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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a series of pharmacy benefit management reforms into law...including bills that don’t discriminate against pharmacies they don’t have a relationship with...The signing of the three bills...comes less than a week after the Federal Trade Commission was deadlocked on whether to investigate PBM contracting practices...“For too long, unlicensed pharmacy benefit managers have been able to engage in practices that drive up costs for Michiganders whose lives and health depend on critical prescription drugs like insulin,” said Whitmer in a statement Wednesday. “This bill brings much-needed transparency to our healthcare system.”...READ MORE

Following Pfizer and AbbVie, GlaxoSmithKline is the latest drug major to launch a trade secrets case against an ex-staffer. For GSK, the case comes after several other high-profile trade secrets suits that ended in settlements...GSK accused former employee Denise Brooks of trade secrets theft. The company says that on Jan. 13, the defendant “abruptly” resigned from her job as a GSK quality systems lead, a position that gave her “wide-ranging access” to proprietary company data, confidential methods and highly-sensitive trade secrets...READ MORE

Time is running out on a bid by prosecutors and Nevada prison officials to carry out the first execution in the state in almost 16 years, with hearings unfinished in federal court in Las Vegas and decisions pending before the state Supreme Court...One of several drugs that would be used for convicted mass killer Zane Michael Floyd’s lethal injection is due to expire Feb. 28, and because state law calls for two weeks’ notice to schedule an execution...READ MORE

Native American tribes in the U.S. have reached settlements over the toll of opioids totaling $590 million with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the country’s three largest drug distribution companies, according to a court filing...The filing in U.S. District Court in Cleveland lays out the details of the settlements with Johnson & Johnson and distribution companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson...All federally recognized tribes will be able to participate in the settlements, even if they did not sue over opioids...More than 400 tribes and intertribal organizations representing about 80% of tribal citizens have sued over opioids...READ MORE

A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary came under attack in court...for attempting to use the bankruptcy process to resolve tens of thousands of claims that its baby powder and other talc-based products caused cancer...The subsidiary, LTL Management, is fighting to remain in bankruptcy, arguing that is the best way to reach an "equitable, efficient, and consensual resolution" of more than 38,000 claims alleging that J&J's talc-based products caused cancers including mesothelioma. J&J maintains that its consumer talc products are safe...J&J used a legal maneuver known as the "Texas two-step," which allows companies to split valuable assets from liabilities through a so-called divisive merger...Lawyers representing cancer patients say that the bankruptcy case is meant to delay and frustrate lawsuits that would otherwise go to a jury trial against J&J directly...READ MORE

State officials and lawyers representing death row inmate Zane Floyd agreed that an execution of the convicted quadruple killer will not happen before a key drug in the state’s lethal injection protocol expires at the end of the month — putting the matter on hold for the foreseeable future...Their statements in federal court on Monday come after the Clark County district attorney’s office did not obtain an execution warrant by Feb. 13, the latest possible day to obtain a warrant and order for a Feb. 28 execution date...READ MORE

Once again, government-run healthcare crashed and burned in California...Yes, it died with a whimper, failing to be voted on before a deadline, which for any other policy wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. But for single-payer — the Holy Grail of bad progressive ideas — it was epic...The buildup was extraordinary. After Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, killed single-payer unceremoniously without a vote in 2017, calling that measure “woefully incomplete,” which it was, expectations were high this time around...READ MORE

Several major payer groups and Medicaid advocates are pressing Congress for a 90-day heads up when the COVID-19 public health emergency ends, arguing they need as much time as possible to make Medicaid enrollees aware they could lose coverage...A collection of payer and Medicaid state advocacy groups wrote to congressional leadership on Thursday asking for the greater lead time. The letter comes as providers and other stakeholders are preparing for an end to key flexibilities granted back in January 2020...States and payers are facing the daunting task of redetermining the eligibility of Medicaid enrollees. The PHE prevented states from dropping any enrollees off Medicaid rolls for the duration of the emergency. States will have a year after the PHE ends to fully redetermine eligibility...READ MORE

The Senate voted...50-46 to officially confirm Robert Califf as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration...The vote puts an end to one of the most protracted and controversial confirmation processes in the FDA’s 115-year history. No candidate for the agency’s top job has so narrowly squeaked through the confirmation process. The only candidate that came close was Scott Gottlieb, who led the agency during the Trump administration and was confirmed 57-42...Few Biden nominees have received such opposition from the president’s own party. Many haven’t received any Democratic opposition at all.READ MORE

Doctors and hospital leaders are pushing back against a package of Republican bills that seek to bar health care providers from withholding unproven treatments for COVID-19...The three bills released this week would prevent health systems and medical credentialing boards from disciplining doctors for ordering or advocating for therapies or medicine for patients that go against medical opinions held by their employers or regulators...
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