A federal appeals court has upheld Missouri’s law protecting 340B contract pharmacies, rejecting Novartis’ bid to block enforcement of the statute while its lawsuit proceeds. In a July 1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit affirmed…

Active drug shortages in the U.S. rose for the second consecutive quarter in 2026, reaching 223 in the first quarter, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists — and the FDA’s database continues to reflect new discontinuations weekly. The…

The FDA has expanded the approval of Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) to patients 2 years and older with sickle cell disease with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises or transfusion-dependent β thalassemia. The decision makes Casgevy the first gene therapy…

CMS plans to cut what Medicare pays hospitals for drugs bought through the 340B program and push site-neutral payment into a new category of outpatient services, two proposals that together would pull billions of dollars out of hospital outpatient revenue…

St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, Ind., recently named Nectaria Bonner, PharmD, CEO.  The hospital is part of Munster, Ind.-based Powers Health, which operates four hospitals. Dr. Bonner joined the health system in 2013 as inpatient pharmacy manager at Community…

The Kroger Co. will acquire supermarket chain Giant Eagle, Inc. for $1.65 billion, expanding its pharmacy footprint across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. Giant Eagle operates 11 standalone pharmacies, according to a July 1 news release.…

Amgen has recalled select lots of its heart medication Corlanor and kidney disease treatment Sensipar because of foreign material concerns and current good manufacturing practice deviations. The recall affects multiple lots of Corlanor (ivabradine) 5 milligram and 7.5 milligram tablets,…

Cigna’s Evernorth Health Services announced Pharmacy Forward, an AI-powered program for specialty care, July 1. The program, backed by a $100 million investment through 2028, will first launch with Evernorth’s Accredo Specialty Pharmacy.   Pharmacy Forward will integrate clinical data, AI-generated…

AstraZeneca will pay nearly $34 million to resolve allegations it used illegal kickbacks to influence prescriptions reimbursed by Texas Medicaid. Texas sued AstraZeneca under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act, alleging the drugmaker provided free nursing services and…

AIDS Drug Assistance Program Advocacy and the Partnership for Safe Medicines are urging pharmacies to avoid purchasing discounted HIV medications through online pharmacy-to-pharmacy marketplaces, warning the products may qualify as suspect under FDA guidance and the Drug Supply Chain Security…