The FDA has agreed to reconsider a decision it made last month to bar drug compounders from selling their own versions of Eli Lilly's blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs. The agency said in a court filing it would now allow compounding pharmacies and facilities to keep providing the drugs while it reviews whether there is a shortage of their active ingredient. The compounding versions of the drugs are cheaper for patients than the brand-name versions.
CVS Health is exiting its core infusion services business and plans to either close or sell 29 related regional pharmacies in the coming months. Details of the strategic shift were announced in a CVS corporate memo dated Oct. 8 and seen by Reuters. The company on Oct. 8 stopped taking new patients seeking antibiotics, drugs supporting muscular health, and intravenous nutrition services. CVS bought Coram LLC, a drug infusion services provider, for $2.1 billion in 2013.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has agreed to pay $450 million to resolve allegations it used charities that help cover Medicare patients' out-of-pocket drug costs as a means to pay kickbacks to boost sales of its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone and conspired to fix prices for generic drugs. The two settlements announced by DOJ on Thursday included one for $425 million resolving a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston in 2020 as part of an industry-wide probe of drugmakers' financial support of patient assistance charities.
Hospitals in the region are keeping a careful eye on their IV fluid supplies, and are using less of the precious liquid as a way to cope with supply shortages in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The powerful storm damaged a factory in North Carolina that produces more than half the U.S. supply of intravenous fluids, or IV fluids. The factory's shutdown has led to a national shortage of IV fluids, and healthcare workers in Philadelphia and the surrounding region are doing what they can to conserve supplies.
CVS Health is expected to cut more than 630 employees who report to the company's headquarters in Woonsocket, according to a letter the company sent to state officials on Monday. Of the 632 terminations, only 153 work at the Woonsocket headquarters or surrounding facilities. The remaining 479 affected employees are "outstationed," which means they work remotely and report to leaders at the Woonsocket headquarters, according to the company's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice. Laid off positions include analysts, brokers, software engineers, directors, associates in technology and human resources, and others, according to a breakdown of cut jobs provided to the state by CVS.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against several major insulin makers and PBMs, alleging a conspiracy to inflate insulin prices. The lawsuit targets pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly And Co. and PBMs, including Cigna Corp's Express Scripts and CVS Health Inc's CVS Pharmacy, accusing them of engaging in an unlawful scheme to raise insulin prices. According to the lawsuit, insulin manufacturers artificially raised the prices of their drugs while paying PBMs a significant, undisclosed portion in return for preferred placement in PBM offerings. The PBMs allegedly rewarded the manufacturers with the highest list prices by giving their products preferred status while excluding more affordable alternatives.