Trending News Today: Federal Judge Considers Monitoring CVS to Prevent Aetna Integration

An advisory panel to the FDA recommended prescribing the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone, along with opioids, Reuters reported. According to the article, the panel voted 12-11 in favor of labeling changes for opioids that recommend co-prescribing the overdose antidote. Panel members suggested that the prescription of naloxone could facilitate a healthy dialogue between patients and their health care provider, but others argued that co-prescribing could drastically increase health care costs, the article noted.

A federal judge is considering using a court-appointed monitor to ensure that CVS Health does not fully integrate with Aetna while he examines the companies’ settlement with the government, according to Reuters. Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia has written that he was “less convinced” than the government that asset sales made by Aetna would resolve antitrust concerns, the article said. The hearing was held as part of his review of the settlement.

A recent study found that nearly 1 in 10 patients treated with chemotherapy or newer targeted drugs may be hospitalized for serious kidney injury, according to Reuters. The study involved approximately 163,000 patients who started chemotherapy or targeted therapies for a new cancer diagnosis in Ontario, Canada from 2007 to 2014. Overall, 10,880 were hospitalized for serious kidney damage or for dialysis, which translates to a cumulative acute kidney injury rate of 9.3%, the article reported.