Latest News On Prescription Drugs

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Alex Azar’s Unusual Spin Through the Revolving Door

KFF Health News Original

Washington’s infamous revolving door took an unusual turn for former Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar. Azar spent about a decade with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. before coming to the nation’s capital to lead HHS in the Trump administration. But in September 2020, just a couple of months before former president Donald […]

Patients With Narcolepsy Face a Dual Nightmare of Medication Shortages and Stigma

KFF Health News Original

It’s been more than a year since the FDA declared a national shortage of Adderall, and it’s affecting more than just patients with ADHD. Those with narcolepsy, a much rarer condition, are often treated with the same medication. Without it, they’re often unable to drive or function as usual.

The Market for Biosimilars Is Funky. The Industry Thinks PBMs Are To Blame

KFF Health News Original

Over the past year there’s been movement to rein in the three big PBMs, which face little regulation though they help set drug prices and drug choices for 80 percent of Americans and their doctors. The House voted Dec. 11, 320-71, for legislation that would require the PBMs to change some of the ways they […]

Colorado Says Drug Industry Blocked Its Canada Dreams – And Biden Hasn’t Helped

KFF Health News Original

Colorado’s leaders had grand plans to import cheaper medicines from Canada, after the Trump administration issued rules in 2020 allowing states to try it. But officials in Denver say they’ve been stymied by opposition from drugmakers — as well as the Biden administration’s inaction on the policy. That’s according to a Dec. 1 report we […]

Health Care Is Front and Center as DeSantis and Newsom Go Mano a Mano

KFF Health News Original

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will square off in a first-of-its-kind debate on Nov. 30. KFF Health News compared the political rivals’ health care positions, showing how their policies have helped — or hindered — the health of their states’ residents.

La atención de salud, en el centro del debate entre DeSantis y Newsom

KFF Health News Original

El candidato presidencial republicano Ron DeSantis y el gobernador demócrata Gavin Newsom —rivales políticos y representantes de la América roja y azul— se enfrentarán en un debate sin precedentes el 30 de noviembre en Georgia.

Evolving Overdose Crisis Shakes Previously Effective Treatments

KFF Health News Original

The prevalence of synthetic drugs is undercutting a previously effective and widely embraced opioid use disorder treatment tactic. Now, the model pioneered in Vermont a decade ago and adopted at sites nationwide, especially in hard-to-reach rural areas, is being forced to evolve.

Biden Administration’s Limit on Drug Industry Middlemen Backfires, Pharmacists Say

KFF Health News Original

A rule taking effect Jan. 1 was intended to stop one set of abuses by pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, but some pharmacists say it’s enabling these price brokers to simply do new things unfairly.

California Expands Paid Sick Days and Boosts Health Worker Wages

KFF Health News Original

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding paid sick leave to five days, extending bereavement leave to miscarriages and failed adoptions, and approving an eventual $25-an-hour health care minimum wage. Still, in a possible sign of national ambitions, the Democrat vetoed free condoms in schools and refused to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.

Biden Pick to Lead NIH Finally Has Her Day, but Still Gets Caught Up in Drug Price Debate

KFF Health News Original

Monica Bertagnolli, the president’s choice to head the National Institutes of Health, appeared before a Senate committee this week. Her confirmation has been held up by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has demanded President Joe Biden work more aggressively to lower prescription drug prices.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Health Funding in Question in a Speaker-Less Congress

Podcast

A bitterly divided Congress managed to keep the federal government running for several more weeks, while House Republicans struggle — again — to choose a leader. Meanwhile, many people removed from state Medicaid rolls are not finding their way to Affordable Care Act insurance, and a major investigation by The Washington Post attributes the decline in U.S. life expectancy to more than covid-19 and opioids. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews physician-author-playwright Samuel Shem about “Our Hospital,” his new novel about the health workforce in the age of covid.

Save Billions or Stick With Humira? Drug Brokers Steer Americans to the Costly Choice

KFF Health News Original

Thousands of patients with autoimmune diseases who rely on Humira, with a list price of $6,600 a month, could get financial relief from new low-cost rivals. So far, the pharmacy benefit managers that control drug prices in America have not delivered on those savings.