Health Care — What's keeping FDA chief up at night?

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View Online Health Care Health Care The Big Story  Illicit vapes frustrate FDA head What keeps Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf up at night? The agency's struggle to stop illicit vapes coming into the U.S. from China.  © AP "If anything would make me sleep less right now this is one of several issues," Califf told a House panel Thursday. "It's not as if people don't see it coming in. Boxes full of vaping products were labeled as lanterns."     During a House Appropriations hearing on the agency's FY 2025 budget request, Califf said Congress can help the agency cut through red tape to make it easier to seize the products as soon as they arrive in U.S. shipping facilities.     Chinese regulators banned vaping flavors in 2022, Califf noted, so the devices are pouring into the U.S. But he explained that the agency is hampered by legal restrictions.    "We have to go by what's on the label ... it takes weeks to get that fixed and then there's a timeframe by which if we don't do something the product goes on through" to U.S. shops, he said.    FDA is facing bipartisan pressure to do more to stop Chinese vape products in kid-friendly flavors from entering the market. Despite the FDA issuing a ban on most fruit and mint-flavored e-cigarettes, products continue to flow into the U.S. and become available for purchase.    "FDA's continued inability to clear the market of illicit tobacco products. I simply do not understand why FDA cannot – or will not – tackle this problem head on and get illicit products out of the marketplace," said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA.   "This should be the Center for Tobacco Products' number one focus, not dreaming up new rulemakings to further exacerbate black markets," he added. Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Government watchdog critical of federal mpox response The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report that the Department of Health and Human Services’s (HHS) response to the 2022 mpox outbreak was uncoordinated and lacked interagency cohesion. For its report, the GAO visited 14 U.S. jurisdictions including Los Angeles, Miami Dade County, Atlanta, Chicago and New York City. The agency also interviewed nongovernmental stakeholders and reviewed the actions …  Full Story Eli Lilly's Zepbound in shortage months after approval The weight loss medication Zepbound has gone into shortage just months after it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with its manufacturer Eli Lilly blaming the situation on high demand. As of this week, most tirzepatide injections (sold commercially as Mounjaro and Zepbound) have limited availability, according to the FDA’s shortage database. The cited reason for all the shortages of tirzepatide is …  Full Story Biden seeks to make Trump the face of anti-abortion movement The Biden campaign is seeking to make former President Trump the face of the anti-abortion movement as Democrats look to harness voter fury following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. At campaign stops in the days since a Civil War-era abortion ban was upheld in Arizona, Vice President Kamala Harris has gone hard against "Trump abortion bans” and accused the former president of "gaslighting" Americans about whether he'd …  Full Story In Other News  Branch out with a different read: Kentucky governor announces lottery to award initial round of medical cannabis business licenses FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky will use a lottery system to award an initial round of licenses to businesses competing to participate in the state’s startup medical cannabis program, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday. The governor called it a fair way to give each applicant that clears the screening process an opportunity to land … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Repeal of Arizona's abortion bill will dominate Legislature for weeks. What's the holdup? (AZCentral.com)  The path to a better tuberculosis vaccine runs through Montana (KFF Health News)  Proposed changes to state Medicaid plans could shake up health coverage for 1.8 million low-income Texans (The Texas Tribune)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Democrats say they have a winning hand on abortion but outside groups won't let them play it (Notus)  As Zepbound shortage grows, Eli Lilly says no immediate end is in sight (NBC)  Millions of girls in Africa will miss HPV shots after Merck production problem (The New York Times)  What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: Momentum grows to remove Johnson over potential change to ouster rule Momentum is growing quickly behind the effort to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from power if he moves to alter the motion to vacate rule as part … Read more All 12 jurors, 1 alternate seated for Trump's hush money trial: Recap Jury selection consumed the third day of former President Trump’s hush money trial on Thursday. All 12 jurors were seated by the for Trump’s … Read more   You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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