Monthly Archives: February 2012

CORPUS CHRISTI — A Corpus Christi pharmacy joined others in a federal lawsuit to delay Texas' planned move to managed care for Medicaid services. DeLeon's Pharmacy, a Texas TrueCare pharmacy, partnered with seven parties in the lawsuit against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. As part of a list of initiatives aimed at controlling costs, the Texas Legislature approved letting the Health and Human Services Commission expand its managed care program March 1. When a Medicaid recipient gets a prescription filled, the pharmacist submits a claim to the state's vendor drug program seeking reimbursement. When the claim is processed, the state pays the pharmacist a dispensing fee and the drug company pays the pharmacist a fee tied to the cost of the medication. The proposed changes would slash the professional dispensing fee — now about $6.50 per prescription — to less than $2, though fees will be negotiated by health plans with pharmacists. The lawsuit claims that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission failed to establish reasonable standards for the reimbursement of pharmacy claims under Medicaid managed care, in violation of existing law. The commission failed to take any action to remedy the inequitable fees being imposed on … Continue reading →

Researchers at MIT have developed what they're hoping will be something of a pharmacy on a chip. Scientists have developed a wirelessly controlled and programmable microchip that can be implanted into the human body to deliver medicine -- and it could replace daily drug injections, according to MIT. "You could literally have a pharmacy on a chip," said MIT professor Robert Langer, who worked on the project with fellow MIT professor Michael Cima. "You can do remote control delivery, you can do pulsatile drug delivery, and you can deliver multiple drugs." [RELATED: New Biochip Gives Blood Test Results in Minutes] The university researchers worked with scientists at MicroCHIPS Inc., a medical product company based in Waltham, Mass. The university reported that the wireless chips were tested delivering an osteoporosis drug called Teriparatide to seven women between the ages of 65 and 70. The test reportedly showed that the chips delivered dosages comparable to injections with no adverse side effects. The chips were reportedly implanted in the patients in a doctor's office using a local anesthetic and left in the patients for four months. According to MIT, the chips also could be used for treating patients fighting cancer and multiple sclerosis. … Continue reading →