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Some “copycat” versions of popular weight-loss drugs will soon be restricted in the U.S. The change comes as a federal judge declined an injunction that would’ve allowed compounding pharmacies to keep making more affordable versions. In a Good Morning America segment, Dr. Tara Narula, ABC News chief medical correspondent, explained how compound-drug creation works to meet demand. “When a drug is in short supply, the FDA allows these compounding pharmacies to essentially create copycat drugs. But when the drug companies say, ‘we are able to meet the demand,’ then those compounding pharmacies can no longer sell those drugs,” Narula said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will now begin restricting the creation of the compound drugs. In 2022, the popularity of weight-loss drugs was rising too quickly for drug companies to keep up with demand. Patients turned to compound versions, which were made by licensed pharmacists but were not FDA approved. Last year, around 200,000 prescriptions for copies of Novo Nordisks weight-loss drug Wegovy alone were being filled each month. But now, the makers of the original versions of the drugs say they are no longer facing shortages and have removed the drugs from the FDA’s shortage list. Three weeks ago, the FDA made that declaration in a press release, and, at the same time, announced that selling copycat versions “with rare exceptions” was now “illegal.”In the release, Dave Moore, president of Novo Nordisk and executive vice president of U.S. operations and global business development, said, “We are pleased the FDA has declared that supply of the only real, FDA-approved semaglutide medicines is resolved, affirming that Novo Nordisk is meeting or exceeding current and projected nationwide demand. No one should have to compromise their health due to misinformation and reach for fake or illegitimate knockoff drugs that pose significant safety risks to patients.”Still, patients who rely on copycat weight-loss drugs pay a fraction of the price tag for the real thing, which averages around $1,000 per month. Narula said that patients’ wallets will certainly be impacted by the FDA’s move. “This is all going to affect people who are getting these drugs, usually at a much lower cost and much easier to find,” Narula said. Telehealth companies, such as Hims & Hers Health, which capitalized on the supply issues by selling compound versions, may also be hard hit. Hims’s shares have already tumbled, dropping 46% since semaglutide was taken off the FDA’s shortage list.To that end, a Change.org petition organized by the GLP-1 Collective, a nonprofit that advocates for access to the drugs, has sprung into action to combat the FDA’s latest moves. The petition has garnered more than 24,700 signatures at the time of publication. The petition not only urges the FDA to allow compounding pharmacies to keep making the drugs, it also asserts the importance of generic versions of the drugs, insurance coverage, and competitive pricing.
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E-Commerce
The Trump administration is starting another round of job cuts this one more than 1,000 at the nation’s weather, ocean and fisheries agency, four people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday began plans to lay off 10% of its current workforce, people inside and outside the agency said, with some of them requesting anonymity due to fear of retribution. The numbers were presented to NOAA employees and managers were asked to submit names of positions for layoffs to agency headquarters, which will then go to NOAAs parent agency, the Department of Commerce, on Wednesday, the people said. Three former senior NOAA officials two former political appointees from the Biden administration who speak regularly with managers at their old agency used the same number for upcoming job cuts: 1,029, 10% of the current 10,290. They talked to multiple people still in NOAA and a current agency worker detailed the cuts that a manager explained to employees. While most people know about NOAA and its daily weather forecasts, the agency also monitors and warns about hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and tsunamis, manages the countrys fisheries, runs marine sanctuaries, provides navigation information to ships and observes changes in the climate and oceans. The agency also plays a role in warning about avalanches and space weather that could damage the electrical grid. It helps respond to disasters, including oil spills. The new cuts come after earlier rounds of Trump administration firings and encouraged retirements at NOAA, plus the elimination of nearly all new employees last month. After this upcoming round of cuts, NOAA will have eliminated about one out of four jobs since President Donald Trump took office in January. This is not government efficiency, said former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. It is the first steps toward eradication. There is no way to make these kinds of cuts without removing or strongly compromising mission capabilities. The cuts are being ordered without specific guidance from the Trump administration on how or where, which makes it even worse, Spinrad said. NOAA spokeswoman Monica Allen said the agency’s policy is not to discuss internal personnel matters, but said NOAA will continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission. NOAA has already stopped releasing some weather balloons that gather crucial observations for forecasts in two locations Albany, New York, and Gray, Maine because of lack of staffing, the agency said last week. This is all happening as a severe storm system is forecast to move through the central and southern parts of the nation late this week in a multi-day outburst with strong tornadoes, hail and damaging winds expected. Weather forecasts will worsen and people are going to start seeing this very quickly, warned former NOAA chief scientist Craig McLean. It will also limit how much commercial fishermen will be able to catch, he said. On top of all the job losses, cuts in research grants to universities will also make it harder for the U.S. to keep improving its weather forecasts and better monitor what’s happening to the planet, McLean said. People are silently watching the United States decline as a technological leader, McLean said. America got to the moon, but our weather forecasts won’t be the greatest. The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Seth Borenstein, AP science writer
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E-Commerce
The Trump administration’s gutting of the U.S. Department of Education in the name of government efficiency is wreaking havoc on universities across America. Its latest move to cut over 1,300 employees for the agency, or half its workforce, is just the tip of the iceberg. Trump’s endgame is to dismantle the department altogether, which is something only Congress can do. But that doesn’t seem to be stopping him. Trump has attacked the department, calling it a big con job, and along with new Education Secretary Linda McMahon, has a two-pronged attack: loot the Department of Education’s $268 billion budget, by slashing budgets and firing staff, to free up money Trump desperately needs for his big tax cuts; and end wokeness in education (more about that below). Universities forced to freeze hiring and rescind offers As a result of the administration’s budget cuts and other attacks, many universities have instituted hiring freezes and reduced graduate programs, and are even rescinding admission offers to grad students. Universities depend on the Department of Education’s federal funding for financial aid, federal student loans, Pell Grants, and other research dollars. The cuts could chip away at American students’ already hampered ability to afford and attend college. In all, it’s a big chaotic mess. Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Pittsburgh are the latest to announce hiring freezes, joining a number of other institutions including: North Carolina State University, Columbia University’s medical school, the University of Notre Dame, Emory University, Cornell University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and the University of California, San Diego, per NPR. And universities including Northwestern, Emory, and the University of Pennsylvania have gone one step further, also instituting budget cuts, expenditure freezes, and capital spending reviews. But the hiring freeze at Harvard, which has the largest endowment in the world, is particularly worrisome, underscoring just how concerned even the most well-funded universities now are about their financial futures. Trump’s anti-woke political agenda for colleges Gutting the Education Department is also part of the political agenda Trump ran on for president. He wants to end what he has ranted against as left-wing indoctrination” and instead push his vision of education, which includes banning education on gender identity and structural racism, abolishing diversity and inclusion, and keeping transgender athletes out of girls sports. Or, in his own words, he wants to slash budgets at any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content.” Depsite Trump’s huffing and puffing, the department has no power over what’s taught in schools. “It is not the business of the federal government to be involved in curriculum or personnel hiring,” Kenneth Wong, a professor of education policy at Brown University told NPR. However, Trump is trying to use federal money as leverage over universities which he sees as hotbeds of dissent, critical of his agenda and other conservative ideas. The most recent example of how the Trump administration is trying to silence dissent is the recent unlawful arrest and detention of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil by ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A Palestinian student, he was the lead negotiators for pro-Palestine protesters who built a Gaza encampment on campus. Although Khalil has a green card, he was sent to a detention facility in Louisiana, without notice to his attorney or family. We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained, alleging Khalil was a Hamas supporter, which is lawyer said was “false and preposterous.”
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E-Commerce
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