Express Scripts gets offensive

Express Scripts is suing the FTC, saying the agency’s investigation into PBM practices reached “false and defamatory” conclusions. It wants the entire report quashed.

The company is demanding that the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri declare that the FTC’s interim report “is not in the public interest,” that the report be vacated, and it demands “FTC Chair Lina M. Khan’s recusal from all Commission actions pertaining to Express Scripts.”

The evidence Express Scripts cites for its conclusion? A study by a University of Chicago economist who has earned more than $100 million writing in support of mega-mergers. (It also cited a 17-page report from a company that also supports mega-mergers.) So not biased at all.

Thanking them for their service

Hims and Hers — the giant telehealth company — says it’ll give a 50% discount on compounded semaglutide injections to members of some public-service professions, including teachers, police, first responders, and members of the military.

People in those professions will be able to buy the drug for $99 per month, compared to the full price of $199/month for an annual plan. (And that compares to $1,349 per month for brand-name Wegovy, although insurance might cover it once it becomes accessible again.)

ICYMI: More coffee goodness

Okay, when there’s a story about coffee, step 1 is checking whether it’s actually about coffee or if it’s about caffeine. In this case, it’s about caffeine (despite the headlines).

The gist: Consuming 200-300 mg of caffeine per day — that’s about two 12-oz. mugs^* of coffee or seven cans of Diet Dr Pepper — seems to protect people from a list of cardiometabolic diseases … assuming they don’t have them already.

The Chinese study found that…

…compared with non-consumers or consumers of less than 100mg caffeine per day, consumers of moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine had a 48.1% or 40.7% reduced risk for new-onset CM [cardiometabolic multimorbidity].

That’s based on data from the ginormous UK Biobank: almost 190,000 participants aged 37-73 years.

^* That’s a typical full-size mug of drip coffee, but obviously there are a gazillion variables. 

Drugmakers want to fight social media

Pharma companies want more leeway from the FDA to respond to what they think is false or misleading statements online or on television.

The FDA’s proposed guidance would make it easier for drugmakers to respond to what they considered false or misleading info — they needn’t follow all the usual disclosure rules, for example.

But that guidance wouldn’t let the companies respond to a post or statement that was simply someone’s “own experience, opinion, and value judgments.”

So if someone wrote, “Ozempic turns you into a newt,” Novo Nordisk could respond quickly with “Actually, that’s not true.” But if someone said, “I took Ozempic and it turned me into a newt,” the shackles would remain in place because it’s an individual experience.

But PhRMA, the pharma trade association, doesn’t like that restriction.

[T]he trade group said the distinction the draft makes between fact and opinion “is overly simplistic.” The guidance lacks clear definitions of “opinion,” “value statements” or “representations of individual experience.”

Snail venom does it again

Ah, marine cone snails. Will you and your deadly venom never stop giving? According to University of Utah researchers, that venom “mimics a human hormone called somatostatin, which regulates the levels of blood sugar and various hormones in the body.”

What’s cool is that the toxin — consomatin — is actually more stable than somatostatin, plus it only reacts with a single protein (somatostatin reacts with several), making the snail toxin more targeted.

All this means the venom “could also help scientists design better drugs for people with diabetes or hormone disorders.”

Oh, and if you’re wondering why we say the venom ‘never stops giving,’ that’s because back in 2021 we reported how the same venom could help treat malaria, and in 2022 we covered how it can block pain better than morphine.

Short takes

Another victory for anti-vaxxers

A new CDC report finds that child flu deaths last year tied the record for the US, with 199 kids dying. Of that group, 158 were eligible for a flu shot, but only 17% were vaccinated. (Half the kids had an underlying health condition, which you would think would make parents want to be extra careful.)

The smell of plastic

The latest place microplastics have been found: human olfactory bulbs. What makes that concerning (besides the obvious) is that it’s a short trip from there to the brain.

It took a pandemic

A new report from LeapFrog finds that hospital staff has gotten better at washing their hands. Today, about 74% of staff washes in accordance with the WHO’s guidance, while in 2020 only 11% did.

That’s right: Today, more than a quarter of hospital workers don’t wash properly, and that’s considered good news.

Ketamine fights withdrawal

Quitting fentanyl is tough — the drug is strong and so are the withdrawal symptoms, so patients can have trouble starting either methadone and buprenorphine to kick the habit.

There might be a solution: ultra-low-dose ketamine. A study out of the University of Washington found that “a small amount of ketamine can reduce or eliminate the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting fentanyl.”

The “ultra-low dose” is 16 mg, which is less than half what’s used for depression treatment. In the 14-month study of 24 patients, two-thirds transitioned to buprenorphine successfully.

“Methadone can be difficult to access due to strict federal regulations, and starting buprenorphine can cause severe withdrawal symptoms before those who start it become stabilized. Ketamine, at an imperceptibly low dose, helps bridge that gap.”