Health News Roundup: U.S. government sets penalties on 43 drugs over price hikes; US FDA panel backs approval for Eisai-Biogen Alzheimer's drug Leqembi and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. government sets penalties on 43 drugs over price hikes

The Biden administration on Friday announced it would impose inflation penalties on 43 drugs for the third quarter of 2023, having fined 27 earlier this year, in a move it said would lower costs for older Americans by as much as $449 per dose. Drugmakers hiked the price of these 43 drugs by more than the rate of inflation and are required to pay the difference of those medicines to Medicare, the federal health program for Americans over age 65.

US FDA panel backs approval for Eisai-Biogen Alzheimer's drug Leqembi

A panel of expert advisers on Friday unanimously agreed that a late-stage trial of Eisai and Biogen's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi verified the benefit of the treatment for those at an early stage of the disease, clearing the way for traditional U.S. approval. All six advisers on the panel voted in favor of Leqembi for treatment of the mind-wasting illness.

Exclusive-US seeks new suppliers of highly used cancer drug methotrexate in short supply

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it is seeking new suppliers to ease shortages of methotrexate, one of the most commonly used cancer drugs, building on its push to shore up two other scarce chemotherapy medicines. An FDA spokesperson told Reuters the agency is looking for temporary importation options for the drug, which has been in shortage since March.

Respiratory disease outbreak in Chile strains pediatric ICU capacity

Chile has been hit by its most severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) outbreak in years, killing four infants and putting strain on pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) capacity. Yessenia Sanchez, the mother of one of the infants who died, said she waited from 8 am until 10 pm for an ambulance to transfer her baby to an ICU. In that time her baby had two cardiac arrests, said Sanchez, who is from Quilpe in the Valparaiso metropolitan area.

US Chamber of Commerce sues over government's drug pricing power

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday sued the federal government, challenging a new law that for the first time gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. In a complaint filed in federal court in Dayton, Ohio, the chamber said the pricing program violated drugmakers' due process rights under the U.S. Constitution by giving the government "unfettered discretion" to dictate maximum prices.

Biden admin near deal to preserve preventive care coverage, for now

A mandate that U.S. health insurers cover preventive care like cancer screenings and HIV-preventing medication at no extra cost to patients could remain in place while the Biden administration appeals a court order striking it down, following a tentative agreement announced on Friday. The agreement between the administration and conservative businesses and individuals that sued to challenge the mandate is not yet final, according to a filing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Walgreens reaches $500 million deal with New Mexico over opioid crisis

Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay $500 million to New Mexico to settle claims that its pharmacies helped fuel opioid addiction in the state by failing to stop illegal pill sales, lawyers for the state announced on Friday. The settlement, the largest obtained by New Mexico against a single company over opioids, came after a non-jury trial last year in the state's lawsuit against the company. The judge overseeing that trial had not yet ruled on the state's claims.

BioNTech faces first German lawsuit over alleged COVID vaccine side effects

BioNTech will go to court on Monday to defend itself against a lawsuit from a German woman who is seeking damages for alleged side effects of its COVID-19 vaccine, the first of potentially hundreds of cases in the country. The woman, exercising her right under German privacy law for her name not to be made public, is suing the German vaccine maker for at least 150,000 euro ($161,500) in damages for bodily harm as well as compensation for unspecified material damage, according to the regional court in Hamburg which is hearing the case and law firm Rogert & Ulbrich, which is representing her.