CVS Health is expanding its store format to include dieticians, yoga classes and clinics. The pharmacy is planning to roll out its HealthHub format in 1,500 stores nationally by the end of 2021. As with Walgreens’ in-store clinics, pharmacies are hoping to provide more convenience to people seeking healthcare to keep them healthier and reduce costs. (Associated Press)
The Drug Enforcement Administration is asking Congress to permanently reclassify illicit fentanyl in the same legal class as heroin in the hope that the change could boost prosecutions of traffickers and makers of the illegal form of opioids. An emergency ban is set to expire in February. (Reuters)
Bayer is facing its first Roundup lawsuit in Australia. A gardener has claimed the chemicals in the weed killer caused his cancer after using the product for more than 20 years. The case was filed after recent rulings in the U.S. linked Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, to cancer. (Reuters)
A Novartis cancer drug, Kisqali, has succeeded in the trial of younger women with advanced breast cancer. It was the first study to show a significant survival increase in premenopausal women with metastatic hormone-receptor positive breast cancer. The results were presented at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. (CNN)
California wasn’t the only state to sue Purdue Pharma this week. Hawaii, Maine and the District of Columbia also took the drugmaker to court on Monday, accusing it of contributing to the opioid epidemic by downplaying OxyContin’s risks and encouraging higher doses of the drug via its marketing. Forty-eight states, plus Washington, DC, have sued Purdue. (CNBC)
