Indiana House backs break for bars on smoking ban
The Indiana House has added an 18-month exemption for bars to a bill calling for a broad statewide smoking ban.
Health Care & Life Sciences
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UPDATE: WellPoint to boost primary-care pay
Health insurer WellPoint Inc. plans to improve primary care reimbursement and start paying for care management it doesn’t currently cover, changes that could give patients more quality time with their doctors.
Indiana House backs broader ban on synthetic drugs
The Indiana House has approved a bill that would broaden the state's ban on synthetic drugs to include compounds nicknamed "bath salts" and others that mimic marijuana.
Indiana Senate panel backs limits on abortion pill
The Senate health committee voted 5-4 in support of the bill that requires that a doctor examine a woman in person before giving her RU-486, provide written information about the physical risks of abortion and to schedule a follow-up ultrasound.
WellPoint shares sink after disappointing earnings report
WellPoint Inc.'s stock price dropped almost 5 percent Wednesday after the insurer's fourth-quarter earnings failed to meet analyst expectations.
WellPoint earnings fall well short of analysts’ expectations
The Indianapolis-based health insurer reported earnings of $335.3 million, or 96 cents per share, down 39 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Eli Lilly unit plans to buy feed-enzyme maker
Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co.'s Elanco animal health division plans to buy a privately held maker of feed-enzyme products that improve poultry, egg and meat production.
Poll: Anthem so-so in customer satisfaction
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield ranked No. 12 in a new national customer satisfaction survey, but the poor showing doesn’t appear to threaten the Indianapolis-based company’s business success.<
Walgreen marks retailers’ push into health care
Health care reform is projected to cover 30 million more people with health insurance—and overwhelm the nation’s doctors. That’s why retailers like Walgreen and Wal-Mart are moving into the space in a big way.
Deal with Walgreen perplexes Arcadia’s investors
Something doesn’t add up about Arcadia Resources Inc.’s agreement to sell its pharmacy business for a low price of $2 million, according to many of the Indianapolis company’s investors.
French breast-implant recall could sway U.S. device debate
U.S. medical device makers have spent the last year urging government officials to approve high-risk products faster, like their European counterparts. A scandal over leaking breast implants made in France, however, may make the argument more difficult.
Indiana deals ranged upward of $800 million
Mergers and acquisitions in 2011 ranged from WellPoint’s acquisition of CareMore to a trucking company merger.
City set to cancel tax abatement for medical device firm
Polymer Technology Systems said in 2007 that it would make a $3 million investment at its operation on Zionsville Road and create 110 jobs.
Lechleiter bets history will repeat for Lilly
Eli Lilly and Co. CEO John Lechleiter keeps pouring more money into research and development, even as analysts note the payoff of such spending has dropped off 70 percent in the last decade.
At long last, Roche wins approval of Nano
The OK for a new blood glucose monitor comes more than two years after FDA officials declined to approve a previous version of the Nano, which in rare cases generated inflated blood sugar readings because it did not distinguish properly between the sugars glucose and maltose.
Extras help small firms boost business
Small businesses like KnowSweat Workouts increasingly are adding products and services to keep revenue flowing during tight economic times.
Indiana’s medical device workforce will need skills upgrade
A new report by BioCrossroads says 53 percent of the 20,000 jobs in Indiana’s medical-device sector require no more than a high school education.
Gender bias suit filed against Quest Diagnostics
The $100 million lawsuit was brought in U.S. District Court by sales managers Erin Beery in Indianapolis and Heather Traeger in Bradenton, Fla., two employees of the company's AmeriPath division.
Lilly’s Zyprexa pact with health providers wins approval
Eli Lilly and Co. has won approval of a $4.5 million settlement with five union health funds and an insurer that alleged improper marketing of the company's best-selling medication, Zyprexa, raised their costs.
St. Vincent growing hospitalist program
Local health system adds Logansport to its list of clients.