AstraZeneca led the pack of pharmaceutical companies for revenue from cardiovascular drugs in 2014, according to a PMLive analysis. But of the top 10 companies, only Bayer and Takeda posted growth in sales that year. Here are figures for the leading companies.

The FDA and Medicare have different priorities. Getting the twain to meet sometimes takes a third party to show what is safe and effective can also be a value, too.  

Efforts to reduce healthcare costs by targeting 30-day readmissions after PCI may be misguided. An analysis of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals attributed the majority of costs to the index procedure.

More than 40 percent people in fair or poor health found their medical bills were unaffordable and more than 25 percent said the bills were inaccurate and difficult to understand. The results of the PwC Health Research Institute survey were released on May 7.

Amarin Pharma sued the FDA on May 7 and declared it had the constitutional right to discuss off-label use of drugs with doctors, the New York Times reports.

Giving full prescription drug coverage to patients in the U.S. who experienced a first MI could save almost $2 billion annually over their lifetime, an analysis of MI FREEE found. Although only one carrier served patients in the trial, the results could apply to other payers as well, the lead researcher said.

More than 76 percent of people who survived an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest returned to work in a median of four months, according to an analysis of a Danish registry. Among that population, the salaries remained similar one year before and one year after the cardiac arrest.

An accountable care organization (ACO) model saved Medicare approximately $385 million in its first two years, according to an independent report released on May 4.