Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so predictable routine of online meetings, calls, and deadlines has returned, But what can you do? The world, such as it is, keeps spinning. To cope, we are firing up the coffee kettle and brewing cups of stimulation. Our choice today is maple bourbon. Please feel free to join us. Meanwhile, we have assembled the latest list of tidbits for you to peruse. We hope you have a smashing day and conquer the world. And of course, do keep in touch. We value your postcards and telegrams. …
House Republicans have drafted drug-shortage legislation that differs significantly from the approach Democrats propose to stem shortages of chemotherapies and other critical medicines that hospitals typically use, STAT explains. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are focused on what they say are the underlying economic reasons for shortages. Hospitals band together to negotiate drug prices, and makers of generic injectables say those group purchasing organizations can drive prices down so low that they stop making certain drugs or cannot afford to maintain manufacturing facilities, which then leads to manufacturing interruptions.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first version of over-the-counter naloxone from a nonprofit company, a move that could yield cheap and even free doses of the overdose drug, The Hill writes. RiVive, made by Harm Reduction Therapeutics, is the second over-the-counter naloxone product approved by FDA this year. In the year ending February 2023, more than 105,000 fatal overdoses were reported in the U.S. as being primarily driven by synthetic opioids including illicit fentanyl. The company anticipates RiVive will be available in early 2024, mostly to harm-reduction organizations and state governments for costs lower than other opioid-antagonist nasal sprays.