Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Eye On Skyrocketing Diabetes Numbers, Senators Hunt For Answers On High Cost Of Insulin
Stat: Senators Press Insurers For Reams Of Pricing And Rebate Info On Insulin
As tensions persist over the cost of insulin, two U.S. senators want three of the nation’s largest health insurers to provide a raft of data about pricing, rebates, and plan coverage. In each case, Aetna (AET), Anthem (ANTM), and UnitedHealthcare (UNH) are being asked to fork over information about the effect that rebates have on their insulin spending, how rebates from drug makers may reduce expenses for beneficiaries, and the relationship between insulin pricing and what patients pay at pharmacies, among other things. (Silverman, 11/21)
Stat: SCOTUS Case On ‘Sexual Energy’ Pills Highlights FDA Oversight Role
They aren’t the type of words that usually show up in Supreme Court briefs, but on Tuesday, they will be there just the same: Cobra Sexual Energy. The court is set to hear oral arguments in Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, the latest flash point in a five-year spat between unsatisfied California men and Nutraceutical Corp., a supplement company that sells a dietary supplement called “Cobra Sexual Energy” that contains a mix of horny goat weed, yohimbe, and potency wood, and that the company boasts will help with “animal magnetism.” (Florko, 11/26)
Stat: Mylan Is Scolded By The FDA For Manufacturing Gaffes At A Key Plant
In a rebuke to Mylan (MYL), the Food and Drug Administration warned the big generic drug maker about a host of manufacturing gaffes at a key plant in the U.S. that has been the focus of large job cuts this year. Following an inspection last March and April of the Morgantown, W.Va., facility, the FDA noted that Mylan failed to clean equipment, investigate unexplained discrepancies in batches of drugs, and follow proper procedures to assure medicines have the intended quality and purity. (Silverman, 11/21)
Stat: New Research Highlights Unexpected Future For RNAi-Based Drugs
For years, all the research and drug development around the buzzy gene-silencing technique known as RNA interference has centered on the liver. It is by far the easiest target. But now, just a few months after the Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever RNAi-based drug, there are early signs that the field is expanding. And while many public and private companies have eyed the brain as their next target, academic research is actually further along in an unexpected organ: the placenta. (Sheridan, 11/23)
