If drugmakers won’t lower insulin prices, maybe Michigan should make its own. That’s the thinking of a small group of lawmakers and others, led by Sen. Curt VanderWall, R-Ludington, who have been meeting with drugmakers and university representatives to determine whether Michigan can make its own insulin to sharply reduce costs for the life-saving drug. The talks are preliminary, with many questions lingering, said VanderWall, who chairs the Senate’s Health Policy and Human Services Committee. “Can we bring manufacturers to the table … to say ‘I'm willing to sell this product at this cost?’ That's one option. The other option is: Do we actually bring the state … into being a manufacturer of insulin and sell that product at our [...]

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - A standing order from the State Health Officer allows a trained pharmacist to provide Naloxone to anyone at risk, or anyone in a position to help someone who is at risk, without having a prescription for it. It’s a lifesaving drug that can only work to reverse an opioid overdose if it is readily available. John Warmb is a Program Coordinator at Lansing Syringe Access. Before that, John was a user and he said his story would be a lot different if Naloxone was not readily available in his time of need. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Naloxone, that is just the fact of the matter,” John said. “It’s been a few years ago now [...]

Pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) audits are becoming increasingly dangerous for pharmacies. While the role of the PBM was initially to reduce costs for all parties involved, abusive PBM practices have led to the opposite in many cases. The problem has become so significant that several states have adopted legislation aimed specifically at targeting abusive PBM practices, and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and other organizations have launched wide-reaching lobbying and advocacy campaigns in recent years. One major issue that negatively impacts both pharmacies and patients is the lack of transparency. As the NCPA explains, “[a] lack of transparency in PBM practices has led several states to implement licensure/registration, fair pharmacy audit, or generic drug pricing legislation to try to level [...]

The outlook for a better COVID-19 vaccine — one that can defend against new mutations — is improving, with early findings showing that Moderna's reformulated product provides more robust protection than the original. Study results that have yet to be peer-reviewed suggest the bivalent vaccine candidate, which couples the company's existing vaccine with one designed to combat the Beta strain, is more effective not only against Beta but also against the Delta and Omicron variants. Volunteers who received a booster with the bivalent vaccine generated twice as many anti-Omicron antibodies as volunteers who received a booster with the existing Moderna vaccine. Protection from the reconfigured vaccine was more durable against Omicron, lasting for 6 months, although the same could not be said [...]

Highly contagious subvariants of the Omicron strain of coronavirus have arrived in central New York, putting the state and the rest of the country on alert for a potential setback in the COVID-19 pandemic. The new versions, BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, reportedly are spreading as much as 27% faster than the original Omicron variant. While the subvariants do not appear to be linked to worse disease severity, health officials in New York say they are contributing to the growing number of cases. According to the surveillance, the subvariants drove more than 70% of infections in the central New York region in March, increasing to 90% this month. Meanwhile, another Omicron subvariant dubbed XE has surfaced in Hawaii after first being observed [...]