Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced price reductions of 70% for its most commonly prescribed insulins and an expansion of its Insulin Value Program that caps patient out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less per month. Lilly is taking these actions to make it easier to access Lilly insulin and help Americans who may have difficulty navigating a complex healthcare system that may keep them from getting affordable insulin. Today, Lilly is reducing the list price of insulins by: Cutting the list price of its non-branded insulin, Insulin Lispro Injection 100 units/mL, to $25 a vial. Effective May 1, 2023, it will be the lowest list-priced mealtime insulin available, and less than the price of a Humalog® vial in [...]

Pharmacy Time January 12, 2023 Aislinn Antrim   Pharmacists report a myriad of reasons for joining the profession, including the connections they can build with patients. National Pharmacist Day is celebrated annually on January 12, offering a day to celebrate the differences pharmacists make in patients’ lives each day. Pharmacists work in nearly every health care environment, including retail, hospitals, specialty pharmacy, and more. The profession is also growing, with an expected 2% growth between 2021 and 2031, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.1 Pharmacists play a key role in the health care system, far beyond dispensing medications. In addition to educating patients about their prescriptions and working daily to ensure medication compliance and provide medication therapy management [...]

FDA said Tuesday that community pharmacies can dispense the drugs used for medication abortion. Previously, the drugs were only available at clinics, directly from physicians, or from mail-order pharmacies. The agency announced its intention to update prescribing protocols for mifepristone, the first drug used in the regimen for medication abortions, a year ago. Tuesday's action, described in an update to part of the FDA website, strengthened a change implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that increased telehealth access to medication abortions. Additionally, FDA said it would permit certain pharmacies to dispense the drugs directly. The new rules still require patients to have a prescription from a certified health care provider; however, any pharmacy that agrees to accept the prescriptions and follow [...]

Randy Florschuetz thought his annual flu shot would be a quick errand. He booked an appointment online for Nov. 21 and showed up at his local Walgreens at the designated time – only to be met with a sign noting it was closed. On Nov. 25, he booked another appointment for the following Monday and headed to the store to pick up a prescription. Again, a sign told him the store was closed for the day. He was greeted with a third sign when we showed up to his rescheduled appointment, this one telling him the store was closed due to a family emergency. “It's kind of funny. During the height of COVID, they actually stayed open when I would expect them to have problems,” [...]

As a leader of Plumbers UA Local 98, we are providers of a skilled workforce to Michigan’s biopharmaceutical industry, helping to construct needed research and manufacturing facilities to help produce and discover new cures. In providing this work, our members benefit from the health and welfare benefits connected to these construction jobs. Our members build the facilities where new medicines can help treat costly diseases. As union representatives, we also need to pay attention to the cost of coverage. Out-of-pocket health care costs rose by 3.9% in 2016, according to a new report by Health Affairs. That was the fastest rate of growth in nine years. And in 2016, national health care costs hit a new record — consuming about [...]