News Briefs: Week of March 8-12

This roundup includes the following news briefs:

Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. plans to begin marketing the heartburn drug dexlansoprazole under the new brand name Dexilant, beginning in late April.

The drug has been marketed as Kapidex, but the FDA said in a news release that since dexlansoprazole was approved in January 2009, there have been reports of dispensing errors because of confusion with the drugs bicalutamide, which is marketed by AstraZeneca as Casodex, and morphine sulfate, which is distributed by Actavis Kadian LLC as Kadian.

All three drugs have different uses. Kapidex is a proton pump inhibitor used to treat heartburn by reducing the amount of acid produced in the stomach. Casodex is used to treat advanced prostate cancer, and Kadian is an opioid analgesic used to treat pain.

The FDA, which approved the name change, said dexlansoprazole will have a new National Drug Code number, but no other changes are planned for the medication. Physicians who have questions about the name change should contact Takeda at (877) TAKEDA-7.

The Illinois Supreme Court overturned that state's medical malpractice law last month, saying the measure limited compensation to injured patients for pain, suffering and other noneconomic damages. The court ruling (52-page PDF; About PDFs) could affect the ongoing debate about health care reform in Washington by making it more difficult to pass medical malpractice reforms.

In a four-to-two ruling, the Illinois court said the legislature violated the state constitution's separation of powers clause by enacting a law in 2005 that imposes decisions that should be reserved for judges and juries. The 2005 law set caps of $500,000 for noneconomic damages in verdicts against physicians and $1 million in cases against hospitals.

Nearly 30 states have laws that limit noneconomic damages, but the caps and the laws themselves vary widely. Courts in 16 states have upheld these medical malpractice laws, but courts in 11 states have overturned the measures, according to the AMA.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill (14-page PDF: About PDFs) requiring health insurance companies doing business in New Mexico to spend at least 85 percent of every premium dollar on health care services instead of administrative costs and profits.

The legislation will require insurance companies to spend more money on direct services, which are defined in the bill as case management, disease management, health education and promotion, preventive services, and quality incentive payments to physicians and other providers.

The AAFP is looking for poster presenters for its 2010 Scientific Assembly in Denver, Sept. 29-Oct. 2. Successful posters should have value and relevance to family medicine; demonstrate quality in their research design, methodology and scientific content; and have met the requirements of the applicant's local internal review board.

The deadline for submission is April 23, and interested parties can apply online. For more information, contact Candice Reynolds at (800) 274-2237, Ext. 6539.

AAFP member Jennifer Brull, M.D., of Plainville, Kan., testified before the federal Health IT Standards Committee implementation workgroup on March 8 in Washington. Brull was one of 15 people who spoke as part of the committee's implementation experiences panel and was the only solo physician to speak. Her testimony came at the behest of Steven Waldren, M.D., director of the Academy's Center for Health IT.

In written testimony (1-page PDF; About PDFs) submitted to the committee, Brull said she did not foresee any barriers within her practice that would prevent her from achieving meaningful use of her electronic health record system. However, she expressed concern about meaningful use challenges that were beyond her control. For example, Brull noted that Kansas does not have a health information exchange, thus, "making data exchange at the state level impossible at this time." She said many pharmacies in her area lack the capability for electronic prescribing.

Brull said she's incurred additional IT costs to purchase system "add-ons" to achieve meaningful use, and those expenses have decreased her bottom line. She urged the committee to consider all comments on the proposed meaningful use requirements. "I am concerned that providers may be penalized due to circumstance beyond their control," she said.

Obama administration officials have set aside more than $400 million for a healthy food financing initiative to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities throughout the country.

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative seeks to eliminate food deserts in the United States within the next seven years by creating and equipping grocery stores and other small business and retailers with healthy foods in communities that lack access to healthy food products.

In most instances, food desert areas are found in economically distressed areas typically served by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer little or no fresh produce, according to an HHS press release. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative will work with the private sector, leveraging investments in the first year to begin expanding healthy food options to as many as one-fifth of the nation's food deserts, according to HHS.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, has released its annual March report (381-page PDF; About PDFs) to Congress and is calling for a 1 percent increase in the Medicare payment rate for 2011.

MedPAC members approved the recommendations for the March report during a Jan. 14 MedPAC meeting in Washington. During that meeting, MedPAC also agreed to reissue a recommendation put forth last year advising Congress to approve a budget-neutral increase for primary care services provided by physicians who focus on primary care.