News in brief - May 5, 2003

U.S. government renovates women's hospital in Afghanistan - HHS looks to boost preventive health measures - Drugmakers settle Medicaid drug pricing lawsuit

U.S. government renovates women's hospital in Afghanistan

An improved and refurbished Rabia Balkhi Women's Hospital has opened in Kabul to improve health care in Afghanistan. The Dept. of Health and Human Services and Dept. of Defense also provided training for staff at the hospital, which had no working plumbing, broken windows and equipment, and few drugs and supplies.

President Bush's proposed fiscal year 2004 budget would set aside $5 million to complete work on the facility. Nearly $3 million of that money would pay for equipment, drugs, supplies, teaching materials, laboratory improvements, salaries and training for Afghan health care workers. The remaining $2 million would be used to staff and equip four satellite clinics, most likely in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-e-Sharif.

HHS looks to boost preventive health measures

The Bush administration is working on its promise to focus more on preventive health care. At a national health summit in April, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced a roadmap for promoting healthier lifestyles in the United States. The framework largely relies on measures that can prevent or limit the chronic conditions that consume the most U.S. health care spending and account for seven out of 10 patient deaths.

The program, called Steps to a HealthierUS, will focus on such conditions as obesity, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. More information can be found online (www.healthierus.gov/steps).

Drugmakers settle Medicaid drug pricing lawsuit

Bayer Corp. and GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay the federal government more than $344 million to settle charges that they sold re-labeled medications to an HMO at deeply discounted prices without reporting that "best price" to the Medicaid program, the Dept. of Justice announced in April.

Federal law requires drug manufacturers participating in Medicaid to report the best prices to the federal government and then to pay rebates to Medicaid so it gets the same favorable prices as other purchasers. Bayer will pay $257.2 million to resolve criminal and civil charges involving its pricing of Cipro and Adalat CC. GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $87.6 million to settle charges connected with its sale of Paxil and Flonase.