Arthritis/Rheumatic Conditions

U.S. health officials released the first list of drugs paid for by the government’s Medicare insurance program whose prices went up more than the rate of inflation and will face a penalty under a new federal law.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday named 27 drugs that had the large price increases, including  rheumatoid-arthritis treatment Humira from AbbVie Inc. and Yescarta lymphoma therapy from Gilead Sciences Inc., and will face the…

AbbVie Inc.’s ABBV 0.65% arthritis therapy Humira is set to face its first competition in the U.S. from a near-identical copycat, the end of the exclusive run of what was for years the country’s biggest-selling drug.After two decades of patent protection and more than $135 billion in U.S. sales, Humira will contend with the near-identical version from Amgen Inc. AMGN 0.17% starting Tuesday, Amgen said. Other Humira…

The Biden administration is warning pharmacists that refusing to dispense medications used in abortions might violate federal protections against discrimination, in its latest move aimed at limiting the impact of state antiabortion laws.The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has prepared new guidelines, set for release Wednesday, that spell out examples when a pharmacist’s refusal to dispense a drug to a patient might be a violation of federal antidiscrimination law. Among the situations are…