Old ideas, new packaging

Check it out: NCPA’s Doug Hoey has the big op-ed in Thursday’s Morning Consult: “Everything Old Is New Again?” It’s about how the services that community pharmacies have offered for a long time are being touted as “new.” Heck, if you haven’t used them, they’re new to you, right?

Quoth Hoey:

Recently, we watched the much-ballyhooed announcement that Walgreens will partner with FedEx to offer next-day delivery service by mail order. The move comes six months after CVS announced the same service. Both charge $4.99 for this “new” benefit.

That sound you hear is the collective yawn of community pharmacists across the nation. A new service? Hardly.

First U.S. phage-therapy research center opens

The University of California San Diego is opening the nation’s first center specifically to research and apply the use of bacteriophages to combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

We’re gonna let this headline speak for itself

“Extensive Facebook Use Linked to Poor Health, Decision-Making”

New Congress begins to tackle drug pricing

As Democrats begin the year in control of the House, they’ve already begun introducing bills to lower drug prices. But will the White House be willing to support them?

From the AP story:

The lawmakers want to:

—Open up generic competition to patent-protected U.S. brand-name drugs that are deemed “excessively priced.”

—Allow Medicare to directly negotiate with drugmakers.

—Let consumers import lower-priced medications from Canada.

(At least one of those bills — allowing Americans to import drugs from Canada for personal use — has some high-powered Republican support.)

Are biological makers trying to scare patients away from biosimilars?

According to FDA commish Scott Gottlieb — and a lot of others — that’s exactly what’s going on.

Elsewhere: Cheesehead edition

Wisconsin’s governor moves to expand Medicaid there. Assuming he’s successful, Wisconsin would be the 38th state to do so.