Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida Jury Rules J&J Talc Product Isn't To Blame In Fatal Cancer Case
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida Jury: Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Did Not Cause Woman’s Death From Cancer
A Sarasota jury has ruled Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder was not responsible for a Sarasota County woman's death due to ovarian cancer. The decision took less than five hours of deliberation Thursday. Philippe Matthey, on behalf of his mother’s estate, sued Johnson & Johnson for product liability and wrongful death, continuing his mother's efforts following her death in November 2019. The jury's verdict concluded that Patricia Matthey's use of Johnson & Johnson's baby powder was not a legal cause for her cancer. Under Florida law, legal cause means it has to be a substantial contributing factor. (Szymanowska, 4/18)
In other pharmaceutical news —
NBC News: Zepbound Weight Loss Drug Shortage Has No Immediate End In Sight, Eli Lilly Says
Despite Eli Lilly’s assurances about an ample supply of its new weight loss drug Zepbound, the company is now facing widespread shortages just months after its approval. While the drugmaker is working to resolve the issue, a quick fix is unlikely, it says, with no immediate end to the shortage in sight. ... As of Wednesday, all but one dosage was listed as in “limited availability” through the end of June on the FDA’s website. (Lovelace Jr., Romans and Herzberg, 4/18)
The New York Times: Millions Of Girls In Africa Will Miss HPV Shots After Merck Production Problem
Nearly 1.5 million teenage girls in some of the world’s poorest countries will miss the chance to be protected from cervical cancer because the drugmaker Merck has said it will not be able to deliver millions of promised doses of the HPV vaccine this year. Merck has notified Gavi, the international organization that helps low- and middle-income countries deliver lifesaving immunizations, and UNICEF, which procures the vaccines, that it will deliver only 18.8 million of the 29.6 million doses it was contracted to deliver in 2024, Gavi said. (Nolen, 4/18)
Reuters: US FDA Mandates Label Updates On CAR-T Cancer Therapies
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday cancer therapies that use CAR-T technology will require changes to the so-called "boxed warning" to highlight the serious risk of T-cell blood cancer in patients who use these therapies. The health regulator has required related updates to other sections of the label such as warnings and precautions, postmarketing experience, patient counseling information and medication guide. (4/18)
The Atlantic: The Bone-Marrow-Transplant Revolution
In the fall of 2021, Gabriel Arias felt like his body was “rotting from the inside.” He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer so aggressive that doctors had him hospitalized the day of his biopsy. In cases like his, the ideal treatment is a transplant. Arias’s cancer-prone blood cells needed to be destroyed and replaced with healthy ones taken from the bone marrow or blood of a donor who matched him biologically. Fortunately, doctors found him a match in the volunteer-donor registries—a man in Poland. Unfortunately, Arias’s single match in the entire world was no longer available to donate. (Zhang, 4/18)
Stat: PETA Urges SEC To Investigate Charles River Over Monkey Purchases
A leading animal rights group has asked securities regulators to investigate Charles River Laboratories for allegedly misleading investors about its sales and purchases of long-tailed macaques, which are widely used in clinical research by pharmaceutical companies and universities, among others. (Silverman, 4/18)
