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Florida...won authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to directly import prescription drugs from Canada, the first state to get such approval for a strategy that could lower prices for medicines...U.S. drug costs are higher than in Canada and other countries where government-run healthcare systems negotiate prices for individual prescription drugs...But importation faces challenges. In the past, Canada's government has opposed any U.S. plans to buy prescription medicines, citing threats to the country's drugs supply or higher costs for its own citizens...READ MORE

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, observed on October 28, is an annual event that addresses the ongoing opioid crisis and promotes proper medication disposal. It presents an opportunity for communities to come together to combat drug misuse and abuse. Pharmacists, as trusted health care professionals, play a crucial role in this initiative by providing education, facilitating drug disposal, and offering Naloxone training to save lives...READ MORE

If a recommendation by the nation’s top health agency to reclassify marijuana is adopted, the drug could gain wider acceptance as a medical treatment, pot businesses could see their bottom line boosted and a path toward national legalization could be charted, experts said Thursday...
The Department of Health and Human Services this week recommended that marijuana be removed from the category reserved for the riskiest drugs, such as heroin and LSD, and moved to one for certain prescription drugs. The decision to reclassify marijuana ultimately resides with the Drug Enforcement Administration, which could take months to complete its evaluation...READ MORE

Three women are suing the cancer blood test developer Grail claiming that, during their time as high-level sales employees, they suffered harassment, discrimination and ultimately retaliation under “a fraternity house” type of toxic work culture led by senior staff...the three separate lawsuits said that Grail failed to properly respond to the plaintiffs' complaints of a “sexually charged” and hostile work environment, including racist remarks made by a coworker in one case. They also each claim they were denied equal pay under California law...READ MORE

...Eli Lilly announced...a new website that will allow patients to get a weight loss drug prescription through a telehealth provider — a move, the company says, that will improve access to the extremely popular and effective drugs, including its recently approved drug, Zepbound...The new website, called LillyDirect, joins a growing list of platforms like WeightWatchers and Ro offering weight loss drugs through telehealth, but is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company...“We’re used to buying consumer goods directly from manufacturers all the time on online websites,” said Lilly CEO David Ricks. “It really hasn’t been an option that’s been provided before” for prescription drugs...Ricks said the new platform will make it easier for patients to access the drugs, cutting out the need to go to the doctor to get a prescription and then to a pharmacy to fill it. Patients who are prescribed Zepbound will be eligible for Lilly’s at-home prescription delivery service...READ MORE

It was August 2020. The pandemic was in full swing, straining an already weary workforce hit by a decade of relentless budget cuts and rising demands. ..One by one, the pharmacists dialed into a weekly conference call with their boss. He could have empathized with them or addressed the reality of their pressure-cooker environment – one that breeds medication errors and creates missed opportunities to prevent potentially deadly mistakes...Instead, CVS District Leader Khalil Haidar turned up the heat. He harped on his Texas-and-Louisiana-based team to hit corporate quotas: Sell more store memberships. Push for more prescription pickups. Vaccinate more people. He threatened discipline and staff cuts unless pharmacists convinced at least five customers that week to get a flu shot before flu season had even officially started...READ MORE

President Biden touted the potential cost savings of Medicare‘s first-ever price negotiations for widely used prescription drugs on Tuesday as he struggles to convince Americans that he’s improved their lives as he runs for reelection...The negotiation process was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act...Any lower prices won’t take effect for three years, and the path forward could be further complicated by litigation from drugmakers and heavy criticism from Republicans...READ MORE

The backlash against science is continuing, with Pew Research Center tracking a souring of U.S. views of its impact on society and a more than 100% jump in the proportion of U.S. adults who distrust scientists...Pew’s October 2023 poll found 57% of U.S. adults had a mostly positive view of the impact of science. As the number of people with favorable views has fallen, the proportion of adults who think science has had a mostly negative impact has more than doubled to 8%. One-third of Americans said science has caused an equal mix of positive and negative changes...READ MORE

A trio of House committees unveiled new legislation...to lower costs and increase transparency for patients...The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act includes provisions from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Ways and Means Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee and is designed to help patients be more informed when making healthcare decisions regarding cost of care, treatment and services...It requires hospitals, payers, labs, imaging providers and ambulatory surgical centers to list prices they will charge patients through machine-readable files and mandates insurers and pharmacy benefit managers disclose drug rebates and discounts, according to a news release...READ MORE

A regulatory affairs specialist has pleaded guilty to forging FDA documents and leading his bosses to believe they had a green light to put their medical devices on the market...Peter Stoll III created counterfeit letters that copied the FDA’s letterhead and the digital signature of an agency official. He said two products developed by his employer Aesculap, a B. Braun company, had received 510(k) clearances—when, in fact, they had never been submitted for review in the first place...“Not obtaining this required clearance is bad enough, but impersonating FDA to cover up this failure is truly egregious and puts patients at risk,”...Stoll pleaded guilty to one felony count under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, for causing the introduction of misbranded and adulterated medical devices into interstate commerce. According to the DOJ, he faces a maximum of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine...READ MORE