Maker of much-debated ALS drug says it may stop selling it after study showed it didn’t work

WASHINGTON — The maker of a much-debated drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease said Friday its therapy failed to help patients in a large follow-up study, but stopped short of committing to follow through on a prior pledge to pull the drug from the U.S. market. The Food and Drug Administration approved Amylyx Pharmaceuticals’ Relyvrio in … Read more

Joe Biden To Call For Lower Drug Costs In State Of The Union

President Joe Biden thinks his administration’s actions to reduce the price of prescription drugs represent some of his biggest achievements in office. He is about to call for doing even more. During Thursday night’s State of the Union address, Biden will propose strengthening the federal government’s ability to negotiate down the prices of drugs in … Read more

Pharmacy orders impacted by cyberattack

Orders at several pharmacies have been delayed after a cyberattack was detected at UnitedHealth’s technology unit, Change Healthcare. The company said issues began Wednesday afternoon and some applications were unavailable. In a post later on Wednesday, Change Healthcare said it was experiencing network interruptions related to cybersecurity issues. Security experts “took immediate action” once the … Read more

What you need to know about health coverage for new weight loss drugs

Many U.S. companies are grappling with health insurance coverage issues for workers when it comes to GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. Despite the hefty price tag — typically between $1,000 to $1,500 a month — consumers are clamoring for drugs like Novo Nordisk‘s Wegovy and Eli Lilly‘s Zepbound. This class of drugs, historically used to … Read more

How to get COVID-19 antiviral pills like Paxlovid

For some people with COVID-19, antiviral pills that can be taken at home can lessen the chances of winding up in the hospital. But the pills have to be taken right away, so you must get tested, obtain a prescription and get the medication within five days of symptoms appearing. The medication is intended for … Read more

EBay will pay $59 million settlement over pill presses sold online as US undergoes overdose epidemic

WASHINGTON — The e-commerce giant eBay will pay $59 million in a settlement with the Justice Department over thousands of pill press machines sold on the platform, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The machines can be used to manufacture counterfeit pills that look just like prescription pills but instead can be laced with substances like … Read more

As Canada’s health systems strain, more private care would mark ‘deterioration’: minister – National

Health Minister Mark Holland says while some provinces are using private health care as a stop-gap to try to address system strains, health-care delivery must stay publicly funded. His comments come after two doctors last week warned that the crisis in Canada’s emergency rooms has become “horrific and inhumane,” and after the Ontario Hospital Association warned … Read more

Florida can import prescription drugs from Canada, US regulators say

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday cleared the way for Florida’s first-in-the-nation plan to import prescription drugs from Canada, a long-sought approach to accessing cheaper medications that follows decades of frustration with U.S. drug prices. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the plan into law in 2019, but it required federal review and … Read more

Medicare drug price negotiations what’s ahead in 2024

Activists protest the price of prescription drug costs in front of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) building on October 06, 2022 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images U.S. patients and drugmakers will get a first glimpse of how much Medicare can negotiate down drug prices in 2024, setting the … Read more

Pharmacist refused emergency contraception prescription. Court to decide if that was discrimination

MINNEAPOLIS — Attorneys for a woman who was denied emergency contraception in 2019 told the Minnesota Court of Appeals Thursday that the pharmacist who refused to fill the prescription discriminated against her on the basis of her sex. But an attorney for George Badeaux, the pharmacist at Thrifty White in central Minnesota, said his refusal … Read more