Recall includes salads and wraps sold at Kroger, Walgreens

On Monday, a public health alert issued by the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service advised certain beef, pork and poultry salad and wrap products might be contaminated with cyclospora. The products were sold by grocery stores including Kroger, Trader Joe's and Walgreens.

Senator Joe Manchin and other Senators contact CDC to help with overdose deaths

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin joined a bipartisan group of Senators in urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide more resources and better support for forensic medicine practitioners as overdose deaths in the United States overwhelm medical examiners, coroners, and toxicologists. The letter presses CDC on how it plans to ensure the forensic medicine community has the tools and support it needs to collect and share data to better understand, predict, prevent, and treat the addiction crisis.

Trump, corruption, greed: NJ Senate race coming into view

Democratic control of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's Senate seat in Democrat-leaning New Jersey could hinge on how well he can convince voters they need him to stand up to President Donald Trump, and on whether Republican challenger Bob Hugin can make a case the electorate should dump the incumbent over tossed-out corruption charges. Victories on Tuesday by Menendez and former Celgene Corp. chief executive Bob Hugin set the stage for New Jersey's only statewide race in November as Trump and national Republicans defend a narrowly divided Senate.

Menendez, pharmaceutical executive to fight for Senate seat

Democratic control of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's Senate seat in Democrat-leaning New Jersey could hinge on how well he can convince voters they need him to stand up to President Donald Trump, and on whether Republican challenger Bob Hugin can make a case the electorate should dump the incumbent over tossed-out corruption charges. Victories on Tuesday by Menendez and former Celgene Corp. chief executive Bob Hugin set the stage for New Jersey's only statewide race in November as Trump and national Republicans defend a narrowly divided Senate.

The Gazette

President Donald Trump's long-promised plan to bring down drug prices, unveiled Friday, would mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder." Instead he focuses on private competition and more openness to reduce America's prescription pain.

Few teeth in Trump’s prescription to reduce drug prices

President Donald Trump's long-promised plan to bring down drug prices, unveiled Friday, would mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder." Instead he focuses on private competition and more openness to reduce America's prescription pain.

As Trump prepares plan to lower drug prices, big pharma girds for a fight

Big Pharma is pouring money into a lobbying campaign to thwart any serious efforts to rein in prescription drug prices before a presidential speech this month where Trump plans to lay out his drug pricing proposals. "There is apprehension across the industry," said Bruce Artim, who retired recently after 11 years as the director of federal affairs at Eli Lilly and Co.

California alleges hospital system unfairly inflated costs

California's attorney general has sued Sutter Health, one of the state's largest hospital systems, alleging anticompetitive business practices that unfairly drove up costs for patients. The Los Angeles Times reports the lawsuit filed Friday claims Sutter charged prices for services that far exceed what the company would have been able to charge in a competitive market.

8th District: Dem tops $1M, Rossi stages $1K ‘All Star Huddle’

Dr. Kim Schrier, an Issquah pediatrician running as a Democrat to replace GOP Rep. Dave Reichert, becomes the second 8th District candidate to top $1 million in money raised. Dr. Kim Schrier, an Issquah pediatrician running as a Democrat to replace GOP Rep. Dave Reichert, becomes the second 8th District candidate to top $1 million in money raised.

Longtime AIDS researcher Robert Redfield picked to lead CDC

This undated photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine in March 2018 shows Dr. Robert Redfield Jr. On Wednesday, March 21, 2018, Redfield was named the new director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal government's top public health agency. This undated photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine in March 2018 shows Dr. Robert Redfield Jr. On Wednesday, March 21, 2018, Redfield was named the new director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal government's top public health agency.

Opioid Litigants Get Boost From Senate Report

A report released by Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill points to $10 million of payments flowing from a group of five opioid-producing companies to 15 patient advocacy groups over a five-year period. The hundreds of pending opioid abuse lawsuits likely have just received a jolt from a report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs linking opioid manufacturers and patient advocacy groups.

The Giving Season Is Over: Practical Advice for Patient Assistance…

Right before Christmas last year, the Department of Justice announced an ominous settlement: United Therapeutics, a manufacturer of pulmonary arterial hypertension drugs, agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle allegations it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute . United Therapeutics' alleged kickback was supporting - and purportedly benefiting from - a Patient Assistance Program charitable foundation that helped patients pay expensive co-pays for United Therapeutics' drugs.

Florida Federal Court: Escobar Requires Reversal of $348 Million False Claims Act Jury Verdict

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida vacated a large jury verdict in a False Claims Act case against the owners and operators of nursing homes because the evidence did not satisfy the materiality standards articulated in the U.S Supreme Court's 2016 opinion in Universal Health Services v. Escobar .