STAT+: Pharmalittle: Alzheimer’s group starts lobbying for Medicare to cover new drug; U.S. judge seems sympathetic to abortion-pill challenge

The federal judge who could upend access to a widely used abortion medication pressed government lawyers in a hearing Wednesday about the safety and approval process for the drug, which has been on the market in the U.S. for more than two decades, The Washington Post reports. While the antiabortion group challenging the drug acknowledged there is no precedent for a court to order the suspension of a long-approved medication, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk seemed open to the argument that mifepristone had not been properly vetted — claims the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and leading health organizations strongly contest.

The Alzheimer’s Association has deployed 1,000 people diagnosed with, or caring for someone with the disease, to meet with all 535 members of Congress and urge them to press Medicare for early access to a new class of drugs, beginning with lecanemab, that promise to slow the disease, Reuters tells us. The grassroots lobbying campaign, which has not been reported in detail, is being led by state-based chapters. The effort is aimed at persuading Medicare officials to provide “full and unrestricted coverage” to the drugs when they first reach the U.S. market under an accelerated approval from the FDA.