Spectrum: Autism Research News

Eight pharmaceutical companies more than doubled their lobbying spending in the first three months of 2017.

Facing acute risks to their businesses from Washington policymakers, health companies spent more than $2 million to buy access to the incoming Trump administration via candlelight dinners, black-tie balls and other inauguration events.

Scott Gottlieb, nominated to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has deep ties to industry, and has worn many other hats in his career.

Building on weeks of mounting pressure to address high prescription drug prices, three influential U.S. senators have asked the government’s accountability arm to probe the orphan drug program for potential misuse.

Robert Califf, the just-departed commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, offers his take on the Trump administration’s plans to speed up drug approvals and dramatically reduce regulations at the agency.

The Orphan Drug Act has opened the door to almost unlimited price tags for drugs to treat rare diseases — burdening insurers, government programs, and families for whom obtaining the medication is often a matter of life and death.

The system intended to help those with rare diseases is being manipulated by drugmakers to maximize profits and to protect niche markets for medicines that millions of people already take — and it’s all legal.

A sprawling health bill expected to pass the U.S. Senate and become law before the end of the year is a grab bag for industries that spent plenty of money lobbying to make sure it happened that way.

More than 1,455 lobbyists representing 400 companies, universities and other organizations have pushed for or against an earlier House version of the 21st Century Cures bill.

The lure of the pharmaceutical industry — along with a slow hiring process — has the Food and Drug Administration’s drug approval team struggling to hire and retain staff.