STAT+: The FDA says it’s in the dark about thousands of dietary supplement ingredients
WASHINGTON — The companies that make dietary supplements like vitamins and herbs have quietly introduced…
Category: Politics
STAT+: AbbVie dramatically boosts its spending on lobbying
WASHINGTON — The pharma giant AbbVie spent nearly $4 million on lobbying in the first three…
STAT+: Senate FDA legislation will include dietary supplement, cosmetic reforms
WASHINGTON – Senate lawmakers are set to unveil draft legislation as soon as Monday that…
Dr. Oz peddles medical misinformation — but his political rise could still have a silver lining for sound science
WASHINGTON — In his run for the U.S. Senate, Dr. Oz repeatedly reminds audiences that,…
STAT+: Flagship Pioneering hires lobbyists, a first among biotech venture firms
WASHINGTON — Flagship Pioneering, the venture capital firm behind Moderna, is getting into the Washington…
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STAT+: The panel was supposed to improve efficiency at the NIH. It hasn’t even met for 7 years
WASHINGTON — An oversight board tasked with making the National Institutes of Health more efficient…
White House documents detail a looming squeeze on Covid-19 boosters
WASHINGTON — The White House could run out of Covid-19 vaccines if it moves forward…
STAT+: Congress moves toward reforming FDA accelerated approvals, but with pharma-friendly concessions
WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are moving a little closer toward cracking down on drug makers…
STAT+: Five of Congress’ 10 biggest health earmarks went to Missouri clinics and universities
WASHINGTON — Hospitals, health clinics, and medical schools across the country had hoped to cash…
STAT+: Would drugmakers lower their insulin prices if Congress asks nicely?
WASHINGTON — After a yearslong, drawn-out debate over how to best lower patients’ prescription drug…
STAT+: Medicare’s Brooks-LaSure expects restrictions on accelerated approval drugs, like those for Aduhelm, to be ‘very rare’
AUSTIN, Texas – Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the head of Medicare, said on Thursday that the agency…
FDA issues plan to ban menthol in cigarettes, cigars
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Thursday released its long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes…
STAT+: Manchin won’t support new health policy unless Congress rolls back Trump tax cuts
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who will determine how much domestic policy…
STAT+: Right to try 2.0: Advocates want to reduce oversight of ‘n of 1’ therapies
WASHINGTON — The libertarian think tank behind the federal “right-to-try” law is back at it…
White House’s Jen Psaki offered a binder full of Covid spending details. Taking a peek was a process
WASHINGTON — It was a striking visual for the television cameras. White House Press Secretary…
Opinion: In mask mandate case, judge ruled on wordplay, not public health
When a Tampa-based federal judge voided the nationwide mandate on wearing masks in transportation venues…
A new nonprofit wants to rewrite the playbook for how the U.S. government funds science
WASHINGTON — The Good Science Project is hoping to push the NIH and other government…
STAT+: CDC, FDA, and NIH staffers aren’t reporting political interference, new watchdog report shows
WASHINGTON — Staff at the nation’s health agencies suspect political interference is inappropriately influencing government…
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STAT+: Will Biogen sue Medicare over its restrictions on the Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm? And other big legal questions about the decision
WASHINGTON — Biogen and other drugmakers have already hinted they might sue Medicare over its…
Human Rights Watch says unaffordable U.S. insulin is a human rights abuse
WASHINGTON — Insulin prices are sky high. High enough, now, that Human Rights Watch is…
STAT+: New bipartisan insulin policy aims to entice drugmakers to lower prices
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of four key lawmakers unveiled a long-shot policy that aims…
STAT+: Warren, Grassley threaten to slap FDA with a 30-day deadline for OTC hearing aid rules
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan duo of senators is done waiting for the Food and Drug…
STAT+: Biden’s new high-stakes research agency needs a home. For cities and states, the race for ARPA-H is on
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s new high-stakes research office has a name, an official place…
Medicare finalizes its restrictions on new Alzheimer’s drug, despite pressure from drugmakers
WASHINGTON — Medicare on Thursday finalized its plan to restrict coverage for the controversial, pricey…
Biden administration ramps up long Covid research efforts following criticism
