Big Pharmacy Chains Give Customers’ Records To Police Despite No Warrants
The Washington Post reported that officials with America’s eight biggest pharmacy giants — Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS, Walmart, Rite Aid, Kroger, Cigna, Optum Rx, and Amazon Pharmacy — told congressional investigators they required only a subpoena to share the records. Investigators began probing the practice in the aftermath of the Dobbs abortion decision.
The Washington Post:
Pharmacies Share Medical Data With Police Without A Warrant, Inquiry Finds
The nation’s largest pharmacy chains have handed over Americans’ prescription records to police and government investigators without a warrant, a congressional investigation found, raising concerns about threats to medical privacy. Though some of the chains require their lawyers to review law enforcement requests, three of the largest — CVS Health, Kroger and Rite Aid, with a combined 60,000 locations nationwide — said they allow pharmacy staff members to hand over customers’ medical records in the store. The policy was revealed in a letter sent late Monday to Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.). (Harwell, 12/12)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Reuters:
US Consumer Group Seeks Stronger Warnings On Botox, Similar Treatments
Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Tuesday filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking to require makers of Botox and several similar injections to include stronger warnings about the risk of a potentially fatal muscle-paralyzing disease. These injections, which use various versions of botulinum toxins to contract specific muscles by blocking certain nerve signals to erase wrinkles, already have a 'black box' warning in their labels about the risks of the intended effect spreading to other areas. The consumer group asked the FDA to make it clear that these adverse effects could happen even at recommended dosages. (Leo, 12/12)
Stat:
Sanofi Ends Deal For Rare Disease Drug After FTC Voices Monopoly Concerns
In its latest bid to police the pharmaceutical industry, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sought to block Sanofi from licensing a Pompe disease treatment made by another drug company. And in response, Sanofi is ending the deal. (Silverman, 12/11)
CNBC:
Zepbound: Patients On Eli Lilly Drug Regain Weight After Stopping It
Patients who took Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound regained around half the weight they shed after stopping the newly approved treatment for a year, according to data released Monday. The data, which represents the full results from an 88-week study funded by Eli Lilly, suggests that people have to stay on the weekly injection if they want to maintain significant weight loss. (Constantino, 12/11)
The New York Times:
Drugs Like Wegovy Can Fix Teenage Obesity, But Young People Don’t Get Them
Dr. Edward Lewis, a pediatrician in Rochester, N.Y., has seen hundreds of children with obesity over the years in his medical practice. He finally may have a treatment for their medical condition — the powerful weight loss drug Wegovy. But that does not mean Dr. Lewis is prescribing it. Nor are most other pediatricians. “I am reluctant to prescribe medications we don’t use on a day-to-day basis,” Dr. Lewis said. And, he added, he is disinclined to use “a medicine that is a relative newcomer to the scene in kids.” (Kolata, 12/11)
Also —
Axios:
Big Pharmacy Chains' Plans For Transforming The Drugstore Industry
America's big drugstore chains are facing long lines, burned-out pharmacy staff and massive cutbacks, including the closure of hundreds of stores. At the same time, they're determined to right the ship by transforming themselves into hubs for care that draw in customers by going far beyond their traditional role of dispensing drugs. (Reed, 12/12)
The Boston Globe:
Pharmacy Dean At URI Focuses On Research, A New Vision For The Industry
In the latest collaboration between higher education institutions and local hospitals, the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy announced last week that it would establish a research hub in Providence that will expand its research programs at the Veterans Administration Medical Center. Kerry LaPlante, a pharmacy professor who will become the dean of the College of Pharmacy in January, said this research partnership will give URI “direct access to patients and patient samples.” (Gagosz, 12/11)
Stat:
With Big Ambition, Reed Jobs Charts His Own Course In Biotech
In the months after his father died of complications from pancreatic cancer, Reed Jobs found it difficult to go back to life as it was before. He was a sophomore studying biology at Stanford University and, up until October 2011, had always planned to pursue a career in cancer research. His father had been diagnosed when he was a preteen and he had spent much of his adolescence thinking about treatments and clinical trials, like many people whose parents are diagnosed with the disease during their childhood. But one of his parents was Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, which gave the younger Jobs an unusually close-up view of the latest developments in cancer research. (DeAngelis, 12/12)
