prescription drugs

Nosse Wants Law to Track Biosimilar Drugs Without Restricting Access

An ongoing controversy over generic equivalents to complex biological drugs is resurfacing in the 2016 session, as patient advocacy groups and drug companies try again to require pharmacists to take extra steps to notify prescribers of a substitution when they dispense something other than a brand-name biological drug.

Jan 29, 2016

Research Gives Context To Addressing Nation’s Drug Abuse Crisis, Review Finds

Jan 15, 2016

Oregon Physicians Prescribed More Than $1 Billion in Drugs in 2013

The CMS data revealed that 15,000 physicians prescribed drugs to 13,000 Medicare beneficiaries while Drs. Mary O’Hearn, Kiren Kresa-Reahl, Richard Kimani and Harry Krulewitch led the list. This chart below shows all 15,000 physicians and their drug costs.

Jun 25, 2015
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Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Genentech Pour Money into State Elections

September 4, 2013 -- Nineteen drug companies have spent a combined half a million dollars since 2011 trying to influence elections and legislation, led by Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Genentech. Pfizer, known for Viagra, Zoloft and Xanax, is the world’s largest drug company by revenue, and Eli Lilly is the world’s largest manufacturer of psychiatric medications, such as Prozac.

Sep 4, 2013

Oregon Action Pushes Congress to Negotiate Medicare Drug Prices

Apr 8, 2013

Small Pharmacies Getting Squeeze from Goliath PBMs

A bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Jules Bailey and Rep. Greg Smith would regulate pharmacy benefit managers, which local pharmacists say are driving them out of business

Mar 27, 2013

Senate Gives Unanimous Blessing to Expanding Nurse Practitioners' Dispensation

The bill was pushed by Portland clinic chain ZoomCare, which drew criticism on the Senate floor from Sen. Alan Bates

Feb 8, 2013

Making Sense Out of Drug Prices

OPINION – DECEMBER 18, 2012 -- I take a generic drug, a little yellow pill that’s been produced for decades, to control blood pressure. I started taking it long before the day I turned 65 that happened to coincide with the beginnings of the great recession that effectively reduced the value of our savings and our house.

Dec 18, 2012

Member Insists OEBB Overpays for Prescription Drugs

October 30, 2012 -- Tamara Weaver questions why the Oregon Educators Benefit Board (OEBB) is paying more for prescription drugs through its mail order company than at Costco, her local retail pharmacy. OEBB is responsible for selecting the health plans for the majority of Oregon’s public school teachers, community colleges and state universities.

Oct 30, 2012

Physicians Focus on Curbing Opioid Abuse, Accidental Deaths

October 8, 2012 -- In the 1990s, prescribing opioid painkillers for any patients besides those in the last stages of a terminal illness was frowned upon and could even result in censure, said Betsy Boyd-Flynn, deputy executive vice president of the Oregon Medical Association.

Oct 8, 2012