Prescription Drugs

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration wants to make it easier for patients to understand why they’ve been prescribed specific medications and how to ensure they don’t suffer any preventable adverse reactions when taking them. Toward that end the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has proposed using new tools to monitor costs associated with prescription drugs so it can hold pharma manufacturers accountable for what Medicaid programs pay for them. The Notice of Proposed Rule Making was made through... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a 2020 decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that resulted in Teva Pharmaceuticals being found liable for $235 million for infringing on a GlaxoSmithKline... Read More

At age 93, struggling with the effects of a stroke, heart failure and recurrent cancer, Teri Sheridan was ready to end her life using New Jersey's law that allows medically assisted suicide -- but she was bedbound, too sick to... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Texas case that could cut off access to the most commonly used abortion medication has started on a path through the legal system that could quickly lead to the Supreme Court. The drug, mifepristone, was approved... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bill introduced by Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, aims to ensure that rural Americans and senior citizens have access to information about their prescription medications — even without internet access. “Many rural Mainers and seniors don’t have reliable... Read More

BOSTON — Encouraged by positive topline results from its phase 3 trial for its new therapy for adults with schizophrenia, Karuna Therapeutics announced Monday that it is on track to submit KarXT to the Food and Drug Administration for approval... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., reintroduced a trio of bills Wednesday aimed at reforming how the Food and Drug Administration approves and manages opioid medications. “In the last year, more than 106,000 Americans and 1,400... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration’s contentious approval of a questionable Alzheimer’s drug took another hit Thursday as congressional investigators called the process “rife with irregularities.” The 18-month investigation by two House committees detailed “atypical collaboration” between FDA... Read More

TOKYO — Japanese Pharma firm Takeda has agreed to pay $4 billion in cash for a single drug invented by Nimbus Therapeutics, a Boston, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. The drug Takeda is buying (NDI-034858) blocks selective allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (also... Read More

WASHINGTON — The United States will not support extending a Dec. 17 deadline for waiving intellectual property protection for COVID-19 tests and treatments, and instead is asking the U.S. International Trade Commission to first investigate market dynamics such as pricing,... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Expedited drug approvals slowed this year as the Food and Drug Administration's controversial accelerated pathway came under new scrutiny from Congress, government watchdogs and some of the agency’s own leaders. With less than a month remaining in... Read More

Drugstore retailers CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens on Wednesday announced a $10 billion settlement of thousands of state and local lawsuits accusing the companies of mishandling their sales of opioid painkillers. Walmart has tentatively agreed to pay another $3 billion to... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to highlight his administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs on Friday as part of his three-state Western tour this week, as he confronts a sobering inflation report in the waning... Read More

WASHINGTON — According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly seven in 10 adults between the ages of 40 and 79 used at least one prescription drug in the past 30 days in the United States, and approximately... Read More

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former northern Virginia MinuteClinic nurse practitioner is suing CVS Health after she claims she was fired for refusing to dispense contraceptives for religious reasons. The lawsuit says Paige Casey avoided giving out the contraceptives for 2... Read More

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida's governor announced Wednesday his state is suing the Food and Drug Administration to speed up permission to import drugs from Canada. Canadian drugs for diabetes, hepatitis C and other common illnesses are less expensive than most... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — After decades of failed attempts, Democrats passed legislation that aims to rein in the soaring costs of drugs for some in the United States. It will take years for people to realize some of the most significant savings promised... Read More

CLEVELAND — Pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart must pay $650.5 million to help with the opioid recovery efforts of two Ohio counties, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. He agreed with officials in Lake and Trumbull counties that the pharmacies’... Read More

Pfizer will spend about $5.4 billion to buy Global Blood Therapeutics as the pharmaceutical giant continues to invest some of the cash influx reaped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer said Monday that the acquisition will boost its capabilities in rare... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, a pharmaceutical company has asked for permission to sell a birth control pill over the counter in the U.S. HRA Pharma’s application on Monday sets up a high-stakes decision for health regulators amid... Read More

WASHINGTON — In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, demand for various forms of contraceptives, including the so-called morning-after pill, and long-lasting forms of birth control, has... Read More

CABELL COUNTY, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia on Monday ruled in favor of drug distribution companies accused in a lawsuit of creating a public nuisance by distributing opioids that kill thousands of Americans each year. The judge... Read More

WASHINGTON — A congressional panel cast suspicions on a global business consulting firm Wednesday as a potential villain in the opioid epidemic that has killed more than a half-million Americans. A McKinsey & Co. official admitted to earning at least... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to weigh in on a drug patent case the outcome of which could ultimately be worth billions of dollars. The case, Amgen v. Sanofi, emanates from the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation. Experts... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday is expected to vote to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for consumers at $35 per month. If also passed by the Senate, which is expected to vote the measure up by Easter, the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health panel Thursday spent the majority of their time considering the future of the Food and Drug Administration's so-called Accelerated Approval Program. A number of the 20 different health care-related bills... Read More

WASHINGTON — A House panel scheduled to kick the tires on roughly 20 different health care-related bills on Thursday spent time considering the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to grant accelerated approval to the first disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease... Read More

WASHINGTON — As the Senate Finance Committee waded into the hot-button topic of prescription drug prices on Wednesday two things were clear from the outset: everyone agrees something needs to be done to make drugs like insulin more affordable and... Read More