“That’s where they screwed up royally”

See how a system designed to Stabilize the 737 max may have caused two deadly crashes read more »

Drugmakers settle with DOJ over claims they manipulated Medicare program

The Department of Justice today announced that three pharmaceutical companies – Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, Lundbeck LLC and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. – have agreed to pay a total of $122.6 million to resolve allegations that they each violated the False Claims Act by illegally paying the Medicare or Civilian Health and Medical Program copays for their own products, through purportedly independent foundations that the companies used as mere conduits. read more »

Astellas, Eli Lilly must face lawsuit alleging underpaid Medicaid rebates

Astellas Pharma and Eli Lilly and Co must face a whistleblower lawsuit accusing them of knowingly underpaying rebates they owed to state Medicaid programs, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in Chicago on Wednesday rejected the drugmakers’ arguments that the whistleblower was barred from pursuing the lawsuit after filing a similar case against them that he later dropped. read more »

Analysis: Why Americans shouldn't feel grateful for $137 insulin

Last month, Eli Lilly and Co. announced with some fanfare that it was manufacturing a generic version of its own best-selling insulin brand, Humalog, which it would sell for half off - $137.35 versus about $275.

David Ricks, the chief executive of Lilly, said the company was making this seemingly beneficent gesture because "many patients are struggling to afford their insulin."

In Germany, the list price of a vial of Humalog is about $55 - or $45 if you buy five at a time - and that includes some taxes and markup fees. Why not just reduce the price in the United States to address said suffering? read more »