest health insurer is shaking up its approach to paying doctors, putting a major investment behind the idea that spending more for better primary care can save money down the road.

Starting this summer, WellPoint Inc., which insures some 34 million Americans, will offer primary-care doctors a fee increase, typically of around 10%, with the possibility of additional payments that could boost what they get for treating the patients it covers by as much as 50%.

The new approach could pour an additional $1 billion or more into primary care, which WellPoint is betting will pay off in the form of fewer emergency-room visits and hospital stays.

Primary-care doctors, such as pediatricians and family physicians, often make less than half of what top-paid specialists like orthopedic surgeons earn, and the idea of changing how they are paid has been around for years. Insurers and government agencies are experimenting with a variety of approaches. But WellPoint, with its network of about 100,000 primary-care doctors, could have a much broader influence.

The impact could be amplified by another new effort, by health insurer Aetna Inc., which will start paying the 55,000 primary-care doctors across its network an extra fee—of $2 to $3 per patient per month—if their practices are certified as meeting certain standards for providing access for patients and coordinating their care.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203363504577185270518129952.html

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The bill in the legislature will force insurance companies to cover oral cancer chemotherapy instead of making patients take a trip to the hospital for each treatment.  This is especially important with breast cancer as patients can take the medication in the privacy of their own home.  This would allow for patients to spend more time with family. 

Patients with good insurance are not covered either as the policies are not covering and they are paying out of pocket.  It’s about time to catch up with the times and science and offer quality of life.  Bi-partisan support has been given in the Legislature.  The costs for oral chemo can add up to $10,000 a month, that is huge.  Good more and insurance companies should cover this but the insurers are saying they would rather wait to see the impact of healthcare reform as this would increase premium cost…what?  Time for some new forward thinking here instead of better access I think.  BD 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Some cancer patients, even those with good insurance, are paying thousands of dollars a month for treatment because they're taking pills to fight their disease, instead of regular chemo. And some lawmakers in Sacramento say it's time to change that.

The American Cancer Society says cancer is the second-leading cause of death in California. There's a push for better access to treatment, by including oral chemo, in health plans.

Perea says expanding such access would especially benefit women greatly because a number of anti-cancer pills are used for treating breast cancer. In all, more than three dozen medications have FDA approval for different types of cancer. The Central Valley Democrat just wants insurance companies to catch up with science.

Opponents still put up a fight. Without knowing how much the federal health care reform will effect medical costs, critics say they would rather wait.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=8520940

Technorati Tags: California,chemotherapy,drugs,laws,Cancer,pills,IV,doctors,oncology,patients

The article states this is clearly for reconstruction and not for growing one from scratch.  The next level up is to test with primates and then hopefully lead to where procedures as such will evolve for humans.  However, if you go over to Wake Forest they might be ahead of the game as far as building one as they created one from scratch for a rabbit and it worked so there is research on both ends here with repair and building from scratch it appears.  BD 

Regenerative Medicine News – Fully Functional Rabbit Penis Created That Works

Men in need of penis reconstruction could soon enjoy the benefits of a special ingredient: stem cells. A new study in rats shows that lacing a penis graft with adult stem cells yields better healing and sexual function than using the graft alone. The finding may point the way to improved treatments for a variety of human penile impairments.

Men with penis injuries, deformities, or severe Peyronie's disease—which causes excessive scarring that can curve or shrink the penis—sometimes need surgery to reconstruct their genitalia and restore their sexual function. Many receive a graft made of their own tissue, cadaver tissue, or pig intestines, but the surgery can cause complications, including erectile dysfunction.

"This is an excellent study, with lots of clinical implications," says Trinity Bivalacqua, a urologist at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland. But he notes that the method applies only to reconstructions, not to cases where a surgeon may need to build a new penis from scratch. And although the technique works well in rats, "this doesn't always translate to humans," Bivalacqua says.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/01/stem-cells-build-a-better-rat-pe.html

Technorati Tags: Stem cells,rat,penis,healing,reconstruction,regenertative medicine,Johns Hopkins,surgery,injurys,scars

Kaiser Permanente finally finished the study requested by the CDC and there was nothing to indicate a cause.  As you can read below the study was not cheap and I have covered a few stories about it and is has been perplexing and mysterious.  It is somewhat rare with the feeling of bugs running under your skin and the mysterious “threads” that appear.  Below is the backlink with CDC requesting the study from Kaiser.  BD 

CDC Launching Investigation Of Morgellons Disease - the mysterious illness

(CBS/AP) What if it felt like there were tiny bugs crawling all over your body, causing oozing sores and mysterious fibers sprouting from your skin? That's how many people described their symptoms to government doctors several years ago, with health officials sometimes receiving up to 20 calls a day from sufferers.

Many of these people lived in California, prompting one of that state's U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein, to ask for a scientific study. In 2008, federal health officials began to study people who said they were affected by this freakish condition called Morgellons disease - named from a 1674 medical paper that described similar symptoms.

The study, published Jan. 25 in the journal PLoS One, cost nearly $600,000. It focused on more than 3 million people who lived in 13 counties in Northern California. After researchers went through Kaiser Permanente patient records, they flagged 115 people who had what sounded like Morgellons. That's the equivalent of roughly 4 out of every 100,000 Kaiser enrollees. "So it's rare," said Mark Eberhard, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who was part of the 15-member study team. But when the researchers dug further to find a cause for the disease, they came up empty.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57366616-10391704/morgellons-disease-exists-only-in-patients-minds-study-shows/

Technorati Tags: Moregellons,CDC,Kaiser Permanente,skin disease,rash,fibers,symptoms