Some Anemia Drug Restrictions Lifted

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Blue Shield of California said Wednesday that it has lifted a set of restrictions on anemia drugs from Amgen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson after cancer doctors complained.


The new policy, which was established late last week, will now let doctors start giving anemia drugs earlier in treatment. The previous policy required doctors to wait until a patient’s hemoglobin level dropped to 9 grams a deciliter to administer the drug, which puts the patient near requiring a transfusion. Now Blue Shield will allow doctors to do it at 10 grams a deciliter.


The drugs, Amgen’s Aranesp and Epogen and Johnson & Johnson’s Procrit, have been shown to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes if high doses are used. The Food and Drug Administration is currently investigating the safety of the drugs and congress is also looking into incentives the companies gave doctors, saying they encouraged doctors to issue the drugs in heavier doses.


Blue Shield of California has 3.3 million members.


Shares in Amgen closed up 72 cents to $57.16 and gained another 9 cents in after=-hours trading.

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