The Trump administration is firing HHS employees across multiple divisions as part of the new massive reductions in force it announced Friday (Oct. 10) in response to the government shutdown, but it hasn’t disclosed specifically which HHS workers are affected.
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is starting up a new work group that will revisit the childhood and adolescent vaccination schedules and consider anti-vaccine talking points such as whether aluminum adjuvants are harmful and whether coadministration of vaccines increases risks of adverse events.
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said that the Trump administration is offering Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers a limited window to voluntarily address concerns about rising costs, warning that federal regulators are now equipped with sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) systems to track plan behavior and are prepared to act if industry-led reforms fall short.
The hot-button issue of whether states can bypass ERISA and pass laws requiring pharmacy benefit managers to count copay assistance towards patients’ deductibles and out-of-pocket costs is before the Eighth Circuit appeals court, with a national HIV patient advocacy group weighing in to defend Iowa’s copay accumulator ban after it was largely upheld by a lower court.
A Delaware district court on Wednesday (Oct. 8) dismissed Eli Lilly’s legal challenge against Strive Pharmacy, thwarting another effort by the brand drug company to stop compounding pharmacies from producing and selling compounded versions of tirzepatide, the active ingredient of its popular the company’s diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss treatment Zepbound.
Senate Aging Committee Chair Rick Scott (R-FL) is pressing the Trump administration to immediately impose tariffs on what he says are poor-quality and unsafe imported generic drugs, but Democrats and a pharmaceutical expert at a hearing Wednesday (Oct. 8) called for a stepwise-approach they said would ensure quality while also avoiding drug shortages.
Sidestepping the heated national vaccine policy debate, FDA’s vaccine advisory committee held a routine vote Thursday (Oct. 9) recommending strains for the composition of a trivalent influenza vaccine to be used during the 2025-2026 flu season.
The American Medical Association (AMA) charging high fees for its Current Procedural Terminology® (CPT) codes and related products is contributing to rising health care costs, according to Senate health committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is also scrutinizing the organization for its support of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and gender-affirming care.
States won’t just be tasked with keeping tabs on Medicaid beneficiaries to ensure they meet the new work requirements created by the GOP megabill, they will also have to connect beneficiaries to jobs or activities that will help those beneficiaries meet the 80 hours a month requirements, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said this week.
