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As I stood up to end our visit, Frank indicated he had one more question. "You know those commercials for Cialis?" he asked. "Would that be all right for me to try?" Here we go with the bathtubs again, I think to myself. Toned silver-hairs in side-by-side bathtubs on a deck somewhere looking out at the sunset. Give me a break. (John Henning Schumann, 4/29)

Americans are divided along party lines in terms of the presidents they like, the news networks they watch, and even where they live. They disagree sharply on the Affordable Care Act and almost everything else in health care. But there is one issue Republicans and Democrats agree on: They want to lower the costs or prescription drugs. (Drew Altman, 5/2)

Around Washington, there’s a lot of talk about the prices of prescription drugs. But a new player has emerged into the public debate known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMSs) that is drawing considerable attention to their role in rising prices. PBMs serve as the middlemen in drug pricing system, by making deals with manufacturers and pharmacies. Their impact on our drug pricing system is enormous, in fact the three largest PBMs control an astounding 75-85 percent of the market and have upwards of $250 billion in estimated revenues. (Matthew Kandrach, 5/2)

Iowa, it turns out, is the envy of the nation for a unique lifesaving, cost-saving and environmentally friendly approach to providing no-cost medicines to people in need. It's based on reclaiming and redistributing unused prescription drugs through a drug donor repository. In its 10 years, the program, which will get $521,000 in state funding this year, has provided $20.2 million worth of drugs to people in need while saving money for taxpayers who subsidize government medical programs. The program keeps unused medicines out of sewer systems, landfills and waterways, and saves providers the expense of incinerating them, which can run between 50 cents and a dollar per pound. (Rekha Basu, 4/27)

In a biotech M&A desert, investors go crazy for any sign of water. That makes it tempting to dismiss the burst of M&A speculation around Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. that erupted on Friday. The company announced CEO Ed Kaye's planned departure in September, which spurred rumors of a possible buyout, pushing Sarepta shares up as much as 13 percent.  (Max Nisen, 4/28)

Many of us have found generic medicines to be good alternatives to more expensive brand-name drugs. But sometimes, they are not available. If we need a certain pharmaceutical, we have no choice but to pay the higher price for the brand-name version. There may be good, acceptable reasons for that in many situations. But sometimes, there are not. (5/1)

Now is a good time for Republicans in Congress and the president to take a step back from their divisive efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, and start working to solve the real problems people face, including rising prescription drug prices. To do that, we have to start by listening to Minnesotans and people across the country. (Sen. Al Franken, 4/29)

You'll have to excuse Merck & Co. Inc. investors for being distracted on Tuesday; it's a little hard for them to focus on a somewhat fluky earnings report when the trajectory of a multi-billion-dollar cancer-drug market is about to be decided. Merck's first-quarter results topped analyst expectations, helped by the government and favorable foreign-exchange rates. (Max Nisen, 5/2)

Two decades ago, our system for getting drugs from doctors’ prescription pads to their patients was in desperate need of a revamp. If someone had told the health care industry then that electronic prescribing would become common practice, many would have been skeptical at best. Yet this method is now the way that most people get and fill their prescriptions. (Larry Blandford, 4/27)