Gone Fishing!

I will be out of the office until June 1. I am taking a long holiday weekend to enjoy some fly fishing at Sault Ste Marie.

As always, I can be reached in an emergency and Gina is at the office. Contact her if you have any questions.

Enjoy your holiday weekend.

CVS Caremark Editorial

Joseph Harmison, President of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), has an op-ed on The Hill website. In his piece, he praises the efforts of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the many states investigating the unfair business practices of CVS Caremark.

In his piece, he names a group of bipartisan Senators and Representatives who have written letters on their constituents, both patients and pharmacists, behalf to the FTC. The Senators and Representatives include:

U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and U.S. Representatives Michael Acuri (D-N.Y.), Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Marion Berry (D-Ark.), Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), Robert Latta (R-Ohio), Michael Rogers (R-Ala.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.)

Note that this list of Senators and Representatives who have written to the FTC in support of their investigation does not include anyone from the State of Michigan. Contact your Senators and Representatives and remind them of how important it is to ensure fair business practices for everyone, not just the big corporations.

Tell them that you will watch how they act on this and take it into account when you are asked for campaign contributions or your vote.

In their letters, the Congressmen and women argued for,

“the FTC to reopen the CVS Caremark merger investigation and determine if the acquisition poses a threat of reducing competition or whether CVS is engaging in any unfair or deceptive business practices.”

Listed in Mr. Harmison's piece are these familiar problems,

This month, community pharmacists renewed the case against CVS Caremark and presented additional evidence to the enforcement agency. On one occasion, NCPA detailed CVS Caremark tactics that secretly boost the costs to health plans and profitability of its mail order pharmacy. Also brought to the FTC’s attention is how aggressive auditing is used to recoup funds from community pharmacies on minor technicalities.

Prescription Drug Use by Children

ABC News reports that prescription drug use by children has increased in the past year by 5 percent. Overall prescription drug use increased only 1.3 percent.

It is concerning that children are being treated with drugs normally used by adults, such as cholesterol fighters and Type 2 diabetes.

...they noted that more children are being treated with cholesterol fighters or powerful anti-psychotics normally used by adults.

DMC Story

Here is an article from NPR on the new DMC deal in Detroit.

A few weeks ago, officials with the Detroit Medical Center, the city's largest health system, made an announcement that was as startling as it was welcome: that they intended to sell the nonprofit to an investor-owned company. As part of the deal, Nashville-based Vanguard Health Systems promised to spend $850 million on much-needed capital improvements. If the deal goes through, hospital officials say it will be the largest single investment in Detroit ever.

CVS Caremark Lobbying Numbers

Businessweek has the numbers for CVS Caremark's lobbying.

$1.98 million in only the first quarter.

Its lobbying interests included changes to Medicare and Medicaid programs that were made as part of the health care overhaul. Those included the elimination of the "donut hole" coverage gap in the Medicare Part D drug benefit. CVS also discussed reimbursement rates for generic drugs, changes in coverage, and regulation on generic biologic drugs.

The company lobbied on antitrust legislation, along with disclosure requirements, employment, and training, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Lansing Sues Retail Pharmacies

The City of Lansing is suing several retail pharmacies. It accuses the stores of violating a state law that covers the sale of generic drugs and overcharged city workers.

...city attorney Brig Smith alleged that Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid violated a law that exists in three states, including Michigan, and restricts the amount of profits that retail pharmacies can collect from generic drugs.

CVS Investigation

CVS continues to run into problems. The company revealed that it is under investigation in 24 states because of its business practices. A primary focus of the investigation is whether CVS gave incentives for customers to transfer their prescriptions to CVS.

CVS Caremark Corp., the largest U.S. provider of prescription drugs, said its business practices are under investigation by 24 states.

The probe is similar to one that was started by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission last year, CVS said in a filing today. The District of Columbia and county of Los Angeles are also participating in the investigation, according to the filing. CVS said it’s cooperating with the investigations.

A multistate task force is reviewing the relationship and practices of CVS and Caremark following their 2007 merger, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in March. The offices of the attorneys general of Illinois and Florida also confirmed in March that they were taking part in the investigation.

CVS also said it received a subpoena from the Office of Inspector General within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for information on incentives for customers to transfer their prescriptions to CVS’s pharmacies. Offers included gift cards, cash, non-prescription goods and coupons, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.