HIV Prevention Pill Required To Be Free For Almost All Insured Patients

NBC News: PrEP, The HIV Prevention Pill, Must Now Be Totally Free Under Almost All Insurance Plans
In a move that is expected to prove transformative to the national HIV-prevention effort, the federal government has announced that almost all health insurers must cover the HIV prevention pill, known as PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, with no cost sharing — including for the drug itself and, crucially, for clinic visits and lab tests. This means the entire experience of maintaining a prescription to Truvada or Descovy, the two approved forms of PrEP, should now be totally free for almost all insured individuals. A prescribing physician, however, must persuade an insurer that Descovy in particular is medically necessary for any specific patient to qualify for zero cost sharing for that drug’s use as HIV prevention. (Ryan, 7/20)

In updates on the opioid crisis —

Axios: New York Reaches $1.1 Billion Settlement With Opioid Distributors 
New York reached a $1.1 billion settlement on Tuesday with three of the country's largest drug distributors for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. The settlement comes as the three companies — McKesson, Cardinal Health, and Amerisource Bergen — as well as Johnson & Johnson near a $26 billion deal with states and municipalities that would settle thousands of lawsuits related to the opioid crisis, the New York Times reports. (Doherty, 7/20)

The New York Times: States And Cities Near Tentative $26 Billion Deal In Opioids Cases
The settlement would not conclude all of the multifaceted nationwide opioid litigation but would end legal action against some of the companies with the deepest pockets in the pharmaceutical supply chain: the country’s major medical distributors, Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, along with the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. (Hoffman, 7/20)

Stat: Three Pharma Wholesalers Reach A $1.1B Deal With New York Over Opioids
Three of the largest pharmaceutical wholesalers in the U.S. agreed to pay up to $1.1 billion to settle a lawsuit in which the state of New York claimed the companies contributed to the opioid crisis by failing to monitor suspicious shipments. The deal – which involves AmerisourceBergen (ABC), Cardinal Health (CAH), and McKesson (MCK) – comes amid a trial that was already underway and as the companies also attempt to reach a deal to settle nationwide litigation brought by numerous states, cities, counties and Native American tribes. An agreement worth $21 billion is reportedly set to be announced this week. (Silverman, 7/20)

In news about marijuana —

AP: Public Event Set In WVa For Medical Cannabis Registration
West Virginia residents with serious medical conditions can register with the state at an upcoming public event for medical cannabis products. The state Office of Medical Cannabis will conduct the event next Monday at the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. The Department of Health and Human Resources said appointments are strongly encouraged. (7/21)

WLRN 91.3 FM/News Service of Florida: Doctors Face New Rules For Smokable Medical Marijuana 
New [Florida] rules laying out the do’s and don’ts physicians must follow when certifying patients to smoke medical marijuana took effect last week, but it’s not clear that doctors or patients are fully aware of them. Patients certified or recertified to smoke medical marijuana must sign a new standardized consent form as of last Tuesday. That form for the first time includes information about the dangers of smoking near oxygen tanks and advises patients to check their marijuana supplies for mold contaminants. (Sexton, 7/20)

Bloomberg: U.S. Marijuana Legalization Bill Gets A Frosty Reception
The U.S. cannabis industry had eagerly awaited a federal legalization bill that executives, investors and interest groups had hoped would be a panacea for the partisan divide over a hotly contested issue. What they saw last week from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer left many underwhelmed. Cannabis stocks flagged after the bill was unveiled, and critics piled on from all directions. It’s not a surprise that the legislation wouldn’t please everyone, given the controversies around cannabis. Even the bill’s own authors acknowledge shortcomings, saying in a summary of the proposal that there’s still no standard to measure drugged driving, or research on how marijuana affects fetal health, and that limits their ability to be as comprehensive as they’d like. The plan is to fund more research on those and other topics, but that could take years. (Kary, 7/19)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: FDA Plans To Study Messaging At Medical Conference Booths
Pandemics aside, medical conferences are popular destinations for doctors, who are barraged with information about pharmaceuticals. And now, the Food and Drug Administration wants to know how much of that messaging is false and misleading. The agency plans to conduct a study to learn what physicians are digesting as they walk among the exhibit booths at those conferences. Why? In disclosing its plans, the FDA pointed to a 2006 study that found at least 80% of physicians attend at least one medical conference each year and spent an average of seven hours on the exhibit hall floor at each event. (Silverman, 7/21)

Stat: Approval Path Used For Alzheimer's Drug Has Checkered History, Critics Say
If ever there were a cautionary tale for the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, it might be in the 2016 approval of Exondys 51. In signing off on the drug, the FDA bucked the recommendation of an independent advisory committee and issued a landmark accelerated approval for the drug, which is aimed at a devastating childhood disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. (Silberner, 7/21)