Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. Moreover, this is shaping up to be a sunny one, as well. This is especially welcome news after a few rainy days that left the Pharmalot campus feeling rather soggy. The official mascots are especially pleased since they can now bound about the grounds without getting soaked. So we are celebrating with yet another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is toasted coconut. Please feel free to join us. And as always, here are a few items of interest we have assembled for your reading pleasure. We hope you have a smashing day and conquer the world. And of course, do stay in touch. …
President Biden wants to more than double the size of Medicare’s new drug price negotiation program and will preview the plan in his State of the Union address, STAT writes. While the current program will eventually allow Medicare to negotiate the prices of up to 20 drugs per year, Biden will propose increasing that number to 50, and bringing more drugs into the negotiation process sooner. The expansion is one of several appeals Biden will make to Congress to build on health care measures to lower prescription drug costs and protect patients from surprise medical bills, But the policies have little chance of being enacted with a Republican House of Representatives this year.
Four drugmakers seeking to scuttle Medicare’s drug pricing program will have their day in federal court Thursday to defend a gamut of legal challenges against the scheme, Bloomberg Law notes. Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and Novo Nordisk were given a green light by U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi to present arguments made in four separate lawsuits in one hearing. The meeting will lay out the legal battle between the pharmaceutical industry and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, a plan created to slash the costs of prescription drugs on which Medicare spends the most money.