In other news:
Gallup, Rollins Survey Reveals Americans’ Public Health Priorities, Trust “Health care access and affordability was ranked by Americans as the highest public health priority for government leaders to address. One in four selected this issue as their highest priority, and more than half (52%) rated it in their top three priorities. However, the percentage varies across subgroups.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents ranked ‘ensuring safe water and food’ (24%) as their highest priority, followed by reducing chronic disease (16%) and health care access and affordability (19%). Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents ranked health care access and affordability (32%) as the highest priority, followed by food and water safety (13%) and strengthening safety net programs (12%).”
About health insurance/insurers
Independence Blue Cross excludes accelerated approval drugs from coverage for 18 months “Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross has set a benefit exclusion for products that receive accelerated approval from the FDA in most plans.
The health insurer said in a notice that drugs, biologics or gene therapies that earn an accelerated approval "are considered a benefit contract exclusion for most plans" and as such are not eligible for reimbursement for 18 months after the approval is made.
Independence said in the notice that these therapies will be covered after the 18-month mark based on certain criteria, including that they do not have a traditional FDA approval in place and that the accelerated approval was based on a surrogate endpoint.”
Comment: This move is a major change from insurance policy and may not be allowed in other states or with federal programs.
About pharma
After $2.2B Zantac settlement, GSK now faces investor lawsuit over the heartburn medication “In October, when GSK agreed to a $2.2 billion settlement to resolve approximately 80,000 lawsuits brought by users of Zantac, it appeared that the drugmaker’s legal issues with the heartburn treatment were largely in its rearview mirror.
But four months later, the company is embroiled in more Zantac litigation—this time with investorOn Tuesday in federal court in Pennsylvania, a group of shareholders filed a proposed class-action complaint, accusing GSK of hiding an internal report which suggested that Zantac might contain a cancer-causing compound.”
Federal appeals court axes $650M opioid judgment against CVS, Walmart and Walgreens “A federal appeals court axed a $650 million judgment and corresponding injunction against CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walmart stemming from a lawsuit filed by two Ohio counties in 2018.
A federal jury in Cleveland concluded in November 2021 that an oversupply of addictive pain pills and the diversion of those opioids to the black market created a public nuisance in the counties and that the pharmacies helped cause it, as Reuters reported.
In 2022, a Cleveland federal judge ordered CVS, Walmart and Walgreens to pay a combined $650.9 million to help the two counties address, or abate, the harms caused by the epidemic.”
About healthcare personnel
Trump Administration Live Updates: Judge Temporarily Halts Federal Worker Resignation Program “A federal judge in Massachusetts has stopped, at least temporarily, the Trump administration’s effort to get federal employees to leave their jobs by accepting delayed resignation offers. The judge said the government could not move forward with the program — which gave workers until 11:59 p.m. to accept offers to stop working and collect pay until September — pending a hearing Monday afternoon on a legal challenge. The administration said Thursday that more than 40,000 workers had already accepted.”
However: Trump Administration Live Updates: Nearly All Jobs Are Said to Be Cut at Aid Agency “The Trump administration plans to retain only about 290 of the more than 10,000 employees worldwide at the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to three people with knowledge of the planned cuts to the work force. The cuts were communicated to agency leaders in a call on Thursday. Most of the employees expected to stay on are those who specialize in health and humanitarian assistance. About 800 grants and contracts awarded through U.S.A.I.D. were also starting to be canceled on Thursday, the people said.