Prescription Drugs

From Rx monitoring to treatment: Solutions for overdose epidemic

Physicians at the AMA Annual Meeting underscored their commitment to reverse the opioid overdose epidemic. Among the policies adopted to this end were ones that called for increased Rx monitoring and coverage for addiction treatment.

Jun 9, 2015 ·

1 Min Read

Physicians move to lower generic prescription drug costs

Physicians at the 2015 AMA Annual Meeting voted to take action to address generic prescription drug increases. The AMA Council on Medical Service is expected to release a report at the 2015 AMA Interim Meeting in November that examines both brand name and generic price increases.

Apr 3, 2015 ·

Review financial data before it goes public in June

Physicians have 45 days to review and dispute reports regarding their financial interactions with manufacturers of drugs and medical devices reported under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Here’s what you need to know about the process before data is made available to the public in June.

Dec 19, 2014 ·

Court case places patient-physician relationship in the balance

Two essential elements of medical practice—patient privacy and the patient-physician relationship—are at stake in a case before a federal appeals court that involves a state PDMP and surveillance by the DEA.

Judicial Advocacy

Dec 4, 2014 ·

CME cleared from reporting under Sunshine Act

With the release of the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule Oct. 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made it official: funding for independent continuing medical education (CME) will not be subject to reporting under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act as initially proposed by the agency earlier this summer.

Sep 29, 2014 ·

3 Min Read

How AMA has advocated for Sunshine Act implementation overhaul

As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rolls out the online database of physicians’ financial interactions with manufacturers of drugs and medical devices, troubling questions remain about the accuracy of the data and the lack of context with which it is being presented.

Sep 15, 2014 ·

4 Min Read

6 things you need to know about hydrocodone reclassification

The Drug Enforcement Administration reclassified hydrocodone combination products as Schedule II controlled substances. You need to know these 6 six key points about major changes to prescribing practices.

Sep 10, 2014 ·

Keeping unused meds out of the wrong hands just got easier

In the midst of a prescription drug epidemic, new federal regulations released Monday expand take-back options for patients to safely dispose their unused prescription drugs and prevent misuse of these controlled substances.

Aug 28, 2014 ·

3 Min Read

Time running out to review Sunshine data—and it isn't very accurate

Less than two weeks remain for physicians to review and dispute data about their financial interactions with medical device and drug manufacturers before the information goes public Sept. 30.