New SAMHSA Administrator
The Senate has confirmed Pamela Hyde as the new administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Ms. Hyde was appointed to the position by President Obama. She was formerly secretary of the New Mexico Human Services Department since 2003, and was also a chief executive of a nonprofit behavioral health care organization and was a director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health. She holds a law degree from the University of Michigan.
Alcohol Tax Saves Lives, Money
Raising alcohol taxes can save money and lives, according to a report from two Johns Hopkins University professors, David Jernigan, Ph.D., and Hugh Waters, Ph.D. They focused their efforts on the effects of raising the excise tax in Maryland, where there are 1,278 deaths due to alcohol use per year and 7,470 violent crimes. About 313,000 residents are alcohol-dependent, the researchers wrote. The state has not raised excise taxes since 1972. If the state raised the tax by 10 cents, alcohol consumption would be cut by 4.8%, and the state would raise $214.4 million in new revenues, they estimated. The state would save an additional $249 million in costs; that is, the tax increase could prevent 14,987 cases of alcohol dependence, 37 deaths, 13 forcible rapes, 316 assaults, 21 robberies, 67 incidents of severe violence against children, and 19 cases of fetal alcohol syndrome each year, said the researchers. They based their estimates on more than 110 reports looking at alcohol use and taxes. The report was prepared for the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative and was funded by the Abell Foundation.
Tobacco Prevention Funds Cut
Many states are severely cutting back on funding for tobacco use prevention programs, despite having collected huge revenues from taxes and the 1998 tobacco settlement, according to a new report. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored the report. States will collect $25 billion in fiscal year 2010 but will spend only $567 million (2%) on prevention and cessation programs, according to the report. Only North Dakota funds programs at the amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 31 states provide less than a quarter of the recommended level. “Despite their current budget challenges, the states lack excuses for failing to do more,” Matthew Myers, president of the campaign, said in a statement.
CMS Weighs Tobacco Counseling
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has begun to analyze the effectiveness of counseling more Medicare beneficiaries to prevent tobacco use and tobacco-caused disease. Currently, Medicare pays for such services for beneficiaries who already have been diagnosed with “a recognized tobacco-related disease or who exhibit symptoms consistent with tobacco disease.” The agency is now reviewing whether the evidence supports coverage of counseling for people who are asymptomatic. It is also looking at the benefits for pregnant women who use tobacco products, with an eye toward expanding preventive services for that group as well. The agency expects to post its proposed decision in May.
Zyprexa Still a Top Seller
The atypical antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine) was Eli Lilly's top-selling drug for the first 9 months of 2009, and with several additional approvals at the end of the year, it is likely to keep that top spot for the next year. Sales grew 6% worldwide over the first three quarters of the year, to about $3.4 billion. Zyprexa recently was approved in the U.S. for schizophrenia in adolescents aged 13–17 years, and for manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in the same age group. A long-acting injectable form (Zyprexa Relprevv) also was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Drug Promotion Levels Off
After double-digit growth earlier in the decade, promotional spending for pharmaceuticals leveled off in 2008, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That year, drug makers spent $20 billion (or about 11% of total U.S. sales) on promotional activities. The companies spent $12 billion on detailing physicians and other health care providers, $3.4 billion on sponsoring professional meetings, and $400 million on journal ads. The rest was spent on direct-to-consumer ads, with $1.6 billion for Television ads. Just 10 drugs accounted for 30% of all direct-to-consumer spending. Looking at drug classes, thending was greatest for (in order) erectile dysfunction drugs, bone resorption inhibitors, nonbarbiturate sleep aids, autoimmune treatments, statins, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor antidepressants, antiplatelet agents, drugs for seizure disorders, atypical antipsychotics, and central nervous system stimulants.