The ONS total is 34% higher than the Department of Health total.

1. India Raises Borrowing Limit by Over 50% to Rs 12 Lakh Crore as Virus Grips Economy  The Wire
2. Raghuram Rajan says monetisation neither a game changer nor catastrophe  Livemint
3. Need for non-collateralized reverse repo operations: SBI Report  Economic Times
4. View: Why a new 'Bad Bank' when there are 28!  Economic Times
5. Indian government had Rs 1.66 lakh crore outstanding loans from RBI in May 1 week  Moneycontrol.com
6. View Full coverage on Google News

No treatments for the coronavirus have yet been approved, meaning companies cannot make medical claims about their products

The efforts to undermine Democratic governors who invoked stay-at-home orders are most pronounced in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, all three of which have divided government and are key to President Donald Trump's path to reelection.

Alexandria Cimoch starred on the show with her siblings

Half-hour revival will see Leslie Knope and friends contend with the struggles of social distancing

Residents in Los Angeles have been told to only leave their homes for 'essential' journeys

US vice president was condemned for ignoring strict rules about protective gear put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus

Former US president described as merely 'Former Chicago Resident' in previous episodes of series

Cat trader previously said he wanted Brad Pitt to portray him

A 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was forced to remove his shorts and squat during a search, but disciplinary action has not been recommended

A New South Wales police watchdog investigation into seven strip searches including one in which a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was physically forced to remove his shorts and squat has found that all of them were unlawful.

But the watchdog has been criticised for “not going far enough” in its findings, with Sarah Crellin, a principal solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service, saying she was “deeply disappointed that there have been no recommendations for disciplinary action” against individual officers.

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The Little Mix star raided her closet ahead of... a trip to the shops

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas - but the pictures will make it to Instagram

From the best of the Welsh coast to the perennial beauty of the Scottish Highlands

The over-arching advice is that less is always more

Learning a language is good for brain-training so get out your smartphone and start downloading

From celebrity travel anecdotes to gap year tales

With time on his hands to indulge in nostalgia, Jochan Embley realises his love for the beautiful game runs much deeper than half-time beers and the rush of a goal

Odion Ighalo believes Victor Osimhen has huge potential, with the Manchester United striker praising his compatriot as the "future of Nigerian football."

Former Leeds United manager Peter Reid led the tributes as club legend Norman Hunter passed away on Friday, aged 76, after contracting coronavirus.

England international Kieran Trippier has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of The FA's betting rules.

With the Premier League searching for viable options to finish the current campaign, deputy chief constable Mark Roberts believes those complaining about the finer details must "get a grip".

A senior constable who performed 19 strip searches during the Splendour in the Grass festival last year tells an inquiry the procedures were "unlawful" and that the experience had been "a massive learning experience".

A solicitor who offered pro-bono legal advice at the Splendour in the Grass festival in 2018 tells a public hearing of a "military-style" operation, which saw shopkeepers and bar staff among those strip-searched by police.

Of more than 5,000 strip searches conducted by NSW police in the past financial year, less than a third found any illicit drugs, new data shows.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott says he would want officers to strip-search his children, after new data reveals 122 underage girls had been subjected to the practice since 2016.

AN EXOTIC dancer claims she was abused and “drugged into near unconsciousness” for not going along with a club’s scheme. WARNING: Graphic.

Travis Scott just headlined 'Fortnite' instead of Coachella, debuting a new song with Kid Cudi. It was trippy. There were flaming microphone stands.

Christine Lampard explained on today's Loose Women that she had to take her baby daughter to hospital last week

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a United Nations Organization agency commissioned to regulate international telecommunications between different operating administrations and businesses. Pursuant to specific recommendations by this organization, on 1 July, standard Y.3172, an architecture for machine learning in future networks (5G and beyond), was approved for telecommunications networks.

A two-week course of antiviral therapy with interferon beta-1b plus lopinavir-ritonavir and ribavirin, started within 7 days of showing COVID-19 symptoms, is safe and more effective at reducing the duration of viral shedding than lopinavir-ritonavir alone in patients with mild to moderate illness, according to the first randomized trial of this triple combination therapy involving 127 adults (aged 18 and older) from six public hospitals in Hong Kong.

Mark Roberts believes those who say the proposal compromises the integrity of the league need to look at the broader context.

Minister said he recalled the beach trip only after attracting public scrutiny for a mountain bike ride.

Regional tourism hotspots are closed but if bans on international travel continue local towns and businesses are hoping for a rapid resurgence in business.

More than 6,000 people have complained to the ACCC about their travel company's handling of refunds. We've looked into what your options are for getting your money back.

A shutdown to fight the spread of COVID-19 has made a dire situation even worse in Lebanon, with its currency plunging in value.

The travel agent chain backs down from charging hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees for trips cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, following pressure from customers and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

New data shows how hard the impact of the coronavirus has been on women's jobs as a leading economist worries about the long-term impact for women in the workforce.

