drug costs

Tensions Mount In Legislature Over Bill Restricting Pharmacy Middlemen

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SALEM – For six years, Oregon pharmacies have been lobbying the state Legislature to rein in fees imposed on them by pharmacy benefit managers, the third-party intermediaries that negotiate prices with drug manufacturers and prescription drug claims with insurers.

By: 
Elon Glucklich

Hospitals Slashed Use Of Two Heart Drugs After Huge Price Hikes

Even before media reports and a congressional hearing vilified Valeant Pharmaceuticals International for raising prices on a pair of lifesaving heart drugs, Dr. Umesh Khot knew something was very wrong. Khot is a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, which prides itself on outstanding heart care. The health system’s pharmacists had alerted doctors about the skyrocketing cost of the drugs, nitroprusside and isoproterenol. But these two older drugs, frequently used in emergency and intensive care situations, have no direct alternatives.

By: 
Sarah Jane Tribble; Kaiser Health News

Getting a Handle on Pharmaceutical Costs

Oregon Health Forum explores this timely issue at its breakfast forum on November 2.

High cost specialty drugs have begun outpacing hospital expenditures, and public officials, lawmakers and consumer advocates are hard at work trying to figure out how to get a handle on this growing problem.

By: 
Diane Lund-Muzikant

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