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J. Michael Pearson, the former chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International who departed in early May during a series of investigations into the company’s business practices, will receive a $9 million severance payment and continue working as a consultant through 2017, Valeant said Tuesday. The company, as well as a major investor, William A. Ackman, have taken steps to distance themselves from Mr. Pearson and signal that the company was making a fresh start. But under the agreement, Mr. Pearson will also receive more than $83,000 a month through the end of this year and $15,000 monthly in 2017, plus expenses and health insurance benefits, to help the company make the transition to a new chief executive and handle the host of legal investigations. (Thomas, 5/31)

How much is one month’s worth of advice from Michael Pearson’s worth? Valeant Pharmaceuticals is willing to pay more $83,000. Valeant stock may have tanked and its growth strategy imploded during his final months running the beleaguered drug maker, but Pearson was just awarded a consulting contract that will pay him more than $583,000 through the end of this year and as much as $180,000 next year, or $15,000 a month, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The fees will be pro-rated for partial months. (Silverman, 5/31)

Despite blistering criticism over its pricing, the pharmaceutical industry managed to improve its reputation last year, albeit very slightly, according to a new survey released this week. Using a formula that relies on ranking several different attributes, the industry received a passing grade of 67.6, a modest two-point improvement. “These results show that the industry is not perceived as badly as many industry insiders think,” said Kasper Ulf Nielsen, an executive partner of The Reputation Institute, a consulting firm that conducted the ranking, in a statement. But he also noted perceptions are “very polarized,” since one-third of those asked said drug makers have an excellent reputation, but another third view their reputation as weak or poor. (Silverman, 5/26)

Novel cancer treatments are the next big hope for the drug sector. But investors shouldn’t forget that reward goes hand in hand with risk. While enthusiasm for the sector has cooled from the euphoria of the past few years, potential treatments such as immunotherapy, which tries to leverage the body’s immune system to fight disease, remain a bright spot. Clinical data from such experimental therapies will be on display when the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting begins this week. (Grant, 5/30)

An institute that pays researchers to compare medical treatments has spent only half of its more than $1.4 billion in available federal money on what is called comparative effectiveness research and has largely ignored prescription drugs, despite their role in driving up health care costs, according to a study released Tuesday by a Washington-based policy group. The research into the comparative effectiveness of treatments and pharmaceuticals is meant to determine if lower-cost options provide the same benefit as more expensive procedures and drugs. (O'Donnell, 5/31)

As California voters prepare to consider the most ballot measures in almost two decades, companies such as Merck & Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc. and other interests have already plowed $160 million to sway the outcomes, a sum that could more than triple before the Nov. 8 election. Proposals to cap prescription-drug costs, raise cigarette taxes, limit gun ammunition sales, legalize recreational marijuana and overturn a ban on plastic bags are among those likely to draw big-money donations. (Vekshin, 5/31)

Over 28,600 people died due to opioid overdoses nationwide in 2014, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data that was released this month. That’s quadruple the number of opioid deaths from the year 2000. There is an antidote. It’s called Narcan, a drug that blocks the effects of drugs like heroin immediately after an overdose. It’s saved countless lives in states like New Hampshire, where opioid overdoses are up 73.5 percent year over year, and 2,800 doses were administered in the state from January to August alone. The makers of the drug know this, and they are starting to make victims—and states—pay. (Collins, 5/31)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who are the top-earning CEOs of them all? A new report from the Associated Press and the research firm Equilar has some answers, and once again, many of the highest earners among execs running large companies are pharma and health care CEOs. Consider Dr. Leonard S. Schleifer, the head of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, based in Tarrytown, N.Y. His total compensation in 2015? More than $47 million. If he were working at New York state’s minimum wage — $9 an hour — it would have taken him well over 5 million hours to earn that much. That’s about 600 years of work without stopping to eat or sleep. (Boodman, 5/26)

In the latest effort to quantify the burden of expensive medicines, a new study found that the cost of two widely used hepatitis C treatments remains out of reach for people in many poor countries and poses a “financial and ethical dilemma” for payers and doctors. (Silverman, 5/31)