FHI's Week in Review

Volume V, Issue 15

April 9, 2018

Brilinta or Clopidogrel, Maximum Benefit or Social Responsibility?

An April 7 A Country Doctor Writes blog post illustrates the dilemma faced by American healthcare providers in this examination of the costs and benefits associated with two different prescription medicines used to prevent cardiovascular events.

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The American ethic of wanting to do absolutely everything possible for each patient conflicts with our social responsibility to be stewards of our limited resources. We live in an era where what is possible outstrips our ability to pay for it. Moreover, the existence of a third party payers in most healthcare transactions leads to unintended consequences.

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The top 15 drug patent expirations of 2018

Eric Sagonowsky reports, in an April 3, 2018 Fie

rcePharma post, on top drugs with expiring patents. The list features some serious sales heft and several household names are at the top of the list including Cialis, Neulasta, Lyrica and Advair.

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Each year, dozens of branded pharmaceutical products lose their legal lock on the market, paving the way for cheap generic competitors and the sales hit they bring. For patients the expiring patents bring pricing relief in costly drug categories.

New Florida Law Makes it Easier for Doctors to Offer Direct Primary Care Agreements

An April 3rd blog post at VitaleHealthLaw.com details the

changes in Florida law that make direct primary care (DPC) practices increasingly viable.

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For those Florida internists and family physicians discouraged by the managed care/government payer factory environment of the current health system, now might be the time to launch a DPC medical practice.