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Before the Cleveland Clinic said it would not administer Aduhelm, the new FDA-approved Alzheimer's drug, the hospital system was promoting the unproven drug on its social media accounts. Cleveland Clinic was the first major medical center to say it would not use Aduhelm, and two hospital systems have followed the clinic's lead. But the abrupt change could confuse patients, who were told less than two weeks ago by the clinic that the drug offered "hope." (Herman, 7/19)

Never mind the conflicts, there are drugs to approve. In a sorry turn of events, the Food and Drug Administration is facing a confidence-draining debacle thanks to its controversial approval of a pricey Alzheimer’s drug for which evidence appears suspect, at best. Approval standards are being questioned and the acting FDA commissioner asked a federal watchdog to probe its dealings with Biogen, because the company quietly worked to curry favor with a top FDA official in charge of reviewing its drug. (Silverman, 7/19)

In the latest drama surrounding Purdue Pharma, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong lashed out at members of the Sackler family who control the drug maker for threatening to seek sanctions against several states that have panned a bankruptcy proposal filed by the company. In a blistering statement, Tong maintained that attorneys for the Raymond Sackler family on Thursday sought to “intimidate” Connecticut, three other states, and the District of Columbia by intending to file a motion that argued the governments lacked evidence to object to the bankruptcy plan. The motion, he added, was withdrawn on Friday morning under “considerable pressure.” (7/16)

Johnson & Johnson is exploring a plan to offload liabilities from widespread Baby Powder litigation into a newly created business that would then seek bankruptcy protection, according to seven people familiar with the matter. During settlement discussions, one of the healthcare conglomerate’s attorneys has told plaintiffs’ lawyers that J&J could pursue the bankruptcy plan, which could result in lower payouts for cases that do not settle beforehand, some of the people said. Plaintiffs’ lawyers would initially be unable to stop J&J from taking such a step, though could pursue legal avenues to challenge it later. (Spector, Dinapoli and Levine, 7/19)

Pot has gone retail. In the 1990s, nameless plastic baggies marked with an X for potency, jars adorned with pot leaves and sexually suggestive imagery were the default marketing tactics for marijuana-related products. As legalization grows, with recreational marijuana legal for adults in 18 states and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana legal in 37 states, investment dollars have poured in — and the largest players in the industry are putting out professionalized products. (Popken, 7/18)

KHN: Journalists’ Topics Range From Rural Pharmacy Deserts To Opioid Overdoses 

KHN senior Colorado correspondent Markian Hawryluk discussed how a rural Colorado town is crowdsourcing ways to get prescription medicines delivered on KUNC’s “Colorado Edition” on Monday. ... KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal discussed how medical education changed during the pandemic on NPR’s “Here and Now” on Tuesday. ... KHN freelancer Amy Worden chatted about high vaccine hesitancy among prison staffers on Newsy’s “Morning Rush” on Tuesday. (7/17)