Universal healthcare remains a hotly debated topic as the country prepares for a new executive administration. Already future Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle has pointed to public access of generic medicines as an integral part of the solution, to the approval of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. Today, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released its “critical principles” toward universal healthcare, with an emphasis on innovation in therapies and diagnostics. Read more »

New Hampshire’s 2006 “Prescription Information Law” raised questions about the boundaries between speech, actions, and privacy. Last week, the First US Circuit Court of Appeals answered those questions by ruling that the law is constitutional. The ruling overturned a 2007 US District Court decision. Read more »

In a sharp break with Washington tradition, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) unseated long-time top Democrat on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, John Dingell (D-Mich), to become the panel’s new chairman. The House Democratic caucus backed Waxman for the job after a hotly contested campaign in which Waxman claimed to be better positioned to work with the new Obama administration to enact environmental and health care legislation. Read more »

President-elect Barack Obama is moving quickly in selecting former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle as the potential secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle has been a close advisor to Obama and may now be the administration’s point person on moving health reform legislation through Congress. Reform advocates consider the selection a sign that the Obama administration will seek to fulfill its promises to make health reform a top priority. Read more »

The 2008 election is only a week away, and much of the public discussion focuses on the presidential race between Obama and McCain. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that voters will also choose their US senators and representatives. This point is not lost on the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Read more »

Success can be a mixed blessing, as the pharmaceutical industry well knows. Drug companies have prospered by developing and marketing new medicines that improve patients’ lives. But the industry’s impressive profits also bring public scrutiny and criticism. Sometimes the criticism is warranted, sometimes it’s unwarranted. Read more »