US meatworks have been epicentres for coronavirus outbreaks and shutting them down has disrupted the supply chain. But Australia is set up differently.

Michael Gunner issues his "first and final warning" to petrol companies to take action as the ACCC puts in its two cents on the NT's comparatively high fuel prices.

Customers who rely on cellular connections to access the internet say they're being hit with unfair overage fees when many are required to work and study from home. They want better price breaks and say promises to beef up high-speed access outside major cities haven’t resulted in action.

Maria Lopez was a nurse in robotic surgery at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. She was set to retire April 30.

(MedPage Today) -- Triple therapy -- with methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, and sulfasalazine -- is little used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the U.S. today, and clinical outcomes showed less efficacy than regimens combining...

NRL players Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr have been fined $1,000 each for breaching the state's coronavirus distancing lockdown during a weekend away, as the NRL describes the getaway as "unacceptable".

First, let me say thank you to all of the healthcare workers who are putting themselves at risk during this crisis.

As I noted last week, many of the crucial issues for our healthcare system will remain after we all get through this challenging period. In that regard, here’s a look at some noteworthy news from the past month:

• Sanofi discloses new data about insulin prices

• Excellent new academic research on list vs. net drug prices

• Three notable researchers overturn their earlier research on drug costs

• Amazon switches PBM vendors for some of its employees

Plus, we unveil the teaser trailer for Drug Channels Video!

P.S. Join the more than 9,000 followers of my daily links to neat stuff at @DrugChannels on Twitter. My recent tweets have highlighted such topics as:

• How GoodRx shares patients’ prescription data
• 2019 drug trend at Prime Therapeutics
• Controversy about the independent pharmacy market
• A new $5 generic mail order program, Medicare Part D reform
• Retail pharmacy’s future
• Job openings at Amazon 
• Frozen cookie dough
• And much more!

I have also been tweeting many under-the-radar stories about how the coronavirus affects drug channels.
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This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for this Friday’s video webinar: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers.

I suspect this deal will remain profitable for the participating companies even as COVID-19 alters the US. prescription payer mix. Click here to see the original post and comments from January 2020. National market shares for the largest PBMs in 2019 appears as Exhibit 88 of our 2020 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

P.S. Sorry that today's meme is one day too late for Star Wars day.

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Just before the holidays, Cigna’s Express Scripts business announced a market-changing deal with Prime Therapeutics. Click here to read the press release.

There's been very little written about this transaction, though it has potentially major implications. Below, I share my thoughts on the following topics arising from the deal:

• Implications for manufacturers and pharmacies

• The role of the secretive Ascent Health Services

• What this all means for Walgreens

• Why the Federal Trade Commission won’t challenge the deal

A few weeks ago, I explained why integrated insurer / PBM / specialty pharmacy / provider organizations are poised to restructure U.S. drug channels. The Express Scripts / Prime deal signals that the channel will continue its amazing pace of reinvention.

The scale, scope, and interconnectedness of today’s market participants make the system increasingly resistant to massive disruption from either external players like Amazon or a government takeover. Like it or not, the channel will continue to gain power and extract profit. Read on and see if you agree.
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This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for this Friday’s video webinar: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers.

Today's rerun highlights one of the most effective tactics that PBMs have developed to extract deeper discounts from brand-name drug makers. COVID-19 seems likely shift the U.S. payer mix away from commercial health plans. Expect even tighter formulary management and more restrictions as PBMs work even harder to cut costs for their plan sponsor clients.

Click here to see the original post and comments from January 2020.

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For 2020, the two largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—Express Scripts and the Caremark business of CVS Health—have again increased the number of drugs they have excluded from their standard formularies. The 2020 formulary exclusion lists are available below for your downloading pleasure.

Below, I highlight my key takeaways from the 2020 lists:

• The number of exclusions

• Management of specialty drugs

• Indication-based formularies

• The slow adoption of biosimilars

• The PBMs’ patient-unfriendly exclusions in the hepatitis C category

Formulary exclusions have emerged as a powerful tool for PBMs to gain additional negotiating leverage against manufacturers. The prospect of exclusion leads manufacturers to offer deeper rebates to avoid being cut from the formulary. Exclusions are therefore a key factor behind falling brand-name net drug prices.

Read on for a look at this year’s exclusions along with some closing thoughts on what exclusions mean for patients.
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Pharmacists will be allowed to give out medication to patients who have already been receiving it

Pharmacists are to be allowed to hand out a range of super-strength medicines, including the heroin substitute methadone, without prescription during the Covid-19 crisis, under emergency measures that official drug policy advisers have warned could trigger a spike in drug misuse.

The Advisory Council for Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which makes recommendations to the government on the control of dangerous drugs, was asked by the home secretary to consider the risks of lifting restrictions on certain substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

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