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[ad_1] A variety of generic pills and capsules.  Nenov | Moment | Getty Images The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday said it is examining the role that drug wholesalers and companies that purchase medicines for U.S. health-care providers play in shortages of generic drugs, which account for the majority of Americans' prescriptions. The move follows an unprecedented shortfall of crucial medicine ranging from injectable cancer therapies to generics, or cheaper versions of brand-name medicines, over the last year, which has forced hospitals and patients to ration drugs. Problems from manufacturing quality control to demand surges can drive supply issues. But the Biden administration is zeroing in on other players in the drug supply chain to uncover the "root causes and potential solutions" to ongoing shortages.  In a joint request for information, the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services are seeking public comment on the contracting practices, m

[ad_1] A pharmacist displays boxes of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes made by Novo Nordisk, at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S. March 29, 2023.  George Frey | Reuters Drugmakers aren't the only ones feeling the impact of the weight loss industry gold rush.  Retailers with pharmacy businesses, such as Walmart , Kroger and Rite Aid , said increased demand for prescription weight loss drugs helped boost sales for the second quarter.  But analysts note that those blockbuster treatments are minimally profitable for retail pharmacies – and may even come with margin headwinds. "More recently, you're starting to hear retailers talk about these drugs. But I wouldn't say they're necessarily beneficiaries of the increased popularity," Arun Sundaram, an analyst at CFRA Research, told CNBC. "They're really not making much of a profit on the drugs. So it's really just a traffic driver and not really a p

[ad_1] Pharmacist Ani Martirosyan administers an immunization to a patient at a CVS on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 in Glendale, CA. Brian Van Der Brug | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images The rollout of a new round of Covid vaccines in the U.S. is off to a bumpy start as some patients report delays in health insurance coverage for the shots.  Private insurance plans and government payers such as Medicare are required to cover the new jabs from Pfizer and Moderna , which became available late last week. U.S. regulators have recommended all Americans ages 6 months and up get the new round of vaccines.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, some private health-care providers and CVS confirmed the temporary delays in coverage and emphasized that Americans can access Covid vaccines at no cost through insurance plans. They said the reason for the delays is that some insurers are still working to update their plans to include the new vaccines. Dozens of posts on social medi

[ad_1] Eli Lilly has had a great run, but UBS expects about 16% further upside in the coming months as a steady stream of positive news propels the stock higher and revenue growth accelerates. Calling it the "best fundamental story" among U.S. large caps, UBS analyst Colin Bristow on Friday lifted his price target to $612 from $526. The stock has already gained 47% year to date, mostly on the back of lofty expectations for weight-loss drug sales. LLY YTD mountain Eli Lilly shares are up about 47% year to date. Bristow said the valuation is warranted due to Eli Lilly's expected five-year top-line compound annual growth rate of 18%, which is an outlier in the sector. A stocked pipeline By the end of this year, U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals are expected for Mounjaro as an obesity treatment and for donanemab for Alzheimer's disease, Bristow said. While both of those drugs have received a lot of positive attention, Eli Lilly has other products in the pip

[ad_1] Passenger planes sit on the tarmac at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on Nov. 4, 2022, before China ended Covid-related restrictions on travel. Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — China announced late Monday that travelers will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival on the mainland starting Jan. 8. The forthcoming shift follows an abrupt relaxation this month in domestic Covid controls. The changes end the bulk of the most restrictive measures that China had imposed for nearly three years under its zero-Covid policy. Since March 2020, travelers to the mainland have had to quarantine , typically at a designated hotel and for 14 days. That isolation period subsequently began to increase to 21 days or more for some travelers, before China began cutting quarantine times this summer. Current policy requires five days of quarantine at a centralized facility, followed by three days at home. China's National Health Commission also said th

[ad_1] People hold placards, as a coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions representing 75,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente start a three day strike across the United States over a new contract, in San Diego, California, U.S. October 4, 2023.  Mike Blake | Reuters More than 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente — the nation's largest health-care nonprofit organization — went on strike Wednesday at hospitals and medical offices in five states after the company and labor negotiators failed to resolve a dispute over staffing levels. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions says the work stoppage is the largest strike of health-care workers in U.S. history. The strike targets Kaiser hospitals and medical offices in California, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Washington. Kaiser Permanente serves nearly 13 million patients and operates 39 hospitals and more than 600 medical offices across eight states and the District of Columbia. The striking wo

[ad_1] A Science employee at work in the lab. Courtesy: Science Corporation Biotechnology startup and Neuralink competitor Science on Monday launched a new platform that aims to make it easier for other companies to quickly develop and produce medical devices.  The platform, called Science Foundry, allows companies to utilize and build upon Science's internal infrastructure by offering access to more than 80 of its tools and services, like the company's thin-film electrode technologies. The cost of the technology required to develop medical devices is often "prohibitive" for early-stage startups, Science Co-Founder and CEO Max Hodak told CNBC in an interview. Individual tools can cost anywhere from $200,000 to $2 million, and Hodak said companies could easily spend hundreds of millions building a manufacturing line.  For many startups, that cost is too much to bear, but Hodak is hoping Science Foundry can help. "Hopefully, we bring down the barriers to innov

