Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Small Pharmacies Had Restocking Issues Amid High Adderall Demand
Nearly two-thirds of community pharmacies had trouble ordering the popular attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug Adderall at the end of July and beginning of August, at a time when demand is at all-time highs. (Swetlitz, 8/18)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Opioid maker Endo International and its lenders reached a settlement with 36 states in its bankruptcy filings, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Thursday. In all, the plan could provide a total of up to $450 million to participating states. (Gagosz, 8/18)
It is minoxidil, an old and well-known hair-loss treatment drug used in a very different way. Rather than being applied directly to the scalp, it is being prescribed in very low-dose pills. (Kolata, 8/18)
Richard Horgan has waited for this moment for more than three years. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration granted permission for his younger brother Terry, 27, who lives with muscular dystrophy, to receive a first-of-its-kind gene therapy that was tailor-made for his genetic mutation. (Cross, 8/18)
In medical technology news —
Raymond Damadian, who helped revolutionize medical diagnostics by developing the first magnetic resonance imaging machine and who later became so embittered after the Nobel Prize went to two other pioneers in MRI technology that he took out full-page newspaper ads to denounce the decision, died Aug. 3 at his home in Woodbury, N.Y. He was 86.The death was announced in a statement by Fonar Corp., which Dr. Damadian founded in 1978 after being awarded a patent for the MRI concept of using radio waves from atoms to construct images of soft tissue. No cause was given. (Murphy, 8/18)
