Health Care — Sanders drops subpoena threat against Novo Nordisk

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View Online Health Care Health Care The Big Story  Sanders drops subpoena threat against Novo Nordisk  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, is no longer threatening to subpoena a top executive from Novo Nordisk over the company's pricing of popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.  © AP Sanders said the company has agreed to an early September hearing where CEO Lars Jørgensen will be the sole witness.    "I enjoyed the opportunity of chatting with Mr. Jørgensen this afternoon and thank him for agreeing to voluntarily testify on a solo panel before the HELP Committee on the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States," Sanders said in a statement.    Sanders had scheduled a vote for early next week on a subpoena to force Doug Langa, chief of Novo Nordisk's U.S. division, to appear for a hearing.     Sanders launched an investigation in April into the "outrageously high prices" of Ozempic and Wegovy. He questioned why Novo Nordisk charges patients in the U.S. "up to 10 to 15 times more" for those products than their counterparts in other western countries like Canada and Germany.    This is the second time this year Sanders threatened to subpoena drug company executives to get them to testify. He used similar tactics with the CEOs of Merck and Johnson & Johnson.     The health committee hasn't issued a subpoena in over 40 years.     Letters from Novo Nordisk to Sanders that were reviewed by The Hill showed that Jørgensen was willing to voluntarily testify before the HELP committee but did not wish to be a solo witness.    "We asked that, in accord with your public statements to the New York Times and your statement to Mr. Jørgensen directly, the Committee hold a fair hearing which includes a range of stakeholders that impact what patients pay for GLP-1 medicines in the complex U.S. healthcare ecosystem—rather than focus on just one participant," a letter dated June 7 read.    In a statement, Sanders said he "looks forward to Mr. Jørgensen explaining why Americans are paying up to ten or 15 times more for these medications than people in other countries."  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: CDC warns of disruptions to ADHD meds after $100M fraud arrest The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning those who take medication for ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, could face a disruption in accessing care after two executives were arrested for a $100 million fraud scheme. The CDC issued a health advisory to inform public health officials, clinicians and patients about the potential for medication distribution to be affected. The Department of Justice …  Full Story GOP Rep. McMorris Rodgers suggests reforms to boost NIH Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, unveiled a set of proposals aimed at reforming the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in order to help the U.S. “maintain its innovative edge” against adversarial countries. The proposal recommended regularly conducting a congressional mandated review of the “NIH's performance, mission, objectives, and programs” …  Full Story The Hill event Keeping Pharmacy Shelves Filled: Solutions to Address Drug Shortages | June 25 in Washington, D.C. | In person & streaming   Join The Hill for a special discussion on the pharmaceutical supply chain as we discuss the collective goal of preventing drug shortages and, when they are unavoidable, mitigating their impact on patients.   Speakers include: Dr. Mark McClellan, director, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy Dr. Marta Wosińska, senior fellow, Center on Health Policy, The Brookings Institution Michael Kleinrock, lead research director, IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. Click here to RSVP The Hill event Medicare & Drug Pricing: Time to Think Differently | June 27 in Washington, D.C. | In person & streaming nationally    Effects of the landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are beginning to show with many saving on health care costs through Medicare. However, unintended consequences of the bill such as increases in utilization management tactics, shifts in research dollars and more are also beginning to surface. Join The Hill, as we discuss lessons learned from the first round of Medicare direct negotiation and explore improvements going into year two.   Speakers include: Dana P. Goldman, University Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy & Economics, University of Southern California Dr. Jennifer Ellis, co-chair, Health & Public Policy Committee, Association of Black Cardiologists & Cardiac Surgeon Daneen Sekoni, VP, Policy & Advocacy, Cancer Support Community Click here to RSVP In Other News  Branch out with a different read: The Supreme Court's ruling on mifepristone isn't the last word on the abortion pill The Supreme Court ‘s ruling on technical grounds Thursday keeps the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. for now, but it won’t be the last word on the issue, and the unanimous opinion offers some clues for how abortion opponents can keep trying to deny it to women nationwide. Some state attorneys general have indicated … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: 'They want us to be scared': Protesters target organizers for abortion ballot measure in Arkansas (The 19th News)  Wyoming school districts hiring fewer mental health staff (Gillette News Record)  Indiana weighs hospital monopoly as officials elsewhere scrutinize similar deals (KFF Health News)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: How a major public hospital is protecting doctors by silencing the patients who accuse them (NBC News)  Medicare Advantage insurers will collect extra bonuses (Axios)  What happens when your insurer is also your doctor and your pharmacist (Wall Street Journal)  What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: Sotomayor rips Thomas's bump stocks ruling in scathing dissent read from bench Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a fiery dissent harshly denounced a Supreme Court ruling Friday that rejected a ban on bump stocks, saying it "eviscerates" … Read more Biden campaign trolls Trump's 78 'accomplishments' on former president's birthday The Biden campaign wished former President Trump a happy 78th birthday Friday with a mocking list of 78 “accomplishments” highlighting … Read more What People Think  Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: Congress uses manufactured Dobbs crisis to push federal takeover of health care  The Pentagon is conducting cruel, unneeded experiments on dogs; it needs to stop   You're all caught up. See you Monday!  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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