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Health Care Reform: The Final Countdown?

In the days before a vote is expected, the near-final version of the health care reform bill seems to have taken shape. Before they fine-tune the bill, however, Democrats must wait for the cost assessment from the Congressional Budget Office.

A Look at Medco's Therapeutic Resource Centers

The editors of Drug Benefit Trends interviewed Peter Juhn, MD, MPH, president of the Therapeutic Resource Centers division at Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Click below to hear him discuss the TRC program, launched in 2007, which monitors prescription drug use in patients with specific chronic conditions and is designed to close gaps in care.

Update on the Therapy for Sporotrichosis

Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection that typically results in cutaneous or lymphocutaneous disease, although other, more severe, life-threatening manifestations do occur. This article reviews updated treatment guidelines, which state that itraconazole has become the preferred therapy for most forms of infection. Amphotericin B remains the mainstay of treatment for severe cases, but lipid formulations are now preferred because of their more favorable toxicity profile. Also, fluconazole has been shown to be less effective than itraconazole and is no longer recommended except as an alternative for cutaneous and lymphocutaneous disease. [Drug Benefit Trends. 2010;22:49-52]

US Spending Is Frozen on HIV Programs in Africa

The US decision to freeze spending on HIV programs in several African countries has caused concern that some of the progress made in the global AIDS epidemic will be reversed.

Top Lobbyist for PhRMA to Step Down

Amidst the Democrats floundering to pass their health care reform bill after the balance of power shifted when a Republican won the Massachusetts Senate race, WJ “Billy” Tauzin, a Democrat turned Republican, announced that he will step down in June as head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

Scurvy, Pellagra, and Beri Beri

A 38-year-old woman presented with bruising and pain of the lower extremities and dyspnea on exertion. She had had these symptoms for 3 weeks. She denied hematuria, melena, hematemesis, fever, or abdominal pain. Results of routine blood work showed a hemoglobin level of 6.4 g/dL (19 months earlier, this level was 15.8 g/dL).

H1N1 Headlines

Time To Avoid Complacency: The Worst May Not Be Over Kaiser Family FoundationAlthough activity in North American is low, Dr Keiji Fukuda of the World Health Organization cautions that it is too soon to say the pandemic is over.

Health Care Reform: Will It or Won’t It?

After Republican Scott Brown was elected into the US Senate in January, President Obama acknowledged that his health care reform bill could die on Capital Hill. As many Democrats looked to the White House for guidance about how to keep the bill on a forward path, President Obama seemed less than optimistic about the bill’s passage. At a fundraising event, the President stated “it’s very important for us to have a methodical, open process over the next several weeks, and then let’s go ahead and make a decision.” This statement was miles away from his previous exclamations of “Yes we can.”