Pharmacy

 A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Oct. 11 temporarily halted civil lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, according to The Washington Post. 

The drug-pricing bill proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., could save Medicare up to $345 billion over seven years, according to a new estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. 

New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals is looking to enter a new 340B contract expected to save the system $156.8 million in three years, according to Politico. 

If elected, several Democratic presidential candidates said they will invoke a law that would allow the president to lower drug prices without congressional approval, according to The Hill. 

The FDA completed a draft guidance that would allow drugmakers to avoid paying rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and payers, according to BioCentury.

The FDA approved Oct. 8 the first treatment for a rare skin disease that causes pain when exposed to sunlight.

A small, private drugmaker in Massachusetts wants to bring a controversial arthritis drug back on the market after it was recalled in 2004 for leading to roughly 60,000 deaths, according to STAT. 

In recent years, major drugmakers like Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie have starkly increased donations to nonprofits with the power to influence legislation in favor of the pharmaceutical industry, according to Bloomberg Government.

A Philadelphia jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $8 billion in punitive damages in a case accusing the drugmaker of downplaying the risks associated with its antipsychotic drug, Risperdal, according to The New York Times.

Puma Biotechnology raised the price of its breast cancer drug, Nerlynx, by 20 percent this year, according to STAT.