Jan 5, 2019

Pharma plays defense

Illustration: Aïda Amer / Axios

If there’s any area where the Trump administration and a Democratic House majority could find common ground, drug pricing may be it.

Why it matters: Pharma is on its heels, in a way it hasn’t been for years. And it will stay on the defensive for the next two years.

Be smart: President Trump has scrambled all the usual alliances.

On policy, Trump is basically aligned with Democrats, and congressional Republicans are in sync with industry.
Politically, Democrats aren’t inclined to help Trump notch a win on a critically important issue. And congressional Republicans are torn between their donors and their party’s most powerful leader.

Go deeper: These are the pharma companies hiking drug prices in 2019

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Erica Pandey

America's funeral homes buckle under the coronavirus

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Morgues, funeral homes and cemeteries in hot spots across America cannot keep up with the staggering death toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

Why it matters: The U.S. has seen more than 10,000 deaths from the virus, and at least tens of thousands more lives are projected to be lost. The numbers are creating unprecedented bottlenecks in the funeral industry — and social distancing is changing the way the families say goodbye to their loved ones.

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Jonathan Swan, Margaret Talev

Navarro memos warning of mass coronavirus death circulated in January

Image from a memo to President Trump

In late January, President Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro warned his White House colleagues the novel coronavirus could take more than half a million American lives and cost close to $6 trillion, according to memos obtained by Axios.

The state of play: By late February, Navarro was even more alarmed, and he warned his colleagues, in another memo, that up to two million Americans could die of the virus.

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Margaret Talev

Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index: The virus hits home

Data: Ipsos/Axios poll; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

The share of Americans who know someone who's tested positive has more than tripled in just a few weeks, to 14%, according to the latest installment of our Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

It's still highest in the Northeast, but last week alone it doubled in the South — and it's becoming most pronounced among people who still must leave home to work.

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