On November 16, 2018, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) posted an unfavorable Advisory Opinion No. 18-14 regarding an arrangement where a vendor (Requestor) of a commonly used drug would supply free doses of the drug to hospitals for treatment of inpatients with a rare and serious form of epilepsy (Proposed Arrangement). The drug is not separately reimbursable in the inpatient setting. As a result, and according to the Requestor, many hospitals do not stock sufficient quantities of the drug and are reluctant to administer the drug due to insufficient reimbursement from government and commercial payers.
Continue Reading OIG Disapproves of Drug Company’s Plan to Provide Hospitals Free Medications in Advisory Opinion
epilepsy
FDA Approves Marijuana-Derived, CBD-Containing Drug Epidiolex to Treat Certain Epilepsy-Associated Seizures
On June 25, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Epidiolex, an orally administered drug derived from the marijuana plant, Cannabis sativa. The drug is approved for use for patients two years and older, for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, both of which are rare and severe forms of epilepsy. It is the first drug that FDA has approved for Dravet patients.
Continue Reading FDA Approves Marijuana-Derived, CBD-Containing Drug Epidiolex to Treat Certain Epilepsy-Associated Seizures