There’s no question that drug pricing is one of the most important issues in health care right now, and while such pricing considerations are outside FDA’s statutory mandate, it has not stopped FDA from trying to address pricing issues through enhancing drug competition (see, for …
On March 24, 2021, Virginia became the latest state to enact a prescription drug price transparency law. Similar to other state drug price transparency laws (see, for example, our coverage here and here), HB 2007 sets forth reporting requirements applicable to health carriers, pharmacy benefit …
On March 24, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued its first advisory opinion of the year. Advisory Opinion 21-01 addresses whether the provision of a specific drug at no cost by a pharmaceutical manufacturer to a …
Perhaps when you’re carving out a patented method of use? Well, at least that’s what GSK is arguing. As the now-infamous GSK v. Teva case makes its way through the Federal Circuit once again to address what many have called the death-knell to skinny-labeling (also …
Well, it’s been busy for OPDP (and the Rx Ad/Promo bloggers over at the FDA Law Blog). After getting off to a slow start in 2021, OPDP issued yet another Warning Letter, apparently the day after its first. Unlike the first letter, this OPDP Warning …
Yesterday’s FDA Warning Letter, Press Release, and accompanying public relations campaign related to AcelRx’s promotional material for Dsuvia (sufentanil) are remarkable for exactly the reasons FDA intended them to be remarkable: these actions all signal to industry that despite anemic levels of FDA enforcement related …
The American Conference Institute’s (“ACI’s”) popular “FDA Boot Camp” – now in its 36th iteration – is scheduled to take place from March 24-25, 2021 (Eastern Time). The conference is billed as the premier event to provide folks with a roadmap to navigate the difficult …
In late November, the OIG published a final rule that excludes from the Federal healthcare program safe harbor for discounts rebates paid to Medicare Part D plans, or their PBMs (see our post here). The rule also establishes two new safe harbors: one for rebates …
In the waning days of the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a fairly significant change in addiction medicine policy. The new policy permits physicians (and only physicians) more flexibility to prescribe buprenorphine – a much used and effective drug that …
2020 was unprecedented and tumultuous due to simultaneous challenges of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, the resulting socio-economic fallout, and political polarization regarding policy responses to the pandemic, civil rights protests and presidential elections. The FDA has been pressured and challenged and responded with varying degrees of …
As we previously reported (see here and here), in three separate cases, federal courts blocked the implementation of the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rule for Medicare Part B drug payment. (Our summary of the MFN rule is available here.) In December 2020, the District Court …
Those of you keeping up with the Orange Book know that FDA has been considering changes to patent listing requirements, many of which industry has been requesting for decades. Now, Congress is trying to facilitate effective administration of the Orange Book. On January 5, 2021, …
On December 30, 2020, District Court Judge Kenneth M. Karas of the Southern District of New York issued a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rule from applying to Regeneron’s drug EYLEA (aflibercept). This is the third federal court ruling preventing implementation …
In the New Year’s Eve edition of the Federal Register, CMS published a final rule to implement statutory amendments to the Medicaid Rebate Program statute, and to add CMS’s own policy proposals to encourage value based purchasing arrangements and discourage patient copay assistance. The variety of …
Two district courts recently dealt what may become fatal blows to the Trump administration’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) rule for Medicare Part B drug payment. As noted in our summary (available here), the MFN rule was published as an interim final rule with comment period …
