Employee-Paid

With concerns that costs could reach more than $1 billion over the next 6 years, North Carolina opted to stop coverage for the pricey new GLP-1s, saying the contracts between the drugmakers and the PBMs "are all-or-nothing."

A private equity firm accused of trying to build a monopoly in radiology was dismissed as a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission against U.S. Anesthesia Partners in Texas.

Senator Bernie Sanders is upping the pressure on Novo Nordisk to lower the cost of Wegovy in the U.S., although the Danish drugmaker asserts it charges lower prices in Europe because governments there can negotiate prices.

Dogs accounted for 78.6% of insured pets in North America this past year, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association.

"These are multisided giants that are accumulating assets at an alarming rate and are becoming the new intermediaries and gatekeepers of our health care system," said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jonathan Kanter.

The agency has stepped up its campaign against drugmakers' improper listing of patents in the FDA's Orange Book, which it contends are ploys intended to delay generic competition, by disputing junk patent listings for 300 drugs.