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday announced plans to ramp up research into long…
‘All the shrapnel that’s in my back’: Defiant Robert Redfield blasts former CDC directors for criticism during Covid-19
A defiant Robert Redfield teed off on other former directors of the Centers for Disease…
NIH’s cancer chief, Ned Sharpless, to step down
Ned Sharpless, the director of the National Cancer Institute, is stepping down at the end…
Senate nears $10 billion deal to buy Covid vaccines, therapeutics
WASHINGTON — Top Senate negotiators are working to reach a deal to provide the Biden…
Califf admits the FDA’s Alzheimer’s drug decision impacted experts’ trust in the agency
WASHINGTON — Robert Califf, the new head of the Food and Drug Administration, admitted Thursday…
STAT+: Biden’s high-stakes biomedical science agency ARPA-H will be part of the NIH — but there’s a twist
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s “moonshot” biomedical research agency will be housed within the National Institutes…
STAT+: Key senators eye new, more ambitious legislation to lower insulin prices
WASHINGTON — Key Senate lawmakers have begun writing a bipartisan bill that would cap the prices…
The FDA endorses accelerated approval reforms
You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s weekly newsletter about the politics and…
CMMI’s Fowler on health policy’s ‘stubborn challenges,’ her personal ties to medicine
WASHINGTON — Liz Fowler’s career just came full circle: last March, she took charge of the…
STAT+: Lawmakers and a Pelosi aide turn lobbyist to push for new health agency’s independence
WASHINGTON — Health secretary Xavier Becerra is suddenly the target of a frenzied lobbying campaign…
‘A slow-moving glacier’: NIH’s sluggish and often opaque efforts to study long Covid draw patient, expert ire
WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health is fumbling its first efforts to study long…
STAT+: An ALS therapy sets up a crucial test of the FDA’s independence
WASHINGTON — A high-profile, experimental therapy for ALS is teeing up a crucial test of…
The new White House Covid coordinator is great on TV. Is that what America’s pandemic response needs now?
WASHINGTON — When it comes to discussing the White House’s pandemic response on TV, there’s…
STAT+: Lawmakers face off about the future of the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are facing off over the future of the Food and Drug Administration’s…
Medicare premiums could decrease ‘soon,’ after decision on Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm
WASHINGTON — Whether seniors get an unprecedented mid-year discount on Medicare premiums will hinge on…
Ashish Jha to replace Jeff Zients as White House Covid response coordinator
WASHINGTON — President Biden is replacing Covid response coordinator Jeff Zients with Ashish Jha, the…
STAT+: Lawmakers accuse PhRMA of providing ‘misleading information’ about drug price hikes
A group of Congressional lawmakers is accusing the pharmaceutical industry’s leading trade group of providing…
STAT+: Biden’s agency to ‘end cancer as we know it’ is finally real. But it has a chaotic road ahead
WASHINGTON — Congress has finally funded the agency that President Biden has pledged will help…
White House begs Congress for Covid funding amid concern about Omicron sister variant
WASHINGTON — The White House is begging Congress for more funds to help with Covid-19 surveillance,…
STAT+: Gilead faces criticism for donations to state senators who backed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida
There was a curious dichotomy underlying the outcry over the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill…
STAT+: Three years after the Senate grilled drug makers … nothing’s changed
WASHINGTON – Back in 2019, when the Senate Finance Committee called seven drug industry executives…
STAT+: Watcdog says Lilly made ‘false assertions’ about impact of pausing political donations after Jan. 6 attack
Early last year, Eli Lilly (LLY) temporarily halted contributions made to members of Congress who…
STAT+: In New York appearance, CMS administrator pushes for Congress to act on drug prices
NEW YORK — When Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Biden official who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid health…
‘Haven’t we learned anything?’: Experts warn of disastrous consequences if pandemic funding dries up
WASHINGTON — The failure of Congress this week to approve additional pandemic response funding could…
Nurses, more powerful and visible after Covid, capitalize on new clout in Washington
WASHINGTON — Since the start of Covid-19, nurses have been hailed as heroes. But two…
STAT+: Congress moves toward giving FDA authority over synthetic nicotine products like Puff Bar
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are within striking distance of closing the largest loophole in the Food…