Hello, everyone, and how are you today? Cloudy skies are hovering this morning over the Pharmalot campus, where things have settled down now that the short person has left for an institution of higher learning and the official mascots have assumed their formal snoozing positions. As for us, we are dutifully concocting a few needed cups of stimulation as we dig in for another busy day. No doubt, you can relate. Our choice today is roasted coconut. And so, the time to get cracking. As always, we have assembled some items of interest. So hoist your own cup to a successful day and drop us a line when something interesting arises. …
Across the U.S., patients are bracing for “D-Day,” the date their insurance companies will stop covering weight loss drugs, STAT tells us. Doctors are getting letters from insurance investigators discouraging new prescriptions. And pharmacies are being told by insurers to check for a specific diagnosis when filling prescriptions. The moves are part of a wide-ranging effort by insurers to contain spiraling costs. For a while, these off-label prescriptions were getting covered without any issues. But starting this year, insurers have started aggressively cracking down on the medications, which have a list price of at least $900 a month and are meant to be taken indefinitely.
A Louisiana woman filed a lawsuit claiming that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly failed to adequately warn patients about the possible risk of severe stomach problems associated with their drugs, Ozempic and Mounjaro, NBC News reports. The lawsuit filed by Jacklyn Bjorkland, who says she was “severely injured” after taking the two diabetes drugs, is the first to allege the medicines can cause gastrointestinal injuries. The lawsuit alleged the drugmakers failed to disclose other health problems allegedly caused by the medications, including severe gastroparesis, also known as stomach paralysis, as well as “persistent” vomiting.