Seeking the root causes and possible solutions to the chronic drug shortages plaguing the U.S. health care system, the FTC and Health and Human Services jointly issued a request for information regarding how group purchasing organizations and drug wholesalers may be contributing to the shortages of generic drugs.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a sweeping plan that is designed to help manage vector-borne pathogens, such as the Zika virus, with the ultimate goal of reducing the related disease burden to zero.
With little fanfare, the Biden administration dropped its appeal Jan. 16 of a recent court decision that vacated a 2021 U.S. Health and Human Services rule permitting health insurance issuers and group health plans to use so-called copay accumulator adjustment programs that prevent drug manufacturers’ copay assistance from counting toward a patient’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
The U.S. FDA’s Jan. 5 approval of Florida’s plan to import prescription drugs from Canada to take advantage of their lower price triggered ongoing communication between senior U.S. officials and Canada’s Ministry of Health over Canadian concerns about maintaining sufficient drug supplies.
When life-saving inhalers sell in Europe at 1.5% to about 8% of their list price in the U.S., they’re bound to attract scrutiny, especially in a time when inequities in prescription drug prices are fueling more and more legislation to reduce U.S. prices.
In keeping with a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will not implement a final rule removing the anti-kickback safe harbor for the rebates drug companies pay pharmacy benefit managers until Jan. 1, 2032.
With drug shortages becoming a fact of life, U.S. President Joe Biden said he plans to issue a presidential determination to broaden the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) authorities under the Defense Production Act to enable investment in the domestic manufacturing of essential medicines, medical countermeasures and other critical inputs that the president deems essential to the national defense.
The COVID-19 pandemic might be officially over, but future variants could still pose a threat, and serious health consequences of the causative virus continue to arise, a fact that has prompted the U.S. government to offer Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. about $326 million to develop and manufacture a next-generation COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy.
The tension of clashing politics, policies and prescription drug pricing is coming to a head as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) acts on his threat to hold presidential appointments in the health arena hostage until President Joe Biden commits to do more to bring down drug prices.
U.S. FDA commissioner Robert Califf went to Capitol Hill ostensibly to answer questions about the agency’s budget request for fiscal 2024, but the conversation quickly focused on issues such as baby formula and food supply security.
