STAT+: J&J agrees not to enforce patents on a key tuberculosis drug in dozens of poor countries
In an unexpected turnabout, Johnson & Johnson announced it would not enforce any of its…
Category: advocacy
STAT+: With Menendez indictment, pharmaceutical industry could lose a key ally
WASHINGTON — With mounting calls for embattled Sen. Bob Menendez to resign, the pharmaceutical industry…
Dairy farmers are running out of chances to kill the terms ‘oat milk’ and ‘soy milk’
WASHINGTON — Almond milk — not almond beverage, almond drink, or even almond juice —…
Opinion: Lessons from Ukraine on protecting mental health during conflict
In March 2022, one of us, Kristina, was in Ukraine, running a training on a…
Opinion: Brain drain, skills loss, and other unintended consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade
Every day at the Kansas clinic where I perform abortions, I take care of pregnant…
STAT+: PBMs were the target of House hearing, but pharma wasn’t spared criticism
WASHINGTON — Congress wants to reform PBM business practices to help lower the cost of…
STAT+: Chamber of Commerce, government clash at first court hearing on Medicare drug prices
WASHINGTON — Attorneys for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the federal government sparred Friday…
Opinion: Doctors in the U.S. can learn a lot about advocacy and activism from their Israeli counterparts
Israeli doctors are bracing for a fight. On Sept. 12, the Israeli Supreme Court is…
Opinion: Drugs alone can’t win the war against tuberculosis
Recently, after years of pressure, advocates including author and philanthropist John Green scored victory against…
STAT+: Pharma industry showers House GOP doctor with campaign cash
WASHINGTON — The pharmaceutical industry has been flooding the campaign coffers of Rep. Larry Bucshon, a…
Cannabis industry scales back its lobbying in Washington
WASHINGTON – The cannabis industry is dramatically scaling back its presence in Washington. Curaleaf, one…
STAT+: Lobbying spending dropped for companies that departed PhRMA
WASHINGTON — The three companies that recently left PhRMA all spent less on lobbying following…
STAT+: Conservative group opposing PBM reform spends record number on lobbying
WASHINGTON — A conservative group advocating against changing how pharmacy middlemen operate spent more than…
STAT+: Key House panel plots a new health care package — complicating the chamber’s agenda
WASHINGTON — It’s two weeks until Congress leaves town in August, and a prominent House panel…
STAT+: Protestors slam health insurance lobby for Medicare Advantage coverage restrictions
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of activists rallied today outside of the headquarters of the country’s largest…
Opinion: A seemingly small semantic issue is a major roadblock to develop treatments for rare diseases
Finding a new medicine is never easy. But developing treatments for patients with rare diseases…
STAT+: The strategy behind the pharmaceutical industry’s flurry of lawsuits challenging drug pricing reform
WASHINGTON — The pharmaceutical industry has been filing a lawsuit here, there, and pretty much everywhere….
STAT+: Doctors’ lobby doubles down on the fight against expanding open access to research
Doctors’ lobbyists in Washington tend to focus their energies on ensuring Medicare pays well, and…
STAT+: Top federal lobbyist at PhRMA leaves
WASHINGTON — The top federal lobbyist for the brand drug lobby PhRMA is leaving, two…
Opinion: Listen: Physicians have a moral and professional obligation to get into ‘good trouble’
Just days after the end of Roe v. Wade, Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN in Indiana,…
Opinion: Medicaid adult dental benefits are shamefully — and dangerously — inadequate in most states
In the middle of the night, you’re jolted awake by a throbbing pain in your…
Opinion: Why we created a chatbot to help people at risk for eating disorders
In May, a National Public Radio story asked, “Can a chatbot help people with eating…
Opinion: Listen: Why forced treatment can’t fix substance use disorder
When a loved one is living with serious substance use disorder and refuses to get…
Opinion: Want to help with medical breakthroughs? Donate some extra cells to a biobank
Right now, it’s possible that cells from my body are growing in a lab somewhere…
Opinion: Four communication lessons we learned the hard way during the pandemic
Now that the Covid-19 public health emergency has ended, it’s awfully tempting to put the…
STAT+: Ted Love, BIO’s first Black board chair, aims to rehab biotech’s image in Washington
WASHINGTON — Ted Love has pretty much done everything there is to do in biotech. He’s…
Opinion: The agony of finding decent health care for my young-adult daughter with Down syndrome
Several years ago, a local artist asked if she could paint my younger daughter, then…
Opinion: The DEA needs to officially allow telehealth prescribing for opioid use disorder
The statistics are dismal, though they bear repeating: 81% of overdose deaths in the U.S….