[ad_1] Carl Icahn Adam Jeffery | CNBC Biotech company Illumina pushed back Monday against Carl Icahn's proxy fight over the company's acquisition of cancer test developer Grail, saying the activist investor's board nominees "do not add value."  The San Diego-based DNA sequencing company released its latest response to Icahn's sharp criticism of the $7.1 billion deal it completed in 2021, saying it's committed to maximizing shareholder value as it works with antitrust regulators to "define GRAIL's path forward as expeditiously as possible." Icahn, who owns a 1.4% stake in Illumina, sent an open letter to the company's shareholders last week saying the DNA sequencing company paid too much for Grail and completed the "reckless" deal without getting European antitrust regulatory approval. He claimed those actions have wiped out $50 billion in Illumina's market value and "clearly shows that shareholders have lost fai

[ad_1] Travelers walk at a terminal hall in Beijing Capital International Airport, China. Tingshu Wang | Reuters The United States is planning to lift a  Covid testing requirement  for travelers from China put in place earlier this year, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday. The plan,  first  reported by the Washington Post, would nix the China-specific requirements that were implemented in early January. The U.S. began requiring a pre-departure negative Covid test for travelers ages 2 and up flying from China on Jan. 5. The policy followed a  surge  in coronavirus cases in China after it ended its strict Covid-zero policy. [ad_2] Source link https://worldnews2023.com/health/u-s-plans-to-lift-covid-testing-requirements-for-travelers-from-china/?feed_id=221405&_unique_id=658e53bea387a

[ad_1] U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about lowering health-care costs, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Aug. 29, 2023. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is placing a priority on reducing individual health-care costs as he seeks reelection in a country where medical spending accounts for 18.3% of the nation's gross domestic product, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "Boy, we've been fighting Big Pharma for a long time," Biden said Tuesday from the White House. "I promise you I'm gonna have your back and I'll never stop fighting for you on this issue, nor will Kamala." On Tuesday, the White House announced 10 prescription drugs that will be subject to the first-ever Medicare price negotiations, which will go into effect in 2026. The 10 medicines accounted for $50.5 billion, or about 20%, of total Part D prescription drug costs   between June 1, 2022, and May 31,

[ad_1] Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives to the U.S. Capitol Building on June 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday called on the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to take action to ensure seniors can actually afford the expensive Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi . Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, in a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra called the $26,500 annual price tag for Leqembi set by drugmakers Eisai and Biogen "unconscionable." The Vermont independent said the drug's current cost would put a substantial financial burden on Medicare and increase premiums for seniors. Medicare is the federal program that provides health coverage to primarily older Americans. Sanders said the "outrageously high price" of Leqembi "will prevent seniors who need this drug from receiving treatment." The lawmaker wrote that HHS should use its authority to break Leqembi's pa

[ad_1] An investigation into the leak of a bombshell Supreme Court ruling overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion — weeks before it was officially released — failed to identify the culprit, the court said Thursday. The failure to find the source of the leak was yet another embarrassing development for the Supreme Court, which on Thursday called the leak "one of the worst betrayals of trust in its history" and "a grave assault on the judicial process." Politico in May reported that a leaked draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito showed that the Supreme Court was poised to overturn its five-decade-old ruling in the case known as Roe v. Wade, which found there was a constitutional right to abortion. In June, just as the leak report suggested, the Supreme Court in a majority opinion penned by the conservative Alito said there was no federal right to abortion. On the heels of the leak, Chief Justice John Roberts directed Gail Curley, the m

[ad_1] A container holding boxes of Mifepristone, the first medication in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, April 20, 2023. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters A federal appeals court on Wednesday imposed restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, though the ruling will not have an immediate impact. The order by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is almost certain to be appealed to the Supreme Court. Justice Samuel Alito in April preemptively paused any ruling from the appeals court pending a petition for the high court to take the case. If the Supreme Court does not take the case, the restrictions will go into effect. Should the restrictions go in to effect, women would no longer be able to obtain the abortion by mail. Patients would have to receive a prescription from a doctor and have follow-up appointments in person. The restrictions would also shorten the time period when women can take the pill to 49 days into t

[ad_1] In this photo illustration, a container of Johnson and Johnson baby powder is displayed on April 05, 2023 in San Anselmo, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday halted roughly 40,000 lawsuits that allege Johnson & Johnson 's baby powder and other talc products caused cancer . The decision is part of J&J's second attempt to settle thousands of talc cases in bankruptcy proceedings. J&J in 2021 spun off its subsidiary, LTL Management, to carry its talc-related liabilities and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections.  Judge Michael Kaplan during a hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton, New Jersey, put a temporary hold on the suits that will last through mid-June, The Wall Street Journal reported . J&J won't have to go to trial over any other talc claims during the pause, but new lawsuits can still be filed against the company, The Journal reported. Kaplan said during the hearing that J&a

[ad_1] Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, made by Shire Plc. Jb Reed | Bloomberg | Getty Images It's been 10 months since the Food and Drug Administration first announced a nationwide shortage of Adderall — one of the most widely used medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — and the supply strain could potentially worsen in the months ahead. While some supply issues have improved, many Americans are still struggling to find and fill prescriptions for the drug and other medications for ADHD that they often rely on to stay focused and complete daily tasks. Drug-shortage experts told CNBC that it's extremely difficult to forecast how much longer the shortages will last because of the lack of transparency in the pharmaceutical industry — and some are concerned about market conditions as children, who are commonly affected by ADHD, head back to school.  "Unfortunately, we might see the shortage worsen. We are heading into