CVS Caremark.  Our congratulations to CVS Caremark for winning the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) 2011 Rx Benefit Innovation Award in recognition of the Pharmacy Advisor program.  Pharmacy Advisor, which manages costs, improves medication adherence and closes gaps in care for members with diabetes, is offered by the coalition to all WisconsinRx/National CooperativeRx members. Release

Wall Street Journal. Medical research provides no clear answer on the best thing to do for lower back pain: some people opt for the passage of time, NSAIDs, physical therapy or other non-surgical approaches, while others end up getting operations. With any of those paths, some people get better, some get worse and some stay about the same. (Hobson, 2/24) Full story

Drug Channels.  Adam Fein examines who is paying for specialty pharmaceuticals - the high-cost drugs for patients who are undergoing intensive therapies for illnesses that are generally chronic, complex, relatively rare, and potentially life-threatening. (Fein, 2/24) Full story

Athena Health. Takes the pulse of physicians on several issues including electronic medical records. 2011 Physician Sentiment Survey

New York Times. Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, called on Friday for a new process to allow makers of generic drugs to pay user fees to the F.D.A. to speed up approval of the low-cost drugs. (Wilson, 2/18) Full story

Pharmalot. On Monday, the US Supreme Court will hear a debate over who owns drug patents when federal dollars were used in drug development. (Silverman, 2/24) Full story

Bloomberg. The world's largest drugmaker, Pfizer, is reentering the insulin market in partnership with Biocon - a company that started in a garage in 1978 for $1,200. (Narayan, 2/24) Full story

Associated Press.  The National Institute on Health, the nation's premier research agency, plans to open a new center this fall to spur creation of medications because of concern that exciting discoveries aren't being turned into treatments fast enough. (2/24) Full story

Kaiser Family Foundation. In the wake of the health reform repeal vote in the U.S. House and the ongoing legal challenges over the individual mandate, nearly half the country either believes that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been repealed and is no longer law, or doesn't know enough to say whether it is still law. Details