Opinion: Doctors think “advocate” is a dirty word. But it’s our ethical responsibility
Last Thursday, after 15 hours of deliberation, the Indiana State Licensing board ruled that our…
Opinion: Newly diagnosed cancer patients need help navigating the system
“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you, but I could really use your advice on something.”…
Opinion: More hospitals are offering child care. But they shouldn’t have to
Since the pandemic began, thousands of child care locations have closed, exacerbating an already acute…
STAT+: With Fat Joe concerts and Super Bowl ads, a cadre of billionaires is mounting an unorthodox campaign against hospitals
WASHINGTON — At a waterfront concert in one of this city’s swankiest neighborhoods, rappers Busta…
STAT+: Matt Eyles, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, to depart
Matt Eyles, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, is leaving by this October, the lobbying…
Opinion: What if we’re talking about teens’ mental health too much?
Every day, it seems, is mental health awareness day. In the U.S., there’s Eating Disorders…
FDA budget battles, prisons’ sobering Covid response & BIO’s CEO search is on
You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis. Sign up here to receive this newsletter…
Opinion: Chelsea Clinton: How to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030
Viral hepatitis affects almost 400 million people and kills more than 1 million each year….
AstraZeneca is third member to leave PhRMA in five months
WASHINGTON — AstraZeneca has decided to leave the brand drug lobbying powerhouse PhRMA halfway through…
Opinion: The tragedy of the Golden Gate Bridge’s $400 million anti-suicide net
Each year about 30 people make the gut-wrenching decision to leap off the Golden Gate…
Opinion: Clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatments need to include people with Down syndrome
“I cannot tell you how much it means to me that my extra chromosome might…
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STAT+: Juul execs shower House Oversight chair with campaign cash, just as he launches probe into FDA’s moves on e-cigarettes
WASHINGTON — Juul executives wrote personal checks to the head of the House Oversight Committee,…
STAT+: Disagreements and digs upend an otherwise bipartisan hearing on PBM reform
WASHINGTON — The first Senate health committee markup under Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and ranking…
Opinion: The apparent poisoning of schoolgirls is just one part of Iran’s health crisis
On the first day back to school in April, after time off to celebrate the…
Pennsylvania set to ban supervised drug use sites, in setback for harm reduction
Pennsylvania lawmakers are set to pass a new ban on supervised drug consumption, effectively ending…
STAT+: Pharma executives flood Bill Cassidy with campaign cash
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy’s new perch as the top Republican on the Senate health…
STAT+: Another powerful congressional committee is ready to take on PBMs
WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer plans to hold a hearing on the…
Opinion: How journalists can cover RFK Jr.’s antivax presidential run responsibly
Of course it was news when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he is running…
STAT+: PhRMA execs paint grim picture of industry under Medicare drug price negotiation
WASHINGTON — Executives for the brand drug industry’s biggest lobbying group painted a grim picture…
STAT+: Congress is launching a tobacco harm reduction caucus. Its biggest supporter so far? Philip Morris
WASHINGTON — There’s a new caucus brewing on Capitol Hill focused on the potential health…
Opinion: Michael J. Fox: As a Parkinson’s patient, I felt a little left behind by biology’s century — until now
Last fall in STAT, Matt Herper questioned whether the biomedical research enterprise is really laying…
Juul agrees to pay $462 million to 6 states and D.C., and to share documents
WASHINGTON — The e-cigarette maker Juul has agreed to pay six states and Washington D.C….