Baptist Health, a nine-hospital system in Louisville, Ky., is the first health system in the U.S. to use MediLedger's blockchain technology to review prices for procured drugs.

A phase 3 trial for donanemab, Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug candidate, showed significant progress in slowing down cognitive and functional decline in people who are in early stages of the disease's progression, according to a July 17 news release. 

Krist Azizian, PharmD, wants to standardize 80 percent of pharmacy procedures across multiple ambulatory clinics and a cancer hospital, a 158-bed community hospital, a cancer center, a specialty surgery hospital and a 348-bed community hospital. 

The U.S. now has an approved pediatric drug to prevent respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract disease, which infects nearly every child before they turn 2 years old.

Eli Lilly has entered a definitive agreement to acquire obesity drugmaker Versanis for $1.93 billion — a move that will boost Eli Lilly's weight loss drug treatment portfolio. 

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists recently named six hospitals as centers of excellence for their medication use safety and pharmacy practice. The pharmacy leaders at these facilities shared with Becker's their keys to earning the three-year accreditation:

Nonprofit organization 340B Health selected Karen Bowling, president and CEO of a West Virginia University Health System hospital, as the new chair of its board of directors. 

An FDA-approved multiple sclerosis drug that requires 2.5 hours for the first infusion and 3.5 hours for subsequent doses might be able to shorten its duration to 10 minutes, its maker said July 14. 

There are no commercially available solutions of compounded cardioplegia, a drug used to temporarily stop the heart during surgery, after the FDA cited the nation's only pharmacy that compounded the medication.

Uninsured Americans are still having challenges accessing affordable insulin, despite Eli Lilly's decision to cap its generic version, Lispro, at $25 per vial, according to a report Sen. Elizabeth Warren's office released July 13. 

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. added its 10th brand-name drug to its portfolio that includes about 1,000 generics.

On July 13, the FDA approved an oral contraceptive pill called Opill to be sold over the counter, making it a first in the U.S.

Continued nationwide drug shortages and supply chain disruptions have prompted South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to call on the state department of health to make an expansion of the state's medical cache, according to a July 12 news release. 

Less than a week after Eisai secured a full approval for Leqembi — the first Alzheimer's drug to achieve full approval — the drugmaker's CEO announced his plan to retire by the end of July. 

CVS Health's pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, teamed up with GoodRx to broaden access to cheaper drug options, the organizations said July 12. 

System errors unexpectedly disrupted CVS Caremark's prescription processing July 11, leaving patients frustrated and some without access to medication, The Wall Street Journal reported July 10. 

There's a national shortage of dimercaprol, the main therapy for lead poisoning, The Wall Street Journal reported July 11. About four months ago, the country's only domestic supplier of the product closed its doors.

More than $8.4 billion in expected annual contract savings for the hospital safety-net is at risk, according to a July 11 report from 340B Health.

ADC Therapeutics is voluntarily pausing enrollment in a phase 2 study evaluating two drugs for lymphoma after seven patients died and five experienced worsening health during treatment. 

The Biden administration released a plan July 11 to clamp down on xylazine-fentanyl mixtures, a drug combination that it labeled an emerging threat in April and that has mystified clinicians.