Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Ads Will Look Different As Rules On Explaining Side Effects Kick In
A new chapter in drug advertising begins Monday when a federal transparency rule takes effect requiring commercials to clearly spell out potential side effects and when a person should avoid the medicine. (Bettelheim, 5/20)
One of the big mysteries with popular GLP-1 medications for weight loss is why some people will lose 20% or more of their starting body weight on the drugs while for others, the scale will barely budge. (Goodman, 5/20)
Injected medications that treat diabetes and obesity increase the risk of a rare but serious side effect: stomach paralysis, according to new data on the real-world use of the drugs. (Goodman, 5/20)
More pharmaceutical industry news 鈥
Ascension has reported that patients are unable to fill prescriptions at its pharmacies in light of a recent data breach that occurred on May 8.聽The data breach, which has disrupted its computer system and prevented prescriptions from being filled as a result, has led to an increase in business for nearby pharmacies.聽(Vicci, 5/17)
Many of the ADHD medication shortages that have plagued the U.S. for the last two years have now been resolved, the Food and Drug Administration says. Yet some doctors and patients report they are still struggling to get prescriptions filled. Dr. Royce Lee, a psychiatrist at the University of Chicago Medicine, said supply has gotten better but it鈥檚 still an issue for about a third of the patients he writes prescriptions for. (Lovelace Jr., 5/19)
About 70 pharmacists and advocates gathered outside Express Scripts鈥 North County headquarters Friday, voicing wide-ranging complaints about the company and its peers in the business of drug-industry middlemen. Pharmacists and activists accused the company 鈥 and competitors like Optum Rx and CVS Caremark 鈥 of pushing independent pharmacies into unfavorable, 鈥渢ake-it-or-leave-it鈥 contracts, and pressuring patients to switch to mail-order prescriptions. (Merrilees, 5/17)
Bernie Sanders is figuring out just how far bullying drugmakers can take him. For more than a year, Sanders has used his perch atop the Senate health committee to haul the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies that make insulin, vaccines, and more before the panel with progressively more ambitious demands related to their pricing. (Zhang, 5/20)
