STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Makary rejecting a reorganization, pharma lobbying against PBMs, and more

Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, especially since the middle of the week is upon us. After all, we have made it this far so we are determined to hang on for another couple of days. And why not? The alternatives — at least those we can identify — are not particularly appealing, as you might imagine. So what better way to make the time fly than to keep busy. So grab that cup of stimulation and get started. Our choice today is salted caramel, a taste of the Jersey shore. And now, the time has come to get cracking. Here are a few items of interest to help you get started. We hope you have a lovely day, and do keep in touch. And we will once again remind you that we changed our settings to accept postcards and telegrams. Back to the future, as they say. …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not plan to execute a reorganization of the agency but will consolidate offices that handle travel, technology, and other departments, an HHS spokesperson confirmed with Bloomberg Law. The plan was first reported Tuesday by MedPageToday in an interview with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who said “there will not be a reorganization,” when asked about restructuring the agency’s centers and divisions. In the interview, he said he rejected a reorganization proposal that was offered by some staff, and the agency now only plans to consolidate travel offices and information technology. His comments come after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services executed massive layoffs April 1 across federal health agencies, aiming to drastically reduce the size of its workforce. The cuts targeted 3,500 employees at the FDA and broadly hit staff working in program management, human resources, technology, policy, communications, and other administrative areas.

Drugmakers spent a record $31 million to lobby in Washington last year, and about $13 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to public filings. Millions more went to donations to political groups and ads, many of which blamed pharmacy benefit managers for the high price of drugs, The Wall Street Journal tells us. Last year, executives at the PhRMA drug industry trade association told the group’s lobbyists that taking on pharmacy benefit managers was a top priority in 2025. Drug executives spent much of their time at a million-dollar-dinner with Trump urging him to focus his criticism on benefit managers. They have repeatedly talked to Trump and his top aides in recent months, and some are slated to be in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “Pharmaceutical companies have been pretty successful in shifting a disproportionate amount of blame to the PBMs,” said Steve Knievel, a health-policy expert with Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy group.

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