Louisiana Forbids Public Health Workers From Promoting COVID, Flu and Mpox Shots
A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID-19, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop.
NPR has confirmed the policy was discussed at this meeting, and at two other meetings held within the department’s Office of Public Health, on Oct. 3 and Nov. 21, through interviews with four employees at the Department of Health, which employs more than 6,500 people and is the state’s largest agency.
2025 Forecast: The Government Crackdown on Pharmas’ Direct-to-Consumer Outreach Marches On
The ways in which pharmaceutical companies market their drugs directly to consumers in the U.S. could face quite the evolution in 2025 — at least, if legislators and other government powers have anything to say about it.
Perhaps the most pressing threat to DTC drug advertising comes in the form of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr., who has questioned vaccine policy over the years, proposed his own policy ideas throughout his own 2024 presidential run and following his HHS secretary selection that include, among others, a relaxation of childhood vaccine requirements and the reversal of drinking water fluoridation efforts as well as an end to direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharma marketing.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published in September, shortly after he’d ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump, Kennedy offered some ideas to reform health policy. Among them was a suggestion to “review direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ad guidelines,” about which he added: “News channels are filled with drug commercials, and reasonable viewers may question whether their dependence on these ads influences their coverage of health issues.”
Justice Department Files Nationwide Lawsuit Alleging CVS Knowingly Dispensed Controlled Substances in Violation of the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act
In a civil complaint unsealed today in Providence, Rhode Island, the Justice Department alleges that CVS Pharmacy Inc. and various subsidiaries (collectively, CVS) filled unlawful prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act and sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs for unlawful prescriptions in violation of the False Claims Act. CVS is the country’s largest pharmacy chain, with more than 9,000 pharmacies across the U.S.
The government’s complaint alleges that, from Oct. 17, 2013, to the present, CVS knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, were not valid, and/or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice. Among the large number of unlawful prescriptions that CVS allegedly filled were prescriptions for dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids, early fills of opioids, and “trinity” prescriptions, an especially dangerous and abused combination of drugs made up of an opioid, a benzodiazepine and a muscle relaxant.
CVS also allegedly filled large quantities of prescriptions for controlled substances written by prescribers it knew to be engaged in “pill mill practices” — that is, prescribers who issue large numbers of controlled substance prescriptions without any medical purpose. According to the complaint, CVS ignored substantial evidence from multiple sources, including its own pharmacists and internal data, indicating that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions.
Pharma’s Reputation Is Stable-Ish. Will That Survive Trump 2.0?
The pharma industry’s standing among the U.S. public has reached a new steady state after the rise and fall it underwent as the pandemic ebbed and flowed. About one-third of Americans had positive views of the industry in 2019, according to The Harris Poll. That figure shot up to 62% as vaccine developers rode to the rescue after COVID-19 shut down societies, only to slip again as memories of the crisis faded.
Pharma’s reputation was 45% positive for the past two years. The latest survey put positive sentiment at 43%. After the whiplash changes of the COVID-19 era, things have settled down. Enter Donald Trump, a president-elect who fans and detractors alike agree has a propensity to try to shake things up. Just how much Trump is willing to divert from the status quo this time around began to come into focus as he put forward names for the top jobs in his administration. Most notably, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is up for the starring role at the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Costco-Brand Cold and Flu Medication Recalled by FDA: ‘Not Effective’
A Costco-brand cold and flu medicine has been pulled from shelves by the thousands.
A total of 8,640 boxes of Kirkland Severe Cold & Flu Plus Congestion Day and Night packs were recalled by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) last week. This is following the FDA’s proposal to ban the use of oral phenylephrine as an over-the-counter nasal decongestant in early November.
After “extensive review,” the FDA concluded that the active ingredient in the product (oral phenylephrine) is “not effective” as a nasal decongestant.
Vaccination Rates for Flu, COVID-19 Down in Chicago Heading Into the Winter: ‘an Uphill Battle’
Vaccination rates in Chicago so far this winter for seasonal respiratory infections like COVID-19 and the flu are slightly down from last year, which public health officials say could be a result of disinformation and “vaccine fatigue” since the pandemic. Only approximately 10.7% of Chicagoans had received the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine as of Dec. 14, while 22.5% had gotten their flu shot, according to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Compared with the end of the second full week of December 2023, vaccination rates for both the flu and COVID-19 have decreased by more than a full percentage point, according to city data. Approximately 36,500 fewer Chicago residents have received their flu vaccine so far this year, while about 46,000 fewer people have received their COVID-19 vaccine.
New Live-Attenuated Vaccine Against ‘Unbreakable’ Lassa Virus Shows Promising Results
A vaccine candidate against Lassa virus completely protected guinea pigs exposed to an otherwise lethal dose of the virus, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed), The Scripps Research Institute and The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recently reported in npj vaccines.
Lassa virus, which has no approved vaccine and no cure, causes tens to hundreds of thousands of cases of Lassa fever annually. It is passed from infected rodents to people through contaminated food or surfaces. While many people have no symptoms, the virus can cause fever, severe bleeding and organ failure within two weeks of infection.
Fatality rates are estimated at around 15–20%. Found throughout Western Africa, Lassa fever is a priority disease for vaccine research and development according to The World Health Organization because it presents a high potential for a public health emergency.
FDA Issues Vet Letter on Drug Librela Used to Control Pain in Dogs
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine posted a letter to veterinarians on Monday alerting them of adverse effects reported in dogs following injections of Librela, a treatment aimed at providing pain relief for canines with osteoarthritis. Dogster reports that there are an estimated 86.9 million dogs in the U.S. The Morris Animal Foundation said about 14 million of those dogs live with osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease, which is a “progressive disease of the joints fueled by chronic inflammation. The end result is chronic pain that can have far-ranging, negative health effects beyond an affected joint.”
The FDA warned of several neurological and physical problems in dogs after receiving Librela injections. The letter comes after several reports revealed the adverse effects of the drug. Zoetis, manufacturer of Librela, shared the company’s statement with Newsweek via email: “The information shared by the FDA is consistent with what we’ve seen in our pharmacovigilance data. We maintain regular communication with the FDA to ensure the ongoing safety and efficacy of our products.”
