Trending News Today: Pharmaceutical Company Pays Up to Resolve Fraud Case

Employees at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation are working towards improving Medicare. The organization seeks to reverse the damage caused by budget cuts and use Medicare to create financial incentives for physicians and hospitals to work together. According to an article published by the Seattle Times, the center’s influence is being seen throughout the program.

Former pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott was ordered to pay $125 million to resolve a healthcare fraud case. Six months prior, the company pleaded guilty after it was connected to a plan that illegally promoted its drugs, according to CNBC. From 2009 to 2013, the company provided financial benefits, meals, and other forms of payments to doctors who prescribed drug manufactured by Warner Chilcott, according to the report.

Patients with advanced-melanoma have seen great benefit through one of the new immunotherapy drugs, Opdivo. The 5-year survival rate has doubled according to The Washington Post. One-third of patients administered the drug survived, compared with a 16.6% survival rate in patients receiving other drugs. This is the first long-term follow up of a trial using an anti-PD1 immunotherapy.