Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule, (CMS-4180-F) impacting Medicare Advantage Plans (MAP) and Part D programs. The rule aims to ensure that patients have greater transparency into the cost of prescription drugs, so that beneficiaries can compare options and also enables MAPs to negotiate better prices for […] Continue
In February, the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) published a report that had some interesting findings regarding the use of prescription drugs. With respect to utilization, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen now rank above opioids as the most commonly prescribed medication class for workers’ compensation claimants. In terms of reimbursement, CWCI […] Continue
Recently, the FDA approved the first generic Narcan nasal spray to treat opioid overdose. Narcan temporarily reverses the effects of opioid analgesics and is essentially an antidote for opioid overdose. While generics of the injectable version of this medication, Evzio, have been available for quite some time, a generic of the nasal spray has not. […] Continue
All of the focus on the opioid crisis may have overshadowed a growing trend of abuse and misuse for another drug that’s well known to those of us in the workers’ compensation industry . . . gabapentin. Ironically, the growing trend of gabapentin abuse is related to the opioid crisis. In an effort to adhere […] Continue
Last week the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, M.D. and Deputy Commissioner, Anna Abram issued a statement on new 2019 efforts to improve the quality of compounded drugs. The statement can be found here. Interestingly in 2018, the FDA also announced a new and expanded compounded research project, for which the FDA announced […] Continue