Walgreens' plans to pare back what it calls a "significant portion" of its 8,600 locations will likely worsen the pharmacy shortage in underprivileged communities already struggling with access to care.
Why it matters: Instead of transforming how health care is delivered, retailers' retrenchment from primary care could exacerbate health disparities and bodes ill for poor patients who already are less likely to refill prescriptions.
Catch up quick: During a gloomy earnings call last week, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth acknowledged concern about growing pharmacy deserts, noting that his chain is the last company standing in a lot of places.
Supplies of the widely used chemotherapy drug cisplatin now exceed demand, ending a national shortage that shook cancer care and highlighted supply chain vulnerabilities, especially for sterile injectables.
Why it matters: While it's encouraging news for patients, ongoing shortages of other drugs are driving a debate over reliance on overseas manufacturing and FDA authority.
Driving the news: FDA Commissioner Robert Califf announced Friday that the cisplatin squeeze had ended and that the agency is working with drugmakers and other players along the supply chain to address shortages of other cancer treatments.
Walgreens' plans to pare back what it terms a "significant portion" of its 8,600 locations will likely worsen the pharmacy shortage in underprivileged communities already struggling with access to care.
Why it matters: Instead of transforming how health care is delivered, retailers' retrenchment from primary care could exacerbate health disparities and bodes ill for poor patients who already are less likely to refill prescriptions.
Starting Monday, the Food and Drug Administration will wield new regulatory powers over makers of lipsticks, shampoos, baby wipes and other cosmetic products that account for more than $40 billion in sales annually.
Why it matters: It's part of the phase-in of a 2022 law that calls for more oversight of adverse events and requires companies to clearly label allergens, register their facilities and disclose every product they sell.
If courts weren't already exerting outsized influence over health policy, they're much closer to being final arbiters now that the Supreme Court has scrapped the decades-old doctrine that gave the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other health agencies the power to interpret vague or ill-defined laws.
Why it matters: Judges could get the final say onMedicare payment rates, drug and device regulation and even what constitutes a public health emergency.
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Two hours west of Kansas City, a multibillion-dollar research hub is emerging on the prairie as a new first line of defense against animal diseases that can decimate livestock, rattle financial markets and potentially spill over into humans.
Why it matters: The growing avian flu outbreak in the U.S., highly contagious swine fever circulating in Europe and Asia and other pathogens have put a premium on the ability toamp up production of vaccines and other medical countermeasures — and pulling more of that work back to the U.S. from overseas.
