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In the latest twist in a closely watched legal battle, two different federal court judges late last week reached largely conflicting views about the approach taken by the U.S. government to enforce a controversial prescription drug discount program. One judge decided the federal government overstepped its bounds when it threatened earlier this year to penalize Novartis and United Therapeutics for curtailing discounts in what is known as the 340B drug discount program. However, the judge in the other case, which was brought by Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, took the opposite view, yet at the same time also told the government to reassess a key issue concerning the use of contract pharmacies, which are at the heart of the dispute. (Silverman, 11/6)

Operating via Zoom from her home office in Newton, Mass., Rochelle Walensky is facing down a challenge that would sound herculean for even the most hardened players in the federal bureaucracy: resuscitating the CDC. Her challenge is especially tough because as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Walensky is a political outsider and finds herself playing second fiddle to Anthony Fauci, the face of the U.S. pandemic response who has advised presidents for decades. And there’s this: The White House has not hesitated to undercut Walensky’s scientific expertise, and the agency’s scientific process. (Facher, 11/8)

The infant son of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg returned home Friday after three weeks of medical treatment, 125 miles in an ambulance, and a “terrifying” period spent on a ventilator, Buttigieg’s spouse said. Chasten Buttigieg and his husband, who is the nation’s first openly gay Cabinet Secretary, adopted Joseph August and his sister Penelope Rose in late summer. It was only in recent weeks that the couple revealed that their son, whom they refer to as “Gus,” was in poor health. (Jeong, 11/6)

KHN: As Constituents Clamor For Ivermectin, Republican Politicians Embrace The Cause

When state senators in South Carolina held two hearings in September about covid-19 treatments, they got an earful on the benefits of ivermectin — which many of the lawmakers echoed, sharing experiences of their own loved ones. The demands for access to the drug were loud and insistent, despite federal regulators’ recent warning against using the drug to treat covid. Ivermectin is a generic drug that has been used for decades to treat river blindness, scabies and even head lice. Veterinarians also use it, in different formulations and dosages, to treat animals for parasites like worms. (Farmer, 11/8)

In a new assault on the global consulting giant McKinsey & Company, Congress on Friday started an investigation into the firm’s role in the opioid crisis, sending a letter demanding records related to its “business practices, conflicts of interest and management standards.” The 12-page letter, which was sent by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, asked for names of McKinsey clients in the health care industry as well as documents connected to its work with opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers. The committee is also looking at how McKinsey’s consulting for drugmakers may conflict with work it has done for the Food and Drug Administration. (Bogdanich and Forsythe, 11/5)

Members of Congress are renewing the push to make daylight saving time permanent as most of the nation prepares to turn back the clocks one hour this Sunday. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act would end an antiquated and disruptive practice. ... He argues that making daylight saving time permanent has economic and public health benefits. (11/6)