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The pharmaceutical industry has invented a new art form: finding ways to make their wares seem like joyous must-have treatments, while often minimizing lackluster efficacy and risks.
吃瓜不打烊 and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and state media this week to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
With medical devices, recalls are not always what they seem. In some recalls, including some of the most serious, the FDA and the manufacturers let doctors and hospitals continue to use the devices.
Former President Donald Trump has distanced himself from a Heritage Foundation document that outlines positions on abortion and a range of other social issues. But Democrats view it as a window into the far right鈥檚 to-do list and a clear opening for political attack.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promises better tests are being developed, but the episode points to vulnerabilities in the country鈥檚 defense against emerging outbreaks.
Although Novo Nordisk and Lilly lump together the pharmacies that compound semaglutide and tirzepatide with internet cowboys selling fake drugs, there is a distinction. The FDA has offered Americans little clarity about the vast gray and black markets for the drugs.
The story of MitraClip, a device Dr. Oz helped invent to treat faulty heart valves, is a cautionary tale about the science, business, and regulation of medical technology.
The Supreme Court has issued its final opinions for the 2023-24 term, including decisions affecting abortion access, the opioid epidemic, and how the federal government functions. In this special episode, Sarah Somers , legal director of the National Health Law Program, joins 吃瓜不打烊鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss how the justices disposed of the term鈥檚 health-related cases and what those decisions could mean going forward.
A Supreme Court ruling restricting federal power will likely have seismic ramifications for health policy. A flood of litigation 鈥 with plaintiffs like small businesses, drugmakers, and hospitals challenging regulations they say are too expensive or burdensome and not authorized by law 鈥 could leave the country with a patchwork of disparate health regulations.
In what will certainly be remembered as a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has overruled a 40-year-old precedent that gave federal agencies, rather than judges, the power to interpret ambiguous laws passed by Congress. Administrative experts say the decision will dramatically change the way key health agencies do business. Also, the court decided not to decide whether a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care overrides Idaho鈥檚 near-total ban on abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join 吃瓜不打烊 chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to the FDA鈥檚 approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, ruling unanimously that the anti-abortion doctor group that filed the suit lacked standing. But abortion opponents are expected to pursue other strategies to ban or restrict the medication. Meanwhile, the Biden administration moves to stop the inclusion of medical debt on individual credit reports, and former President Donald Trump tries to claim credit for $35 insulin. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Rachana Pradhan of 吃瓜不打烊, and Emmarie Huetteman of 吃瓜不打烊 join 吃瓜不打烊 chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF president and CEO Drew Altman about KFF鈥檚 new 鈥淗ealth Policy 101鈥 primer.
The nursing home industry 鈥 as well as a healthy number of Congress members 鈥 are all pushing back on the Biden administration鈥檚 new rules on nursing home staffing. Industry officials say that there are not enough workers to meet the requirements and that the costs would be prohibitive. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to force Republicans to explain their exact positions on assuring access to contraceptives and in vitro fertilization. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest 吃瓜不打烊-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature about a free cruise that turned out to be anything but.
June is when the Supreme Court typically issues rulings in the major cases it hears during that year鈥檚 term. This year, those interested in health policy are awaiting decisions in two abortion-related cases and one that could reshuffle the way health policies (and all other federal policies) are made. In this special episode, KFF鈥檚 Laurie Sobel, associate director for women鈥檚 health policy, joins Julie Rovner for a review of the cases and a preview of how the court might rule.
Mounting evidence suggests psychoactive drugs including LSD, ketamine, mushrooms, and MDMA can be powerful treatments for severe depression and PTSD. But not everyone is convinced. And even if such drugs gain FDA approval, safety protocols could render them extremely expensive.
Federal regulations prevent gay and bisexual men from donating tissue, such as corneas, ligaments, and blood vessels. Similar restrictions have been relaxed or lifted for donated blood and organs in recent years.
Johns Dental Laboratories stopped making the Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance last year after a 吃瓜不打烊-CBS News investigation into allegations of patient harm. The company had 鈥渘ever鈥 reported any complaints about its products to the FDA, according to the agency.
A decade after Congress told the FDA to expedite the approval of more effective sunscreens, the federal government still has not approved sunscreen ingredients that are safely being used around the world. Meanwhile, skin cancer is the nation鈥檚 most common cancer.
The FDA told Amgen to test whether a quarter-dose of its lung cancer drug worked as well as the amount recommended on the product label. It did and with fewer side effects. But Amgen is sticking to the higher dose 鈥 which earns it an additional $180,000 a year per patient.
Cattle across the country are infected by the H5N1 bird flu. The virus isn鈥檛 spreading among people 鈥 but if it evolves to do that, fears of another pandemic could be realized.
A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida this week, dramatically restricting access to the procedure not just in the nation鈥檚 third-most-populous state but across the South. Patients from states with even more restrictive bans had been flooding in since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Meanwhile, the CEO of the health behemoth UnitedHealth Group appeared before committees in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers grilled him about the February cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare and how its ramifications are being felt months later. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of 吃瓜不打烊 join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
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