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When ex-Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli smirked his way through congressional testimony...it stoked Washington's and the general public's ire against the pharmaceutical industry. That same month, Congress introduced legislation to ban direct-to-consumer drug ads...the pharmaceutical industry finds itself in deep damage control mode. Pharma's fight with Washington isn't new...the industry's efforts to restore its reputation have so far been lacking...Pharmaceutical executives...argue that DTC advertising is necessary because it educates patients about new treatment options...The way to bring costs down is to have educated, empowered consumers, and they need information to be so...DTC ads in the form of paid media could soon fade organically as social media becomes a more widely used source for patient information...the pharma industry still has a lot of work to do in restoring its reputation...The industry has done a horrible job of highlighting the benefits of pharmaceutical products, or explaining why pharmaceutical products cost what they do, so they've allowed themselves to get painted as big bad guys...pharmaceutical companies should highlight their patient assistant programs to bolster their reputations...Pharma companies have done a lot of work to build patient assistance programs to get people who couldn't otherwise afford medication on therapy. That's a huge deal...pharmaceutical companies need to play up their altruistic sides, which automatically puts distance between them and characters like Shkreli...the real opportunity is the relationship that you build so you become the go-to place...Pharmaceutical companies have a unique opportunity to stand for very meaningful things, and I don't think they're there yet. They haven't established strong, values-based corporate brands that would withstand the occasional pot shot...

Health IT Now, along with eight other organizations…are calling on Congress to stay the course on Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use EHR Incentive Program…Health IT Now describes itself as a broad-based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers and payers…The coalition, along with eight other organizations made their pleas in a…letter…"We write to urge you to oppose any legislative changes to the meaningful use program, including delays in the timing of Stage 3, that do not also include reforms to improve the interoperable use of health information technology,"…"Delay without reform would rob taxpayers and patients of cost savings while doing absolutely nothing to make the program work well for overburdened doctors and hospitals."…The American Medical Association and 111 other national and state medical societies called for delay of Stage 3 in an earlier letter to leadership...

…executives at both Pfizer and Allergan acknowledged that they have begun merger talks. Pfizer’s goal in such a move is pretty simple – to finally achieve the tax-saving corporate inversion it has been seeking for some time. This move would enable Pfizer to become an Ireland-based company, thereby substantially lowering its corporate tax rate… speculations are being made as to what such a new organization would look like, and some have expressed concerns over the impact of yet another merger on Pfizer’s R&D organization… R&D folks, meanwhile, are polishing up their resumes in anticipation of mass firings...However, this Allergan deal is unlike the others… there is little evidence that there is a lot of overlap from an R&D perspective between Pfizer and Allergan. If anything, one wonders if Pfizer will retain Allergan research efforts…

Products marketed to enhance sexual performance, such as the one used by Lamar Odom at a Pahrump brothel, might contain other ingredients that can pose risks to users, especially when used in combination with other drugs…more information is needed before any determination can be made about the cause of Odom's health complications…The former NBA basketball star was hospitalized...after being found unconscious at the brothel…Unapproved remedies for erectile dysfunction may include combinations of undisclosed ingredients or excessively high doses, both potentially dangerous situations…"I could take two herbal supplements off the shelf, and they could claim to be the same thing, and they won't be anything alike," said Jason Penrod, a member of the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy. "The only way you can know for sure is to take your 'herbal Viagra'...and analyze it in a biochemistry lab."…"They may or may not be effective," Dr. Michael Verni of the Urology Center of Las Vegas said. "All the vitamin makers have to prove is that their products are not harmful. They don't have to prove they work."

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores...announced the expansion of its get-out-the-vote initiative for 2016, with new video ads to encourage pharmacy personnel to volunteer and vote for the candidates of their choice...The new ads are part of the larger NACDS RxIMPACT Votes get-out-the-vote effort, one aspect of NACDS’ suite of grassroots advocacy resources under the NACDS RxIMPACT name. The ads will bear the "hashtag" #PharmacyVoter that will be used in social media to foster a community-wide focus on voter engagement. NACDS also launched PharmacyVoter.org – a website targeted to the pharmacy community to showcase the effort... The first 30-second ad — called "Effective" — debuted...during the launch of NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill, when nearly 400 pharmacy advocates will meet with 90% of the U.S. Congress to discuss key patient care issues.

As drug price increases continue to make waves on the national level, Congress is taking the matter into its own hands by requiring generic drugmakers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program to pay higher rebates if generic prices rise too quickly…The new penalty for such price increases on generics, which is included in the recently passed budget deal, basically amounts to additional rebates that generic drug manufacturers would have to pay if the price of a generic for a given quarter outpaces the inflation-adjusted baseline Average Manufacturer Price…Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the additional rebate...would now be applied to generics, too, beginning in Q1 of 2017...the change could create issues for generic manufacturers around updating their Medicaid price reporting systems, figuring out the potential financial impact of the change, and posing new strategic pricing questions for generic drug launches and market withdrawals.

Expecting a flurry of legislative activity in Congress in the weeks ahead, and a highly aggressive 2016 election season, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores is making a major push for its NACDS RxIMPACT Pharmacy Advocates group on LinkedIn…On Wednesday, the group had 934 members, with a goal to reach 2,500 by Nov. 3. The purpose of the group is to connect grassroots pharmacy advocates from across the country, and grow its ranks to be poised for action when critical issues arise in Congress, the White House or in the states…“Engagement by pharmacy advocates breathes life into the policy making process. As a constituent, when you meld care stories with issue positions you really personify the impact of legislation. That type of powerful communication can be a game-changer for pharmacy”...

Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli was scheduled to testify to Congress today, but exercised his 5th Amendment right to not incriminate himself. Shkreli's lawyer...

Texas Medical Association wants Congress to intervene and make changes to the federal electronic health-record incentive payment program it's calling "meaningless abuse."…The group says Stage 3 of the program meant to get physicians using EHRs could jeopardize Medicare doc payment rules… wants Congress to lift what it's describing as the $31.6 billion program's “convoluted and tedious” meaningful-use requirements…TMA President Dr. Tom Garcia asked legislators to co-sponsor two bills to alter the meaningful-use landscape…One is the Flex-IT 2 Act...which would delay Stage 3 meaningful-use rules until at least Jan. 1, 2017. The other is the Transparent Ratings on Usability and Security to Transform Information Technology, or TRUST IT Act which is aimed at ensuring health IT systems perform better in the field.

Dietary supplements - those "all natural" products people consume for weight loss, extra energy or to self-treat various conditions - send 23,000 people…to the emergency room…each year, according to a new estimate…9 percent require hospitalization…new study "illustrates the idea that something that's 'natural' is not necessarily safe, and these products do not come without risk,"…a trade association that represents supplement manufacturers…reacted…arguing that the results…reinforce that dietary supplements are safe products…Congress has thwarted attempts to strictly regulate the $14.8 billion industry, where products are often marketed as if they were drugs but safety testing and FDA approval are not required. Only if a product is later found to be unsafe can the agency ban it…The number of emergency department visits attributed to supplement-related adverse events…is probably an underestimation, since supplement use is underreported by patients, and physicians may not identify adverse events associated with supplements as often as they do those associated with pharmaceuticals…