Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Juul Agrees To Settle Thousands Of Vaping Lawsuits
Juul Labs Inc. reached a settlement of more than 5,000 lawsuits blaming the company for a youth vaping epidemic across the US. As part of the accord, the embattled e-cigarette maker isn鈥檛 allowed to immediately disclose the settlement amount, the company said in a statement, adding that the accord will be funded with an equity investment. (Nayak, 12/7)
In other legal developments 鈥
Several big drugmakers 鈥 Sanofi, GSK, Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim 鈥 will not have to face thousands of lawsuits claiming the Zantac heartburn drug can cause cancer after a federal judge decided consumers鈥 claims were not backed by sound scientific evidence. (Silverman, 12/6)
A federal appeals court has upheld a $40 million verdict for a cancer survivor who sued E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co after years of exposure to a toxic chemical that it manufactured. (Mindock, 12/6)
More pharmaceutical news 鈥
Americans with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are struggling to find good alternatives to the stimulant Adderall, which has been in short supply this fall and will likely not be back in stock until early next year. (Van Beusekom, 12/6)
Elijah Hanson struggled with his mental health for years. The 21-year-old from Tacoma, Washington, had been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and was receiving treatment from a local behavioral health clinic. According to years of therapy notes, he was desperate to better understand himself and his emotions.聽(Werner and Kegu, 12/6)
Touted by celebrities, raved about by TikTok users and advertised by med spas, a new class of drugs for treating diabetes and obesity has exploded in popularity for its weight-loss effects, leading to rippling shortages across several of the medications. Amid the surge in demand, Eli Lilly and pharmacies have started to tighten access to the latest of this type of drug, tirzepatide, focusing on giving it to people with type 2 diabetes, the only population it鈥檚 authorized for so far. (Chen, 12/7)
During 2021, drugmakers substantially raised prices on seven widely used medicines without any new clinical evidence to justify the increases, leading patients and health insurers in the U.S. to spend an additional $805 million last year, according to a new report. (Silverman, 12/6)
Price increases spread among seven of the 10 drugs in 2021 behind an $805 million increase in U.S. spending from the prior year were not supported by clinical evidence, an influential U.S. pricing research firm said on Tuesday. (Satija, 12/6)
Also 鈥
UC San Diego has created an experimental 鈥渟mart pill鈥 that continuously monitors the inside of the small intestine, work that could lead to better ways to spot and treat gastro-intestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and diabetes. (Robbins, 12/3)
With the clock ticking on Congress to finish its business before the end of the year, groups representing infectious disease and public health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry are trying to push a bill across the finish line that could change the antibiotic development landscape. (Dall, 12/6)