Medicare Part D beneficiaries who fall into the donut hole, or coverage gap, effective Jan. 1, 2011, will benefit from a 50 percent savings on brand name and generic drugs under the Medicare Coverage Gap Discount Program, according to draft guidance put forth by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the May 21 Federal Register.

Almost half the high schools in Toronto do not teach students how to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), even though it's part of the Grade 9 curriculum and studies have shown it can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer heart attacks outside of hospitals

Martyn Thomas, MD, director of cardiothoracic services, Guys and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, reported Tuesday on the one-year mortality rates with transcatheter heart valve implantations with the Sapien valve (Edwards Lifesciences) using either a transfemoral or transapical approach, based on results of 1,038 high-risk patients assessed in the SOURCE Registry at EuroPCR in Paris. Slides

Medtronic has reported impressive financial results for its 2010 fourth quarter and fiscal year, which ended April 30.

Stanford University researchers found that use of academic detailing activitiesface-to-face education of clinicians by investigators trained to present trial findings and guidelineswas linked to the increased prescribing of thiazide-type diuretics for high blood pressure patients, according to a study published in the May 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has failed to release documentation of severe adverse events that have the potential to occur with certain medicines and also on its decisions to license rosuvastatin, hindering transparency, according to an editorial featured in the May 22 issue of the Lancet.

Merck and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals have reached an agreement to settle their patent litigation involving Glenmark's challenge to Merck's patent covering Zetia (ezetimibe).

Pfizer and Ergonex Pharma of Appenzell, Switzerland, have entered into an agreement for terguride, an oral, potent antagonist of 5-HT2B and serotonin receptors used in the treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).