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News
New Menopause Guidelines Update Hormone Therapy Safety Evidence (2016)
Hormone therapy (HT) continues to be the most effective treatment for menopause symptoms according to updated guidelines on managing women's overall midlife health from the International Menopause Society (IMS).
Since the risk-benefit ratio differs for perimenopausal women compared with older, postmenopausal women, "[Menopausal HT (MHT)] must be individualized and tailored according to symptoms and the need for prevention, as well as personal and family history, results of relevant investigations, the woman's preferences and expectations," write Rodney J. Baber, MD, from the University of Sydney in Australia, and colleagues from the IMS Writing Group.
The recommendations update the previous ones issued in 2013 but with several new features: grades for the recommendations, levels of evidence, and "good practice points." "New data and re-analyses of older studies by women's age show that, for most women, the potential benefits of MHT given for a clear indication are many and the risks are few when initiated within a few years of menopause."
"These recommendations give enough evidence to almost give providers 'permission' to recommend [HT] to help women who are suffering because many practitioners have been hesitant," Dr Makai, director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Delaware, explained. "The evidence for HT is so broad, and the way it affects women is so vast, that it's really difficult for a provider who is evidence-based, but not at a major academic center, to keep up with the guidelines."
Climacteric. 2016; 19: 109-150. Published online June 20, 2016.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/867600
"Fraudulent Scheme" Used by Valeant, T Rowe Price Accuses
Charges of using a secret pharmacy network, deceptive pricing and reimbursements, and fictitious accounting to shield the company's brand-name drugs from generic competitors and artificially inflate revenues and profits have been charged by T. Rowe Price against Valeant.
Valeant has "hid from investors the company's clandestine network of controlled pharmacies and other deceptive practices that were true drivers of Valeant's purported growth and which exposed the company to massive risks," it is alleged.
Philidor Rx Services are at the center of the action: Philidor is a Pennsylvania mail-order pharmacy that was Valeant's partner in a since-canceled prescription distribution deal. Valeant "built a network of secret pharmacies around Philidor," and then created shell companies owned through the partner to acquire interests in retail pharmacies across the U.S, the lawsuit charged. Funneled prescriptions for its high-priced, branded drugs through Philidor involved Valeant staffers who worked at Philidor under aliases, "were instructed to employ a host of deceptive practices to prevent the substitution of cheaper generic equivalents for Valeant-branded drugs," the lawsuit charged.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/08/18/valeant-pharmaceuticals/88939416/
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