Category: As Supercommittee Fails, ‘Doc Fix’ Looms

Betsy McKay
The supercommittee, seen here in September, is expected to report it has failed to reach agreement on deficit reduction.
For the health-care lobby, the collapse of the deficit-cutting supercommittee marks the beginning, not the end, of the industry’s efforts to defend its interests in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Under the negotiations that […]

MEwens
Next September tobacco companies were due to start using graphic warnings on cigarette packs and in ads that highlighted the consequences of smoking and of secondhand smoke.
That may not happen now that a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction keeping the FDA from implementing the changes. As the WSJ reports, U.S. Judge Richard […]

MEwens
Cloning Technique Success: Researchers reported in Nature that they created 13 early-stage human embryos that were partial clones of diabetic patients, albeit abnormal ones, with three sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two, the WSJ reports. That extra set would have to be eliminated if the cloning technique were ever to be […]

MEwens
At first blush, Washington’s tough talk about fiscal austerity doesn’t look good for drug makers. Government programs including Medicare and Medicaid spend $99 billion each year on prescription medicines, according to Washington consulting firm Avalere Health, making for a ripe cost-cutting target.
Not surprisingly, drug stocks have dropped with the rest of the market […]

MEwens
Curbing HIV: Two new studies show the same drugs used to treat HIV infection can also be used to lower the risk of heterosexual transmission of the virus, the WSJ reports. The studies, conducted in Africa, showed antiretroviral drugs marketed by Gilead Sciences could help cut the risk of infection by at least […]

Katherine Hobson
Not Going Away: Republicans continued to support Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to overhaul Medicare despite its apparent role in an election defeat this week, the WSJ reports. Ryan’s plan, which would convert Medicare to subsidies with which seniors could purchase private insurance, was a flashpoint in a special congressional election in New […]

MEwens
URL Pharma’s gout treatment Colcrys has been controversial from the get-go. The active ingredient in the drug, colchicine, has been used for ages; URL Pharma commissioned studies to show it was safe and effective, won three years of marketing exclusivity from the FDA to treat gout flareups and promptly raised the retail price […]

Katherine Hobson
Capsugel Sale: Pfizer is selling its drug capsule-making unit, Capsugel, to private-equity firm KKR for $2.38 billion in cash, the WSJ reports. The drug maker is reviewing all its business units, and an analyst report released last month said the company might spin off enough businesses to reduce its annual revenue base […]

MEwens
A year ago today, President Barack Obama signed the health-care overhaul bill.
As we wrote then, “the executive and legislative branches have been the center of attention in Washington during the health-care fight so far, but the stage could soon be shared by the judiciary.” Indeed, there have been 25 cases […]

MEwens
Radiation Risk: The existence and extent of the radiation risk to human health in Japan will hinge on whether the nuclear reactors experience a full or partial meltdown and whether the wind blows radiation out to sea or inland, the WSJ reports. Yesterday there was a temporary spike in radiation levels in Tokyo, […]