Arthritis Plagues Older Americans
Nearly half of people aged 65 and older reported suffering from arthritis in 2007-2008, according to a federal report. The condition was most prevalent among women (55%), compared with men (42%) and non-Hispanic blacks (52%) in this age group. The only chronic condition with a greater prevalence among older Americans was hypertension, which affected about 56% of older Americans. The figures come from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health Interview Survey. The full report on the well-being of older Americans is available at
State Bill Targets Step Therapy
Fibromyalgia-patient advocates in California are gaining ground in their attempt to limit the insurance industry practice of step therapy, in which patients must first fail on less expensive therapies before getting more costly prescriptions. In June, the California State Assembly passed AB 1826 to require health plans that offer outpatient drug benefits to cover pain drugs without requiring that patients first try another drug or an over-the-counter product. The bill does allow health plans to require that patients first use a generically equivalent drug. The legislation is now pending in a State senate committee. “The recent FDA-approved medications for fibromyalgia mean that patients finally have the long-awaited prescribed treatment options to help ease their suffering,” Rae Marie Gleason, executive director of the National Fibromyalgia Association, said in a statement. “We urge the passage of this legislation so that patient care will be decided by the physician who has the expertise to provide the best possible care for patients.”
FDA to Share Drug-Risk Findings
The FDA will post on its Web site summaries of postmarketing safety analyses on recently approved drugs and biologics, including brief discussions of steps that are being taken to address identified safety issues. The new summaries will cover side effects that might not become apparent until after a medicine becomes available to a large, diverse population, including previously unidentified risks and known adverse events that occur more frequently than expected. The initial reports will contain information on drugs and biologics approved since September 2007, including several drugs for infections, hypertension, and depression, the agency said.
J&J Discloses Physician Payments
Following in the footsteps of Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, and, most recently, Medtronic Inc., Johnson & Johnson said that it is disclosing how much it pays physician to be speakers and consultants, at least for a number of its pharmaceutical subsidiaries. Unlike disclosures at other companies, however, the data cover only those J&J divisions that were subject to corporate integrity agreements with the federal government, according to a company spokesman. Those divisions are PriCara, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, Janssen, and McNeil Pediatrics. Payment disclosures are listed at those units' individual Web sites, such as
www.janssen.com/transparency.html
Men Less Likely to Get Care
Men are much less likely than women to seek routine medical care: Just over half of U.S. men see a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant for routine care, compared with nearly three-quarters of women, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Only about 35% of Hispanic men and 43% of black men made routine appointments, compared with 63% of white men, and uninsured people were only about half as likely as those with private insurance to make a routine care appointment, the agency said.
State Backs Coordinated Care
Health care providers in five communities across New Hampshire have agreed with the state's major insurance companies to participate in a 5-year pilot program to encourage collaboration, prevention, and disease management instead of fee-for-service medicine, said Gov. John Lynch (D). Groups of providers in each community will become “accountable care organizations” and thus take responsibility for coordinating health care and preventive services to local residents. Each organization will determine how to spend its budget to achieve quality outcomes and efficiency in its area. The program “will move New Hampshire away from the fee-for-service model,” according to a statement from the governor's office. “Our current health care system rewards providers for seeing as many patients as possible. We're going to change that. Under this pilot project, we are moving to a system where health care providers will profit from spending time with their patients and keeping them healthy,” Gov. Lynch said in the statement.