Novartis bought biotech company AveXis for $8.7 billion earlier this year, and executives are thinking about charging at least $4 million for AveXis' highly touted gene therapy to treat spinal muscular atrophy, according to Endpoints News.
Why it matters: This would be the most expensive drug in the world, by far, if it gets FDA approval, and it would raise drug pricing concerns to a new level. As Walid Gellad, a medical professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies pharmaceuticals, mused today: "The fact that we can spread a price across thousands or millions of people does not justify a given price."
Medicaid, Medicaid, Medicaid. It hasn’t been the dominant national theme, even in an election season dominated by health care, but Medicaid has more on the line tonight than any other area of health policy.
By the numbers: 17 states haven’t adopted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. Three of those states — Idaho, Nebraska and Utah — have initiatives on the ballot today to expand Medicaid. And six more have gubernatorial races rated as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report. If all nine of those states ended up expanding Medicaid, more than 1.6 million people would be newly eligible for coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s estimates.
Power last changed hands 18 years ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sub-Saharan Africa's largest country by area and third-largest by population, when Laurent Kabila was assassinated and his son Joseph took office at the age of 29. That was during the Second Congo War (1998-2003), the world's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Flash forward: After two years of delay, national elections will be held on December 23. Kabila has said he'll respect constitutional term limits and step aside. He endorsed a loyalist to succeed him.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took some heat on Friday for approving Dsuvia, a new opioid painkiller that’s up to 10 times more powerful than therapeutic fentanyl.
What they’re saying: FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb acknowledged the criticism in a statement about the approval, and said it may be time for the agency to think differently about the standards for approving opioids.
The health insurance industry is lobbying yet again for a delay of the Affordable Care Act's tax on insurers, but experts say that wouldn't benefit consumers as much as it might seem.
Why it matters: Insurers argue the tax gets passed onto enrollees, and the threat of higher premiums has spurred Congress to suspend the fee twice already.
The Democrats' emphasis on health care may give them a modest, but not a decisive, advantage with seniors in Tuesday's elections.
Why it matters: Older voters are the one group that always turns out to vote in midterm elections. They vote at higher rates than younger adults in all elections, but especially in midterms. In 2014, for example, turnout was 55% among the 60-plus population compared to about 16% among 18-29 year-olds.
