The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has vacated the Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters (NBPP) rule issued in May 2020 (2020 NBPP Rule) which allowed health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to use copay accumulators to exclude drug manufacturers’ copay assistance when …
After about a year without any untitled letters from OPDP, Xeris Pharmaceuticals received an untitled letter for their promotion for Recorlev (levoketoconazole) for misleading safety and efficacy claims. To quote everyone’s favorite flautist (and TikTok sensation) Lizzo, “it’s about d@mn time!” (Sorry for the bowdlerization, …
We were listening to a radio interview last week with Lina Khan, the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). In the interview, Khan spoke about the Commission’s efforts to regulate geolocation data trackers so that they don’t abuse their abilities. The risks she described …
GoodRx is a digital health platform familiar to many, and a prime example of a single player that operates in several different realms of the evolving and growing digital health marketplace. Among its services are prescription drug discounts, telehealth visits, and other health services. The Federal …
On September 26, 2022, Biogen Inc. agreed to pay $900 million to the United States and various states to settle a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit. This lawsuit was brought to the U.S. district court of Massachusetts by former employee and whistleblower Michael Bawduniak in …
In a recent JAMA editorial (unfortunately behind a paywall), three authors called for increased use of the Park Responsible Corporate Officer doctrine, under which senior level officials at a company can be held liable under a strict liability theory even if they were not involved …
Three patient advocate groups have sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), challenging HHS’s 2020 Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters (NBPP) rule. As it stands, the rule allows insurers and pharmacy benefit managers …
While the Jackson 5 hit “ABC” predates even these rapidly aging bloggers (first performed on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in 1970, and we challenge you to name all five members of the Jackson 5, we tap out after Michael, Tito, and Jermaine), its basic wisdom …
With our second OPDP enforcement letter of 2022, FDA is making one thing clear: OPDP will find your promotional content—even when it may not look like promotional content. While it’s not mind-blowing that OPDP would find a series of videos while scrolling Instagram (particularly when …
“EKRA” refers to the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, which was part of the Substance Use – Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act of 2018. EKRA is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 220 and was described on HP&M’s …
We are old enough to remember the “poke” function on Facebook, and too old to remember what purpose it served. We are similarly at a loss to understand the purpose of Facebook’s new policy requiring that pharmaceutical manufacturers, telehealth companies, and online pharmacies apply for …
Yesterday’s FDA Warning Letter, Press Release, and accompanying public relations campaign related to AcelRx’s promotional material for Dsuvia (sufentanil) are remarkable for exactly the reasons FDA intended them to be remarkable: these actions all signal to industry that despite anemic levels of FDA enforcement related …
As part of its final push to lower drug prices, the Trump administration announced that it was finalizing a January 2019 proposed rule to amend the safe harbor provisions relating to manufacturer rebates to Medicare Part D plans, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and their …
On Monday, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Special Fraud Alert highlighting “some of the inherent fraud and abuse risks” associated with in-person speaker programs, a widely used channel to educate physicians and …
On January 9, 2019, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) announced updates to its “Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals” (Code). The Code was last updated in 2008; the newest updates will become effective on January 1, 2020. The Code includes new sections …
