Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Ads Will Look Different As Rules On Explaining Side Effects Kick In
Axios: Prescription Drug Ads Should Soon Start Looking Noticeably Different
A new chapter in drug advertising begins Monday when a federal transparency rule takes effect requiring commercials to clearly spell out potential side effects and when a person should avoid the medicine. (Bettelheim, 5/20)
CNN: Gene Test May Predict Success On Injectable Weight Loss Drugs, A Step Toward Precision Medicine For Obesity
One of the big mysteries with popular GLP-1 medications for weight loss is why some people will lose 20% or more of their starting body weight on the drugs while for others, the scale will barely budge. (Goodman, 5/20)
CNN: People Using Popular Drugs For Weight Loss, Diabetes Are More Likely To Be Diagnosed With Stomach Paralysis, Studies Confirm
Injected medications that treat diabetes and obesity increase the risk of a rare but serious side effect: stomach paralysis, according to new data on the real-world use of the drugs. (Goodman, 5/20)
More pharmaceutical industry news —
CBS News: Fallout From Massive Data Breach At Ascension Continues As Patients Are Unable To Fill Prescriptions
Ascension has reported that patients are unable to fill prescriptions at its pharmacies in light of a recent data breach that occurred on May 8. The data breach, which has disrupted its computer system and prevented prescriptions from being filled as a result, has led to an increase in business for nearby pharmacies. (Vicci, 5/17)
NBC News: ADHD Medication Shortages Easing, FDA Says, But Still Affecting Patients
Many of the ADHD medication shortages that have plagued the U.S. for the last two years have now been resolved, the Food and Drug Administration says. Yet some doctors and patients report they are still struggling to get prescriptions filled. Dr. Royce Lee, a psychiatrist at the University of Chicago Medicine, said supply has gotten better but it’s still an issue for about a third of the patients he writes prescriptions for. (Lovelace Jr., 5/19)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Pharmacists Protest Contracts At Express Scripts
About 70 pharmacists and advocates gathered outside Express Scripts’ North County headquarters Friday, voicing wide-ranging complaints about the company and its peers in the business of drug-industry middlemen. Pharmacists and activists accused the company — and competitors like Optum Rx and CVS Caremark — of pushing independent pharmacies into unfavorable, “take-it-or-leave-it” contracts, and pressuring patients to switch to mail-order prescriptions. (Merrilees, 5/17)
Stat: Has Bernie Sanders Reached The Limit Of His Pharma Bullying Effort?
Bernie Sanders is figuring out just how far bullying drugmakers can take him. For more than a year, Sanders has used his perch atop the Senate health committee to haul the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies that make insulin, vaccines, and more before the panel with progressively more ambitious demands related to their pricing. (Zhang, 5/20)
