Pharmaceuticals

A new kind of drug for schizophrenia promises fewer side effects

4:31pm September 27, 2024

A medicine that sidesteps the brain's dopamine receptors to reach different targets represents a new approach to schizophrenia treatment. The Food and Drug Administration approved it Thursday.

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Medicare negotiations for lower drug prices near the finish line

12:50pm July 30, 2024

by Sydney Lupkin

Medicare's new authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices represents a signature accomplishment of the Biden-Harris administration. Here's what to know as the first set of talks wraps up.

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Health & Safety

Health insurers cover fewer drugs and make them harder to get

4:36pm June 27, 2024

by Sydney Lupkin

Insurance companies are covering fewer drugs than they used to, and patients have to jump through more hoops to get many of them. When shopping for insurance, check for coverage of the drugs you need.

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The U.S. is the most lucrative market for drugmakers, but they often pay more in taxes overseas.

Health & Safety

Drugmakers' low U.S. taxes belie their high sales

3:42pm April 15, 2024

by Sydney Lupkin

Most of the largest pharmaceutical companies report losing money in the United States, despite the majority of their sales coming from Americans. The result is lower U.S. taxes for the companies.

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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, pressed executives from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck and Johnson & Johnson about the prices they charge for drugs in the U.S.

Health & Safety

Senators ask CEOs why their drugs cost so much more in the U.S.

6:02pm February 08, 2024

by Sydney Lupkin

The Senate HELP committee questioned pharmaceutical CEOs about how much more Americans pay for the same drugs sold for less in Canada, Japan and Europe.

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Drug price hikes appear to be moderate this year, with some drug prices falling.

Health & Safety

What to know about January's annual drug price hikes

7:05am January 17, 2024

by Sydney Lupkin

Spoiler: There are some decreases this year, too. Here's an overview of the changing prices and what to make of them.

The former Akorn pharmaceutical plant in Decatur, Ill., that made a wide range of generic drugs used in hospitals is being reopened under new ownership.

Health & Safety

How rock-bottom prices drive shortages of generic drugs used in hospitals

11:00am December 28, 2023

by Sydney Lupkin

Hospitals rely on scores of generic drugs given by injection. But these workhorses are often in short supply. Cheap prices have led to factory closures that leave the supply chain vulnerable.

A new precision medicine test could help doctors and patients zero in on the right arthritis drug much sooner. But insurance coverage and drug company incentives are hurdles to widespread use.

Health & Safety

A new test could save arthritis patients time, money and pain. But will it be used?

7:01am December 20, 2023

by Arthur Allen

Stories of chronic pain, drug-hopping, and insurance meddling are all too common among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Precision medicine offers new hope.

Activists protest the prices of prescription drug outside the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., in October 2022.

Health & Safety

White House proposes to 'march in' on patents for costly drugs

3:01pm December 07, 2023

by Sydney Lupkin

To lower drug prices, the Biden administration is looking to assert its authority to license drug patents that rely on government-funded research to drugmakers that would offer cheaper medicines.

Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, questions Dr. Monica Bertagnolli during her confirmation hearing to become director of the National Institutes of Health.

Health & Safety

Sen. Sanders pushes NIH to rein in drug prices

5:12am November 17, 2023

by Sydney Lupkin

The National Institutes of Health has been reluctant to use its leverage as a biomedical research funder to influence drug pricing. Sen. Bernie Sanders is pressing NIH's new director to take action.