Study: Docs who get free meals pick branded drugs more
Doctors who accept free meals from the pharmaceutical industry are more likely to prescribe certain branded drugs to Medicare patients than generics, according to a study published Monday.
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Indiana gains ground in Fortune 500 amid shuffle among elite
Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. and Warsaw’s Zimmer Biomet Holdings vaulted back among the top 500 this year, while local oil refiner Calumet Specialty Products Partners plummeted.
Troubled home health care provider Nightingale to sell itself
One of Indiana’s largest home health care providers, facing allegations that it put patients in immediate jeopardy, has agreed to be acquired by a competing company in a deal that could be worth as much as $3 million.
Merck, Pfizer double size of diabetes drug study to catch rivals
The competition heated up in the $71.5 billion global diabetes market last year after Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly’s and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Jardiance unexpectedly reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths in a study.
CEO Lechleiter says Lilly in ‘most prolific period of new launches’
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker said Tuesday it has built a robust pipeline of drugs that “has the potential” to launch 20 new products in the 10 years between 2014 and 2023.
AIT Labs founder to return more than $3M in settlement
The founder of AIT Laboratories, along with his insurance companies and bank, will pay back more than $3 million to employees who bought the company from him six years ago at what the government said was an inflated price.
Judge awards ex-Lilly manager $500,000 after lawsuit
A federal judge made the award to Lilly’s former executive director of human resources, who quit for health reasons and was later dropped from the company’s extended disability plan.
Toxicology labs face tough times
Deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements and competition from a few huge national chains and walk-in labs are making it tougher for Indianapolis-based AIT and other toxicology labs to compete.
Cook recalling 4.1 million catheters after reports of splitting or breaking
It’s the largest recall in recent years for Cook, which previously had issued four recalls covering more than 400,000 catheters and pressuring monitoring sets in the past two years.
Sale of local medical-device maker could bring $200 million
PTS Diagnostics, with about 150 employees in Indianapolis, said Monday it has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired by China-based Sinocare Inc.
Bristol-Myers drug tops Lilly’s Erbitux in cancer study
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo prolonged survival in cases of recurrent head and neck cancer, a first for patients with the harshest form of the disease who often face a bleak prognosis.
Medicare plan on payment for cancer drugs stirs battle
A Medicare proposal to test new ways of paying for chemotherapy and other drugs given in a doctor's office has sparked a furious battle, and cancer doctors are demanding that the Obama administration scrap the experiment.
Transplant surgeon blasts IU Health after exit
Dr. Joseph Tector, who built IU Health’s transplant program into one of the nation’s largest before announcing his departure Friday, is seeking back wages and penalties worth $4.7 million from the hospital system.
Insulin’s surging price turns diabetes staple into luxury good
The three drugmakers that dominate the world diabetes market—Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk A/S and Sanofi—are introducing improved forms of insulin, with a price tag to match.
Allergan, Pfizer call off proposed record $160B merger
The biggest U.S.-based drugmaker, Pfizer Inc., will stay put thanks to aggressive new Treasury Department rules that succeeded in blocking Pfizer from acquiring rival Allergan and moving to Ireland—on paper—to reduce its tax bill.
Hospitals try to cut readmissions, avoid steep federal penalties
Across Indiana, 64 hospitals are facing total federal penalties this year estimated at $9.3 million, according to the Indiana Hospital Association. Nationally, hospitals will pay an estimated $420 million.
Riverview Health announces new CEO
Seth Warren, who served a short tenure as CEO of Laconia, New Hampshire-based LRGHealthcare, will replace Pat Fox as head of Noblesville-based Riverview on April 25.
OrthoIndy Foundation donates $3M to YMCA project
The $10 million facility at 5315 Lafayette Road in Pike Township will be named the OrthoIndy Foundation YMCA and offer medical care and other services tailored to veterans and their families.
Lilly wins FDA approval for plaque psoriasis drug
For Eli Lilly and Co., the approval rewards a decade-long effort to re-enter the biotech and autoimmune spaces that it helped pioneer in the 1980s but then abandoned in the 1990s.
Indy airport board cancels $500M medical plan; to reopen bidding
The Indianapolis Airport Authority board said it would “leave our options open and continue to search for the optimal project.”