With Republican lawmakers unable to reach a consensus on how to replace the Affordable Care Act, President Trump and some influential senators are now calling for a straightforward repeal of the law, with any replacement to come at some later date. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Budget Office: Long-Term Medicaid Spending Would Drop 35% Under Obamacare Repeal Plan
By 6.29.17
As we mentioned in our coverage of the Congressional Budget Office’s review of the Senate proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the ten-year focus of the CBO analysis could not fully illustrate the impact of Medicaid cuts that wouldn’t come until the latter half of that decade. Today, the CBO released a separate report that estimates what effect those cuts might have ten to twenty years from now. [More]
GOP Might Not Include $172 Billion Tax Cut In Obamacare Repeal Plan
By 6.29.17
Though Senate leadership recently decided to delay a vote on its plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the GOP is still hoping to get the details of that bill ironed out before the holiday. One possible change involves a controversial tax on the wealthy that has long been a target of repeal advocates. [More]
Walgreens No Longer Merging With Rite Aid; Still Plans To Buy Half Of Rite Aid Stores For $5.2 Billion
By 6.29.17
It’s been nearly two years since Walgreens first agreed to buy competitor Rite Aid and its 4,600 or so stores for $9.4 billion to form the nation’s largest drugstore chain, only to see the value of that deal shrink amid antitrust concerns. Today, Walgreens announced that it’s scrapping that original plan to combine forces with Rite Aid but still plans to purchase about half of the smaller company’s retail locations. [More]
CVS Ditches Tanning Oil, Hides The Candy
By 6.28.17
We all refer to chains like CVS and Walgreens as “drugstores,” but they also sell everything from makeup to school supplies to snacks. However, CVS has been quietly revising its inventory and store layout to remove or deemphasize some items that are making customers less healthy. [More]
Pharma Frantically Searching Humanity’s Medicine Cabinet For Non-Opioid Pain Medicines
By 6.28.17
As opioid addiction continues to ravage large swaths of the country, doctors are being urged to prescribe fewer narcotic painkillers, putting pressure on drug companies to come up with new ways to treat pain patients. [More]
Trailer Bought To Hold Victims Of Terrorism Now Holds Victims Of Heroin Overdoses
By 6.26.17
In 2012, St. Louis County in Missouri used a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to buy a refrigerated trailer that can hold more than 20 human bodies. The trailer was intended for use after a terrorist attack or natural disaster, and the county is fortunate that the money spent to buy it was wasted. Until now, when the compressor in the already-full morgue went out. [More]
GOP Revises Obamacare Repeal Bill, Adds 6-Month Penalty For People With Lapsed Coverage
By 6.26.17
One of the Republican party’s biggest complaints about the Affordable Care Act is that it requires most individuals to have some sort of health insurance or pay a penalty. The draft Senate bill released last week gets rid of that financial penalty, but a newly released revised version of that bill replaces it with a waiting period of up to six months for people who are uninsured or let their coverage lapse. [More]
Price-Hiking Pharma Bro Ignores Lawyers’ Advice To Shut Up
By 6.26.17
As a defense attorney, you can tell your clients to stop talking to the press and trolling online, but they don’t necessarily have to listen to you. Attorneys for price-hiking pharma bro and Wu-Tang Clan enthusiast Martin Shkreli haven’t been able to keep him quiet, which may be a problem in his trial for securities fraud that begins today. [More]
As Cost Of Opioid Epidemic Rises, One City May Consider Not Reviving Addicts Who Repeatedly Overdose
By 6.26.17
With opioid painkiller and heroin use exploding to the point where police officers, firefighters, and even librarians are carrying (and using) Narcan, an emergency treatment that can revive someone who has overdosed. While the drug is saving lives, it’s not free, and one Ohio city is being asked to consider whether it has to use Narcan on people who repeatedly overdose. [More]
Hospital Groups, Public Health Officials: Senate Obamacare Repeal Bill Makes “Unsustainable” Cuts To Coverage
By 6.23.17
After reviewing the Senate bill to gut and replace much of the Affordable Care Act, groups representing the nation’s hospitals believe that this legislation will leave millions — particularly those with chronic ailments and the disabled — without access to care. [More]
From Damning To Noncommittal To All-In: The Rainbow Of Reactions To Senate Obamacare Repeal Plan
By 6.22.17
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally pulled back the curtain on his much-awaited and mystery-shrouded plan to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act, and now that people — including some who were supposedly involved in its crafting — are seeing the proposal, the bill is being met with a wide range of reactions and lots of questions about whether the GOP will have the votes to pass it. [More]
Report: Mylan Offered Discounts To States If They Made It Harder For Patients To Get Alternatives
By 6.22.17
Controversial pharma company Mylan offered several states participating in Medicaid purchasing pools discounts on the EpiPen if they could ensure competitors’ products weren’t readily available to patients, according to a new report that raises additional concerns that the drugmaker engaged in anti-competitive practices as it raised the price of the life-saving drug nearly 400% in just 10 years. [More]
What You Need To Know About Senate Bill To Repeal, Replace Obamacare
By 6.22.17
After weeks of secrecy, Senate Republican leaders have finally released a draft version of the budget resolution they intend to use to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act. [More]
As Opioid Hospitalizations Soar, Report Claims Imprisoning Drug Offenders Doesn’t Affect Overdoses Or Use
By 6.20.17
Since 2005, the rate of opioid-related emergency room visits has doubled and hospitalizations are up 64%. At the same time, many states are sending more people to prison for drug-related offenses. However, a new analysis contends that there is no apparent link between drug imprisonments and reining in the problems associated with the ongoing epidemic. [More]
Doctors Call On Big Pharma To Advertise Retail Prices Of Prescription Drugs
By 6.16.17
Think of the last prescription you had filled: You probably know how much you had to pay the pharmacy, but do you have any idea of the full sticker price for that medication? With many drug prices soaring, the nation’s largest physicians organization has called on the pharmaceuticals industry to be more transparent about the sometimes huge price tags on their products. [More]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Asked Congress To Let Him Prosecute Medical Marijuana
By 6.13.17
Recently, Congress once again extended a ban on the Department of Justice using its funds to prosecute legitimate medical marijuana operations in states that have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked lawmakers to end this prohibition and allow his prosecutors to go after medical cannabis. [More]
Depakote Maker AbbVie Ordered To Pay $15M To Boy Born With Spina Bifida
By 6.9.17
Pharmaceuticals giant AbbVie must pay $15 million to the family of a 10-year-old boy who was born with spina bifida after an Illinois jury found the company failed to properly warn doctors about the risk of birth defects associated with Depakote, a prescription drug used to treat bipolar and seizure disorders. [More]
