pharmaceuticals

Four big drug companies would pay out $26 billion to dozens of states over the next 17 years.

Massachusetts and New York are among the states agreeing to end the fight to halt a controversial Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan. The deal shelters members of the Sackler family from opioid lawsuits.

Clinical trials show Wegovy triples the average weight loss seen with other drugs. Whether it will reach many patients largely depends on whether insurers decide to cover it.

Johnson & Johnson says two small-sample lab studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed showed the one-dose shot is highly protective against the variant and that immunity may be long-lasting.

More than 100 bills have been introduced in 42 states this year to regulate these companies, which serve as conduits for drug manufacturers, health insurers and pharmacies.

Research involving crayfish spotlights the issue of medications entering the environment through improper disposal or excreting amounts in the bathroom.

When a new drug is up for FDA approval, trials may be held not only in the U.S. but other countries too. A study looks at global availability after approval. Big Pharma disagrees with the findings.

More than 200,000 doses of COVID vaccine have gone to waste since December, KHN has learned. Two national pharmacy chains account for most of it.

On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis included $15 million in his proposed 2021-22 budget for an importation program. That would come on top of $10 million the Legislature already directed toward the plan.

The pandemic was the dominant — but not the only — health policy story of 2020. In this Kaiser Health News podcast, panelists look at some of the year's biggest non-coronavirus stories.