Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Tariffs Will Affect Millions Of Americans And Could Complicate Care
Thousands of miles from a manufacturing plant in China, where the key active ingredient in heparin is sourced, Wanda Crowell receives a daily infusion of the drug in her bed at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Doctors give Crowell the inexpensive, essential anticoagulant every day, to prevent life-threatening blood clots from forming in her central line, a plastic tube inserted in her chest that delivers the nutrients she needs to live. ... She also needs heparin to treat a history of blood clots. (Malhi, 4/11)
Tariffs on pharmaceuticals would hurt patients and drugs should be exempt from these levies, AstraZeneca Plc’ Chairman Michel Demaré said. US President Donald Trump has warned that tariffs on pharmaceutical companies — which weren’t part of the so-called reciprocal tariffs he imposed and then paused — are imminent. (Furlong, 4/11)
In her eight-year tenure as chief executive officer of GSK Plc, Emma Walmsley has seen off a combative activist investor, navigated multi-billion dollar litigation in the US and spun out a consumer health company, Haleon Plc. Her latest challenge is preparing the drugmaker for the looming threat of getting dragged into President Donald Trump’s trade war. (Furlong and David, 4/11)
President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff-driven reversal of decades of free trade is creating financial chaos for the very sector it’s meant to rebuild: American manufacturing. Although the full extent of economic damage is still unclear, volatile tariff policies are making it tougher for American companies to make and sell goods, whether they’re producing medical devices in Florida, toys in Ohio or bicycles in California. (Bhattarai, 4/13)
President Trump signaled on Sunday that he would pursue new tariffs on the powerful computer chips inside smartphones and other technologies, just two days after his administration excluded a variety of electronics from the steep import taxes recently applied on goods arriving from China. (Romm, Swanson and Mickle, 4/13)