Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FTC Investigating Teva Over Contested Patents On Inhalers
The Washington Post: FTC Opens Investigation Into Teva, Escalating Patent Fight With Pharma Industry
The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Teva Pharmaceuticals, citing the company’s refusal to take down about two dozen patents for its asthma and COPD inhalers, according to confidential agency documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The FTC last week sent a civil investigative demand — effectively a subpoena — ordering Teva to provide internal communications, analysis and financial data related to the contested patents listed in a federal registry known as the Orange Book. The agency has argued that pharmaceutical companies such as Teva have wrongly made minor tweaks to their products to keep patents in the Orange Book and fend off generic competition. Teva charges hundreds of dollars for inhalers in the United States that the company sells for a fraction of the price overseas. (Diamond, 7/1)
Reuters: Judge Won't Block Mississippi Law On Discounts For Hospitals' Contract Pharmacies
A federal judge in Mississippi on Monday refused to block a Mississippi law requiring drugmakers to offer discounts on drugs dispensed by third-party pharmacies that contract with hospitals and clinics serving low-income populations. U.S. District Judge Halil Ozerden in Gulfport, Mississippi, denied motions for preliminary orders blocking the law in separate lawsuits by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the nation's leading drug industry group, and by Novartis. (Pierson, 7/1)
Military.com: Express Scripts' Tricare Pharmacy Contract Could Be Costing Military Families Money, Lawmakers Warn
Two dozen Democrat and Republican lawmakers have raised issues about Express Scripts, the company that oversees the U.S. military's pharmacy program, charging that the benefits manager engages in tactics that squelch competition and raise prices. The lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., wrote Defense Department leadership last week questioning the DoD's sole-source contract with Express Scripts, which manages the Tricare retail pharmacy network and prescription home delivery programs. (Kime, 7/1)
USA Today: Drug Coverage Changes Put Americans In A Medical (And Monetary) Bind
Paying more for less is a recurring theme for Americans these past few years, and it’s even true in health care, a new study shows. Health insurers are covering fewer drugs, putting more restrictions on their drug coverage, but still raising costs for consumers, prescription drug comparison site GoodRx found after reviewing more than 3,700 Medicare Part D plans from 2010 to 2024. (Lee, 7/1)
In other pharmaceutical news —
CNN: In New Criteria For Alzheimer’s, Some See Much-Needed Progress While Others Fear Profit May Be Driving ‘Diagnostic Creep’
With another pricey Alzheimer’s disease treatment expected to receive an approval decision soon, the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Association has published the final version of its new diagnostic criteria for the disease. And for the first time, the criteria call on doctors diagnosing the disease to rely on biomarkers — pieces of beta amyloid and tau proteins picked up by lab tests or on brain scans — rather than pen-and-paper tests of memory and thinking. (Goodman, 7/1)
Reuters: Scientist Defeats J&J Lawsuit Over Cancer Research
A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary against a scientist who published a paper linking talc-based consumer products to cancer, finding that the research was not fraudulent or libelous. U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner on Friday found that Dr. Jacqueline Moline, the chair of occupational medicine at Northwell Health, did not engage in fraud, libel or false advertising when she published an influential 2020 paper concluding that exposure to asbestos-contaminated talcum powder products can cause mesothelioma. Moline's conclusions were protected by her free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, and J&J's lawsuit did not show that the underlying research was "verifiably false," Caster wrote. (Knauth, 7/1)
