Drug Prices Rose 9.1% Last Year, Ahead of Federal Health Overhaul

Drug companies sharply raised prices last year, ahead of increased rebates they must pay to Medicaid and other expenses tied to the federal health overhaul passed last month.

WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients

Shortly after they were diagnosed with breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled….

………WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators.

Pharmacy board approves small type for drug labels

The public sent more than 1,000 pages of letters to the board, urging the adoption of a larger text requirement on drug labels. It is the most letters the board has ever received on a topic, the panel’s executive officer, Virginia Herold, has said.

The California Board of Pharmacy had been poised, in January, to adopted the larger type size. But the day before the vote, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed a drugstore executive to the panel, who cast the decisive vote to kill the plan, The Times reported.

The California Retailers Assn., a major Schwarzenegger donor, had lobbied heavily against the large type size, saying it would cause drug bottle to balloon, adding costs to consumers.