On Dec. 7 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a California case in which AIDS patients claim they are being discriminated against. The claim of discrimination stems from the practice of Pharmacy Benefit Managers requiring these patients to get their prescriptions from mail-order pharmacies.

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was approved by the FDA on Monday, making it the first vaccine against COVID-19 to receive full approval. It will be marketed as Comirnaty, and is available for individuals ages 16 and older. However, the vaccine is still under emergency use authorization (EUA) for those age 12-15.

The three largest drug distributors in the U.S. have agreed to pay up to $1.18 billion to settle claims by the state of New York according the the state's attorney general. The deal was reached with McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corp.

This spring, bipartisan federal provider status legislation was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. H.R. 2759 and S. 1362 would recognize pharmacists as health care providers for Medicare patients. The legislation would do this by amending section 1861 (s) (2) of the Social Security Act to include pharmacists on the list of recognized healthcare providers.

The Pharmacy DIR Reform to Reduce Senior Drug Costs Act has been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate. H.R. 3554 (Rep. Peter Welch D-Vt) and S. 1909 (Sen. Tester D-MT), aim to reform the Medicare Part D retroactive direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees system. This legislation provides a Congressional statutory fix to the current retroactive nature of Part D DIR fees. It will require plans that cover Medicare Part D drugs to report any pharmacy price concessions or incentives to pharmacies at the claim level – at least on an annual basis. This would increase transparency in the fee structure used by PBMs and establish standardized pharmacy performance metrics.

According to reporting by Reuters, The Food and Drug Administration may decline to review any additional emergency use authorization requests through the remainder of the pandemic if that company has not already been in contact with the FDA.