Pharmacy Week in Review: March 13

Nicole Grassano: Hello and welcome to the Pharmacy Times News Network. I’m Nicole Grassano your host for our Pharmacy Week in Review.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed new legislation capping the monthly co-payments for insulin at $25, the lowest co-pay cap introduced at the state level, Pharmacy Times reported. House Bill 292 passed the New Mexico House on a 6-12 vote and in the Senate 40-1 and caps the co-pay and out-of-pocket expenses for insulin at $25 per prescription for a 30-day supply. In addition to insurers like Oscar Health and CVS Health, who began to cap co-payments or eliminated out-of-pockets costs altogether, states like Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and others have also introduced insulin copay bills. House Bill 292 requires the New Mexico Department of Insurance to issue a report that includes a summary of insulin pricing practices, as well as public policy recommendations to control and prevent overpricing of prescription insulin drugs made available to New Mexico consumers.

An increase of about 20,000 nurse practitioners were licensed in the United States in 2019, bringing the total amount of NPs in the country to 290,000, Contemporary Clinic reported. The new national count and other findings were found through the 2019 National NP Sample Survey, conducted by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners using the national nurse practitioner database. Among updated salary information, the report also indicated compensation by community population, certification, work setting location, and years of experience. The full 2019 National NP Sample Survey report is free for AANP members, and nonmembers can purchase the report in the AANP store.

Levitating human plasma may lead to faster, more reliable, portable, and simpler disease detection, Specialty Pharmacy Times reported. The researchers used a stream of electricity, similar to a magnet, to separate proteins from blood plasma, a liquid portion of blood that remains after red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and other components are removed. Researchers then used these proteins to compare the differences between healthy and diseased proteins, thereby accurately detecting rare proteins found in individuals with opioid addictions. The researchers are optimistic about the possibility of developing a portable and accurate new diagnostic tool for health care practitioners and are currently evaluating other dependencies and diseases to establish roadmaps for detection.

Pharmacists may get more questions about Otezla, if patients have seen a recent commercial for the prescription medication. In the spot, called “Little Things: Pool and Boat,” the narrator explains that, for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, little things can become a big moment. According to the commercial, Otezla is a prescribed oral medication that is intended to treat those who have been diagnosed with moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis when taken regularly as directed.

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Thanks for watching our Pharmacy Week in Review. I’m Nicole Grassano at the Pharmacy Times News Network.