Congress

The chairmen of the House Oversight Committee and the subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic requested information from several people, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, surrounding the hypothesis that the coronavirus leaked accidentally from a Chinese lab.

As he takes the reins of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, the independent from Vermont maps out his strategy for negotiating with Republicans — and Big Pharma.

States were not allowed to kick people off Medicaid during the pandemic even if they no longer qualified. As of April 1, they can. Health policy experts fear some people who remain eligible could still lose coverage during the process.

The FDA overruled its own scientific advisers in approving Aduhelm, despite lack of proof that it met its promise of slowing patients' decline.

Several health policy provisions are included in the $1.7 trillion legislation, which was approved by the House a day after the Senate passed it.

The legislation will sunset a requirement of the COVID public health emergency that the Biden administration has been under mounting pressure to end. States were prohibited from booting people off Medicaid with the emergency in effect.

The bill directs Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his August 2021 memorandum imposing the vaccine mandate.

While supporters cheer the PASTEUR Act as an essential strategy to stem the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, critics call it a multibillion-dollar giveaway to Big Pharma.

The mandate helped ensure the vast majority of troops were vaccinated for COVID, but also raised concerns that it harmed recruitment and retention.

Increasingly, the FDA is asking drugmakers to remove unproven uses from older drugs that haven't delivered on early results. And drugmakers seeking accelerated approvals are facing tougher hurdles.