Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Road Map For Other Hospitals: UPMC Shares Xylazine Treatment Playbook
CBS News: UPMC Creates Treatment Blueprint For Patients With Wounds And Withdrawal Symptoms From Xylazine-Laced Drugs
UPMC in Pennsylvania is one of the first health systems to write a blueprint for treating patients experiencing gruesome side effects from drugs laced with xylazine. The UPMC team published the guidelines in the Substance Use and Addiction Journal to share the easy-to-follow roadmap for other hospitals to use. (Guay, 4/23)
In other pharma and biotech news —
Stat: Quitting Vaping With Varenicline Effective For Young People: Study
The young people who wanted to quit e-cigarettes didn’t necessarily think they were addicted. But they did think nicotine cravings were a problem. When they enrolled in a Massachusetts General Hospital trial, they told researchers they couldn’t study in the library or work at their desks for long before getting the urge to vape. “They really didn’t like that loss of control,” said Eden Evins, director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at Mass General. (Todd, 4/23)
Bloomberg: Merck Gardasil HPV Vaccine Goes From Boom To Bust On Cheaper Chinese Shots
Merck & Co. Chief Executive Officer Robert Davis was tired of talking about China. On an earnings call in February, he answered question after question about plunging demand for his company’s vaccine against cancer-causing HPV in China, which previously powered Merck’s growth. (Garde, Kan and Tong, 4/23)
Stat: Eli Lilly Opens New Legal Front In Battle Against Compounded GLP-1s
Amid ongoing battles over alternate supplies of blockbuster weight loss drugs, Eli Lilly filed new lawsuits against four telehealth firms and their affiliates, but is using a new line of attack — the drugmaker accused two of the companies of engaging in the corporate practice of medicine. (Silverman and Palmer, 4/23)
The New York Times: Tariffs On China Aren’t Likely To Rescue U.S. Medical Gear Industry
Few domestic industries have been as devastated by the flood of cheap Chinese imports as manufacturers of face masks, exam gloves and other disposable medical gear that protects health care workers from infectious pathogens. ... But as President Trump unveiled his tariff regimen earlier this month, and Beijing retaliated with an 84 percent tax on American imports, the few remaining companies that make protective gear in the United States felt mostly unease. (Jacobs, 4/23)
