CMS approves off-label chemotherapy compendium
Executive Summary
CMS will recognize the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Drugs & Biologics Compendium as an approved reference for coverage of off-label uses of cancer drugs and biologics, the agency announces June 5. Local Medicare contractors who process claims for Part B, or physician-administered, drugs would consult the compendia when deciding whether to approve claims. CMS also announces it will formally delete from its list of recognized compendia the American Medical Association Drug Evaluations compendium, which ceased publication in 1996. The decisions represent a first step in CMS' efforts to update its compendia list; decisions in the coming weeks are expected on three other references - Gold Standard's Clinical Pharmacology and Thomson Micromedex's DrugPoints and DrugDex (1"The Pink Sheet" April 14, 2008, p. 15)