CMS proposes higher hospital payments in value-based purchasing The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday proposed a rule that would enhance the hospital value-based purchasing program (VBP) set to begin in October, helping Medicare move to a system that rewards value, not volume, the agency announced yesterday. Fierce Healthcare
Quest Diagnostics: Rx misuse recorded among majority of Americans After analyzing nearly 76,000 laboratory tests for monitoring prescription drug use, Quest Diagnostics said the findings suggested many Americans take prescription medications in ways that put their health at risk, including such behaviors as missing doses to combining medications with other drugs without a clinician's oversight. Drug Store News
Certified Stroke Centers Use More Thrombolysis Use of tPA has been substantially higher in primary stroke centers certified by the Joint Commission compared with other facilities, although the gap has narrowed recently, a researcher said. MedPage Today
Drugs, FDA and Pharma
Statins May Cut Stroke Mortality Stroke patients who were on statin therapy at the time of their stroke appear to be significantly less likely to die in the hospital than patients who were not on the cholesterol-lowering drugs, researchers said. MedPage Today
OIG: Avastin a Better Buy for Wet AMD The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should establish a national payment policy for bevacizumab (Avastin) to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a government report concluded. MedPage Today
Watson to buy Actavis for $5.6 billion Following news reports Tuesday that the U.S.-based generic drug maker would acquire Switzerland-based Actavis, Watson announced Wednesday that it would buy the latter for $5.6 billion. Drug Store News
Community Pharmacy
Ship owner sues pharmacists in SF Bay crash The owners and operators of a container ship that slammed into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007 and spilled thousands of gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay have sued the Northern California pharmacists they claim negligently dispensed prescription drugs to the pilot of the Cosco Busan. Business Week
