Category: Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
Cancer Drug Parity Laws Lower Costs for Many but Not All
November 9, 2017State laws designed to ensure that the pill form of cancer drugs is not more costly than treatments given through an infusion in a clinic or hospital have had a mixed impact on patients’ pocketbooks, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers. Forty-three states and Washington, D.C,. enacted so-called “parity laws” since 2011 that require patients pay no more for oral cancer treatments than they would for an infusion of the same treatment. In an analysis of the effect of parity laws published in JAMA Oncology, UNC researchers and collaborators from Harvard Medical School report modest improvements … Read more
N.C., S.C. School Nurses Want to Be Better Prepared for Opioids, UNC Study Finds
October 17, 2017Many school nurses in North Carolina and South Carolina are contending with prescription opioids at school but very few have access to naloxone, which can reverse an opioid overdose, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The nurses also said they would welcome more training in dealing with opioids. Many school nurses (40 percent) said they had encountered a student with an opioid prescription, but less than 4 percent had naloxone available in case of an overdose despite an agreement between Adapt Pharma and state departments of education to provide naloxone nasal spray … Read more
Beta Blockers Not Needed after Heart Attack if Other Meds Taken, UNC study finds
September 18, 2017A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds beta blockers are not needed after a heart attack if heart-attack survivors are taking ACE inhibitors and statins. The study is the first to challenge the current clinical guideline that heart-attack survivors should take all three drugs – beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and statins – for the rest of their lives. Heart-attack survivors are usually prescribed all three drugs to help prevent a second attack and death. However, the beta blockers offer no additional benefit for patients who take the other two drugs as prescribed, according to … Read more
Savings Less than Expected for Generic Oral Chemotherapy, Researchers Find
September 11, 2017A study by researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center determined the cost savings for a generic version of an orally administered cancer treatment were less than expected — a finding that questions the effect generic drugs can have on controlling health-care costs. The researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine that the cost for one fill of the generic form of the chemotherapy treatment capecitabine was $2,328 last year. That price was 36 percent lower than the projected branded drug price in 2016 — a savings the researchers … Read more
Lafata Named New DPOP Vice Chair as Blalock Retires
July 11, 2017Jennifer Lafata, Ph.D., professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will take over as its vice chair upon the retirement of Susan Blalock, Ph.D., M.P.H, professor in DPOP and current vice chair. Blalock’s retirement is phased, so she will continue working part-time for the near future. As vice chair, Lafata will assist in faculty development, recruitment and retention, overseeing educational training programs and serving as a mentor to DPOP’s junior faculty and trainees. She said she is excited to be a part of the DPOP leadership and to learn, grow and … Read more
Sleath Receives $1.6 Million AHRQ Grant to Help African-Americans with Glaucoma
July 11, 2017Betsy Sleath, Ph.D., has received a grant worth nearly $1.6 million over four years from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to help reduce vision problems in African-Americans caused by glaucoma. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness for African-Americans; they are five times more likely to get glaucoma than white Americans and six times more likely to go blind from it. Glaucoma is a condition that can damage the optic nerve leading to loss of vision. It is caused by abnormally high pressure inside the eye. “We want to empower glaucoma patients to be more actively involved … Read more
Doctors Receiving Pharma Payments More Likely to Prescribe Certain Cancer Drugs
June 1, 2017Physicians paid by pharmaceutical companies for meals, talks and travel had higher odds of prescribing those companies’ drugs to treat two cancer types, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study has found. “Ideally, therapy choices should be based on two things and two things only: medical evidence and patient preference,” said Aaron Mitchell, M.D., a fellow in the UNC School of Medicine Division of Hematology & Oncology and the study’s lead author. “As patient advocates, we should try to eliminate any barriers to this. We saw a pretty consistent increase in prescribing of a company’s drug stemming from … Read more
AMCP Chapter Wins in First Trip to National P&T Case Competition
April 18, 2017The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy student chapter took first place in the 2017 National Student Pharmacist Pharmacy & Therapeutics Competition, winning a $4,000 scholarship for the School. The competition took place on March 29 at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting in Denver, and the team was presented with the award during the award ceremony the following day. With a record 60 student chapters registering for the P&T competition, the School’s student chapter was one of eight finalist teams selected to participate in the national competition, the first year the team … Read more
Many ADHD Kids Have Questions for Their Doctor but Don’t Ask
April 18, 2017Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder want to ask their physicians about their condition and medications but often don’t, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We have found that there has been very little research into how providers, parents and youth communicate about ADHD and ADHD medications,” said Betsy Sleath, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and the George H. Cocolas Distinguished Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. “What we do know that kids often aren’t part of the conversation when their parents and doctors are talking ADHD. We wanted to … Read more
Dusetzina Named to National Academies Report Committee
January 9, 2017Stacie Dusetzina, Ph.D., has been confirmed as a committee member for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report titled “Ensuring Patient Access to Affordable Drug Therapies.” The committee is charged by the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) with issuing a report with recommendations for policy actions that could address drug price trends, improve patient access to affordable and effective treatments and encourage innovations that address significant needs in health care. “Drug pricing and access are complex issues affecting pharmaceutical manufacturers, payers and patients,” Dusetzina said. “These topics have been at the forefront of discussions about … Read more