And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? This is, you may recall, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda has possibilities. We plan to catch up on sundry tasks, promenade with the official mascots and escort Mrs. Pharmalot to an event or two. We also hope to make time for another listening party, where the rotation will likely include this, this, this, this and this. And what about you? This remains a fine time to enjoy the great outdoors. Beaches, lakes and walking trails are beckoning. And consider all those lonely pumpkins and apples that are waiting for you to take them home. Or if you prefer to enjoy the great indoors, you could curl up with a good book or binge watch moving pictures on the telly. Or maybe this is a chance to catch up with someone special. Well, whatever you do, have a grand time. But be safe. Enjoy, and see you soon…
A major U.S. insurer is taking an unusually hard line on doctors who it says improperly prescribed the diabetes treatment Ozempic, escalating the ongoing war over drugs that have become wildly popular for weight loss, Bloomberg News reports. Elevance Health’s Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield requested money from health-care providers and alleged they falsified patient medical records in ways that led the insurer to cover the medications. The amount demanded in a few cases totaled more than $1 million. The providers dispute Anthem’s claims, saying they prescribed the shots appropriately. They didn’t get any money for the drugs, which is paid to pharmacies. One doctor said he thinks the company wants to discourage using the drugs for unapproved purposes, a practice called off-label prescribing, which is legal and accepted in American medicine.
Two U.S. senators are aiming to crack down on deceptive or misleading online promotion of weight-loss and other prescription drugs by telehealth firms and social-media influencers who profit from their posts, The Wall Street Journal reports. New bipartisan legislation proposed by Sens. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) and Mike Braun (R., Ind.) would authorize the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to warn and potentially impose costly fines on those who post false information online about medicines, or omit important information about a drug’s safety risks. As with company drug advertisements, social-media posts sponsored by drug makers are required by the FDA to cite the risks. But the senators say there is a regulatory gap in FDA oversight when it comes to ads from telehealth companies and influencers if there isn’t an established relationship with a drug manufacturer.
