STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about HHS reducing public comment, a Lilly obesity drug ad, and more
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is proposing to strip public participation from much of the business his agency conducts
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was refreshing and reassuring. After all, that oh-so familiar routine of phone calls, online meetings, and lengthening to-do lists has returned with a vengeance. Such are the signs of progress, we hope. To cope, yes, we are brewing cups of stimulation and our choice today is maple French toast cinnamon. As always, you are invited to join us. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to get you started today on your journey, which we hope is meaningful and productive. Best of luck, and do keep in touch. We have changed our settings to accept postcards and telegrams, although Signal continues to work well, too. …
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a document proposing to strip public participation from much of the business his department conducts, STAT writes. The move comes during a time of major upheaval across federal health agencies and as the public waits to see how Kennedy will enact his pledge of “radical transparency” at the department. The statement, placed in the Federal Register, said HHS would rescind its longtime practice of giving members of the public a chance to comment on agency plans. It is set to be formally published in the register on Monday, March 3. Kennedy and HHS are arguing they do not need to seek public input when the agency is making decisions about “agency management or personnel,” or related to public property, loans and grants, benefits, or contracts. HHS can also choose to cut out public participation when it deems the process “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest,” per the law.
Eli Lilly launched an ad campaign cautioning patients against the risks of unapproved weight loss drugs in its latest attempt to fend off competition from copies of its Zepbound obesity medicine, Reuters notes. The ad, asking patients to “be a healthy skeptic,” was released soon after a commercial from telehealth firm Hims & Hers, selling a compounded weight loss drug, premiered at the Super Bowl. The Lilly ad is aimed at unproven and sometimes counterfeit products sold online and elsewhere, which claim to offer weight loss benefits. But it also marks the latest in a public back-and-forth between weight loss drugmakers and companies selling compounded versions of the drugs, whose sales are permitted when the original drugs are in short supply. Hims, which offers compounded versions of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, drew criticism from some lawmakers for omitting safety information about the customized medicines in its advertisement.
