Physician dispensing of drugs adds hundreds of millions of dollars annually to health care costs. The practice is most common among physicians who treat injured workers. Instead of sending patients to drugstores to get prescriptions, doctors dispense the drugs, with the bills going to insurers. Doctors can make tens of thousands of dollars a year operating their own in-office pharmacies. The practice has become so profitable that private equity firms are buying stakes in the businesses, and political lobbying over the issue is fierce. When a pharmacy sells the heartburn drug Zantac, each pill costs about 35 cents. But doctors dispensing it to patients in their offices have charged as much as $3.25 a pill. The New York Times
French chemicals maker faces up to $117,100 in fines for safety violations at Houston plant. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited 14 violations in connection with the production of organic chemicals at Arkema’s Houston site. The alleged violations concerned practices intended to prevent “the unexpected release of toxic, reactive or flammable liquids and gases in processes involving highly hazardous chemicals,” an OSHA official said. “It’s vital that Arkema ensure that safeguards are in place to protect the safety of workers.” The company’s Pennsylvania-based division employs about 2,400 at its 32 factories in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil. OSHA, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Northern California county advances plan to require drug companies to dispose of unused medicines. The measure, billed by supporters as the first of its kind nationally, is designed to force drug companies to bear the cost of collecting and safely discarding unused prescription drugs that might otherwise foul waterways or fall into the hands of substance abusers. Officials in Alameda County, home to Oakland and Berkeley, gave preliminary approval Tuesday to the measure. Representatives of two biomedical industry groups have criticized the proposal, which faces another vote this month. The county’s 1.5 million residents have an estimated 681 tons of unwanted drugs in their medicine cabinets. Reuters
Researchers conclude that reformulated OxyContin diverts abusers to other drugs, including heroin. A change in the powerful painkiller two years ago by Purdue Pharma made it harder to crush the medicine into powder, limiting the ability to snort, inject or smoke it. Recent interviews found that only about 13 percent of addicts with an opioid dependence said OxyContin was their primary drug of abuse, down from 36 percent before the new version came out. However, “They turned to something else,” said Theodore Cicero of Washington University in St. Louis, one of the researchers. “We should have asked the question, ‘If they stop using the most popular drug out there, what are they going to turn to now?’” Reuters, HealthDay
Superbugs from chicken linked to bladder infection risk for millions of women. A growing number of researchers say there is persuasive evidence that chicken carries the same E. coli bacteria that causes drug-resistant bladder infections in women. Many scientists believe that the antibiotics farmers routinely feed to chicken is breeding drug-resistant strains of bacteria. One epidemiologist said chicken “in many cases are getting drugs from the time that they were in an egg all the way up to the time that they are slaughtered.” There is no study showing a definitive link between the E.coli in chicken and infection in women, however, and the chicken industry disputes the suggested link. ABC News, Food and Environment Reporting Network
Food safety advocates scrambling to save produce inspection program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s little-known Microbiological Data Program accounts for 80 percent of all government testing of produce. It has prompted recalls of tainted fruits and vegetables around the country, including an April recall of bagged spinach contaminated with salmonella. But the program has been slashed from the Obama administration’s 2013 budget request, based on the argument that other federal authorities have better resources to test produce. Food safety advocates are worried that a major source of detection for salmonella, E. coli and other pathogens will leave American consumers vulnerable. ABC News
Recalls: Flexible Flyer swing sets, Nikon D800 and D7000 camera batteries, Family Dollar decorative mini light sets
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein and Bridget Huber
