Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medications For Depression, Insomnia, Diabetes And More Are Ending Up In Our Rivers And Streams
Stat: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plants Are Sending Lots Of Medicine Into The Water Supply
Wastewater treatment plants that accept discharges from pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities send “substantially” higher concentrations of medicines into rivers and streams than treatment plants that do not take these discharges, according to the first study to examine the issue across the U.S. In reaching their conclusion, the study authors compared effluent — which is wastewater that is sent into rivers and other natural bodies of water — from 13 treatment plants that took pharmaceutical discharges and six plants that did not. They examined plants scattered among rural and urban locations around the country in order to compare plant sizes, varying climates, and technology used for treating wastewater. (Silverman, 5/23)
Stat: Effort To Encourage Development Of New Antibiotics Falls Short In Senate
An effort to use congressional legislation to incentivize the development of new antibiotics fell short Wednesday, despite lobbying pressure from pharmaceutical companies and medical societies. Antibiotics are rarely moneymakers for drug makers, and yet there’s wide agreement that there’s a need for more given that some bacteria are increasingly resistant to the therapies currently on the market. (Swetlitz, 5/23)
Stat: Solicitor General Urges Supreme Court To Review Merck Case About Warnings
In a boost to Merck (MRK), the U.S. solicitor general is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a case that has broad ramifications for lawsuits filed by consumers against drug makers over product warnings. At issue are hundreds of lawsuits that were filed more than seven years ago by women who claim they suffered bone fractures after taking Fosamax, a Merck drug used to combat osteoporosis. Last year, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court and decided the lawsuits should proceed. (Silverman, 5/23)
Kaiser Health News: Watch: What’s In The White House Plan To Lower Drug Prices
President Donald Trump began talking about the high cost of prescription drugs long before he took office. He often spoke about how drug companies “got away with murder” on the campaign trail. He has continued these attacks, and in April the Trump administration unveiled a 44-page blueprint. But what’s in it? (5/23)
Stat: A Career In Biotech Brought Success. Then The Birds Came Calling
For Neil Hayward, the days of travel and nights of seasickness were worth it, because of the birds. They were what field guides call vagrants or accidentals: species that turn up far outside their normal range, unexpected emissaries from another part of the world. ...A few years before, he’d been a director and board chair at Abcam, a British company selling antibodies and proteins and other ingredients for biomedical labs. He’d opened offices in Tokyo and San Francisco. He’d managed a team in the Massachusetts biotechnopolis of Kendall Square. He’d watched the firm go public, watched its stock price grow. Now, he had no salary, no real job, and in exchange for free passage to this godforsaken place, he was helping to lead a tour promoted as “particularly good for those who haven’t seen whiskered auklet yet.” (Boodman, 5/24)
The Hill: Senate Panel To Consider Ban On Prescription Drug 'Gag Clauses'
The Senate health committee plans to vote on a bill next month banning "gag clauses" that can hide potential savings on prescriptions from consumers at the pharmacy counter. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday he hopes the panel will vote on the bill, authored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), June 20. (Hellmann, 5/23)
