Thursday, September 30, 2004

Financing Drug Research: What Are the Issues?
Report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research - "Rising drug prices are placing an ever larger burden on family budgets and the economy. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates 2004 expenditures at $207 billion (more than $700 per person), and projects that annual spending will grow to more than $500 billion by 2013 (more than $1,600 per person). The immediate cause of high drug prices is government granted patent monopolies, which allow drug companies to charge prices that are often 400 percent, or more, above competitive market prices. Patent monopolies are one possible mechanism for financing prescription drug research. Rapidly increasing drug costs, and the economic distortions they imply, have led researchers to consider alternative mechanisms for financing drug research. This paper outlines some of the key issues in evaluating patents and other mechanisms for financing prescription drug research. It then assesses how four proposed alternatives to the patent system perform by these criteria."  
  

Two Schizophrenia Drugs Tied to Small Diabetes Risk
Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "Two drugs commonly prescribed for schizophrenia - clozapine and olanzapine -- may carry a small risk of an increased risk of diabetes, new research shows. The study of nearly 57,000 schizophrenia patients in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health system found that just over 7 percent developed diabetes over 1 to 2 years of follow-up. The risk of diabetes was higher among those who were on the antipsychotic drugs clozapine or olanzapine for at least 3 months during the study period. "  
  

FDA to Study Adult Antidepressant Effects
AP story at Yahoo - "The Food and Drug Administration will examine clinical trial data for thousands of depressed adults to see if they, like children, suffered increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors while taking antidepressants. Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA (news - web sites) deputy commissioner, could not say how long the exhaustive analysis would take or how much it would cost. 'It's a huge undertaking,' Woodcock said Tuesday. Columbia University's analysis of pediatric clinical trial data examined just one-tenth of the information contained in adult databases. "  
  

Improvements being implemented in prison mental health services (Vermont)
Times-Argus story - "Vermont Corrections Commissioner Steven Gold said his department is making progress on its plan to reorganize the way mental health services are provided to prisoners. Gold made his statement Wednesday before the state's Mental Health Oversight Committee, a group of eight lawmakers charged with monitoring how Vermont is providing psychiatric services to various groups of citizens. At the same all-day hearing at the Statehouse, Health Commissioner Dr. Paul Jarris told the committee it will likely be at least December and possibly longer before the U.S. Department of Justice releases the results of its investigation into restraint and seclusion practices at the Vermont State Hospital..."  
  

VA Braces For More Mental Health Cases
Story at Military.com - "The Department of Veterans Affairs has already treated 8,700 Iraq and Afghan war veterans for mental illnesses brought on by combat and expects to see far more in the coming years. 'I think we're going to see a significant amount of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)/mental health problems,' said Anthony Principi, secretary of Veterans Affairs. "I think mental health is going to be an issue in this type of warfare... I think we're going to see an increase.' "  
  

Payment for mental health care unclear in TennCare proposal (Tennessee)
AP story at WKRN - "Psychiatric hospital stays at mental health institutes like Moccasin Bend may no longer be covered under the state's troubled TennCare program. What hasn't been determined is who will end up paying for those services. ... Currently, Tennessee is the only state in the nation receiving a subsidy - called an Institute of Mental Disease waiver - from the federal government that pays two-thirds of the cost of an estimated 8,000 adult TennCare enrollees treated in any of the five state-run adult psychiatric facilities. The state will begin losing a portion of the subsidy next summer because former Gov. Don Sundquist negotiated away in 2002 that provision when the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid approved a new TennCare waiver."