Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Johnson & Johnson Moves Talc Injury Claims Unit Into Bankruptcy
The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Places Talc Injury Claims In Bankruptcy
Johnson & Johnson placed into bankruptcy its liabilities for tens of thousands of lawsuits linking talc-based products to cancer, betting the move will help drive a settlement of personal-injury claims that are expected to grow for decades to come. J&J said Thursday that a corporate affiliate holding talc-related liabilities had filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charlotte, N.C., shifting the landscape of a yearslong legal fight over whether Johnson’s Baby Powder caused ovarian cancer, asbestos poisoning and other illnesses. The company has maintained that the powder, which it stopped selling last year, is safe and doesn’t contain asbestos. (Scurria, 10/14)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
Politico: Confusion Clouds FDA’s Approach To E-Cigarettes
The Food and Drug Administration’s decision this week to authorize the sale of an electronic cigarette was a landmark for the vaping industry — but it may only deepen confusion about the sector’s future. More than a month after a court-ordered deadline to determine which e-cigs could stay on the market, FDA has yet to act on applications from some of the industry’s biggest players, including Juul. (Foley, 10/14)
Stat: New Tools Could Fix Diseases Caused By Large DNA Rearrangements
Ever since the now Nobel-winning discovery of CRISPR genome editing in 2012, scientists have been racing to improve on its DNA-targeting-and-cutting action. A huge step forward came in 2016, with the invention of base editing, and another with prime editing in 2019, both from the Broad Institute lab of David Liu. The advances made it possible to precisely slice open a double-strand of DNA and change the sequence — swap out a nucleotide for another, or add or subtract a few in one go. But when faced with making bigger deletions, anything over 100 base pairs, even these shiny new tools weren’t up to the task. (Molteni, 10/14)
Axios: Walgreens Wants To Be More Than Just A Pharmacy
Walgreens Boots Alliance acquired majority stakes in two companies, VillageMD and CareCentrix, as part of the pharmacy chain's plan to provide more care inside its stores and people's homes. These deals will move the company "away from retail and just dispensing pharmaceuticals," Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer told CNBC. (Herman, 10/14)
In updates on the Theranos trial —
Bay Area News Group: Elizabeth Holmes Trial: Theranos Patients In 'Immediate Jeopardy'
Elizabeth Holmes’ blood-testing company Theranos put patients in “immediate jeopardy” and failed to resolve regulators’ concerns over its laboratory practices and staff training, according to a government report filed Wednesday in connection with her criminal fraud trial. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which regulates laboratories, noted in a 2016 letter to Holmes and her former Theranos president Sunny Balwani that it had found serious deficiencies in the firm’s Bay Area laboratory, and that the company’s responses to the alleged violations were not sufficient or credible. Patients using Theranos blood testing, the letter said, were still in “immediate jeopardy” in which serious harm or death may occur. (Baron, 10/14)
