Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CVS Coverage Plan For New Drugs Tied To Outside Pricing Review Draws Criticism From Advocacy Groups
A CVS Health Corp health plan that uses an outside drug pricing group to help it decide whether to cover certain new medicines has gained little traction with customers, according to its top medical executive, and has drawn fierce criticism from patient advocacy groups. The company has held back on marketing the pharmacy benefit plan while it talks to these groups, CVS said. (Humer, 10/3)
Jim Swanson, formerly a technology executive at Bayer AG 鈥檚 crop-science division, has joined Johnson & Johnson as chief information officer. He succeeds Stuart McGuigan, who was CIO at J&J for seven years and now runs information technology at the State Department. (Castellanos, 10/3)
Epinephrine, or adrenaline, is one of a handful of lifesaving drugs that are supposed to be 鈥渘o-go鈥 items for commercial passenger planes. According to federal regulations, flights are not supposed to take off without these medicines. Citing chronic drug shortages, however, the Federal Aviation Administration has granted airlines exemptions that permit passenger planes to fly without a complete medical kit if the airlines say they cannot replenish the drugs. The exemptions apply to international as well as domestic flights. (Caryn Rabin, 10/3)
