Colorado
Colorado board decides a pricey Novartis medicine is unaffordable
A blockbuster arthritis drug from Novartis may face a limit on what Colorado health plans pay for the medicine after a state board determined the injectable treatment is “unaffordable” for patients.
The Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Board voted Friday to grant the designation to Cosentyx, which is used to treat conditions such as plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The vote means the board will decide in a follow-up meeting whether to pursue an upper payment limit for the drug, which an affordability review found cost an average of roughly $47,000 per patient in 2022.
In reaching its decision, the board noted that 26% of insurance carriers who submitted information to a state claims database reported Cosentyx was one of the top 15 prescription drugs that led to increased premiums. Yet two years ago, Cosentyx was used by 1,128 residents compared to all of the available alternatives in the same class of medicines.
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Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlife building ‘bison roster’ for new potential hunting
Colorado
Pedestrian dies after walking into highway traffic in Northern Colorado, police say
Police in Northern Colorado are investigating after a crash involving multiple vehicles claimed the life of a pedestrian.
The Greeley Police Department received reports of a crash at the 5500 block of Highway 34 around 5:50 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived, they discovered that two vehicles were involved in a crash with a 19-year-old woman who attempted to walk across the highway.
Police said there was no crosswalk in the area, and she was struck by the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Blazer. The impact knocked the woman into the inside lane, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Traverse. A witness told officers they saw the woman crossing the roadway ‘as traffic arrived at her location.’
First responders attempted life-saving measures on the woman at the scene before she was taken to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. GPD said the Weld County Coroner’s Office will release her identity at a later time.
Neither driver involved was injured in the crash. Police said they don’t expect charges to be filed against those drivers at the moment, but the case remains under investigation. The police department asked anyone with information on the crash to contact Officer Ed Kubala at Edward.Kubala@greeleypd.com.
Colorado
Sunday tickets are free at this historic Colorado ski area
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