Policy
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department has consistently touted radical transparency as being key to its mission. Recent instances—the FDA’s decision not to disclose the recipients of three Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers and FDA and CDC choices not to publish vaccine-related papers—call this intent into question.
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While requests by government officials for anonymity when speaking to the media are nothing new, the practice attracts more scrutiny when the Department for Health and Human Services has pledged a commitment to “radical transparency.”
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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—Trump’s pick for HHS secretary who endured confirmation hearings last week—has repeatedly criticized industry ties to the FDA, particularly financial links between the two, which could indicate trouble for the user-fee model.
While the former Biden administration showcased the Inflation Reduction Act as a key victory in the fight over high drug prices in the U.S., Trump has so far been mum on how the controversial law could evolve in the coming years.
Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee were critical of Kennedy’s long history as an anti-vaccine campaigner.
Kennedy’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday became heated as Democratic senators grilled the nominee for HHS Secretary on his previous statements about vaccine safety.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has named Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus as part of the second round of the IRA drug price negotiation program, even as the pharma challenges the program.
Donald Trump continues to make waves in biopharma; Sage rejects Biogen’s unsolicited takeover offer; the obesity space sees more action with new company launches, IPOs and fresh data; and experts get ready for an important era in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy space.
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, experts—and RFK’s own family—expressed concerns about his vaccine-related views, though the same experts are largely unfazed by the level of power he and Marty Makary could ultimately wield over the FDA.
From March 2020 through September 2022, Biohaven wielded meals at high-end restaurants and paid speaking opportunities to induce healthcare providers to prescribe its migraine therapy Nurtec ODT, according to the Department of Justice.
Less than a day into his second term, President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on communications at major public health agencies, among other moves that have sent waves through the biopharma industry.
The settlement is the largest deal to date with the people primarily who played an “instrumental role” in driving the opioid crisis, according to the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.