Senior Editor
There was good news for Americans on the generic drug front amid the pandemic in 2020, according to a report from Sally Choe, director of the Office of Generic Drugs, Center for Drugs Evaluation and Research.
Choe noted that there are more than 10,000 FDA approved generic drugs and nine out of 10 prescriptions in the United States are filled by generics. Generic drugs have saved the health care system close to $2.2 trillion dollars in the past decade.
Amid the challenges of a worldwide pandemic and rapidly advancing science, the FDAâs generic drug program continued steadfast efforts to help increase the availability of safe, effective, high-quality, more affordable drugs in the United States, Choe said.
Welcome to Friday’s Overnight Health Care.
The Biden administration is using the Defense Production Act to try to speed PPE manufacturing and COVID testing. A new CDC study shows mask mandates helped reduce hospitalizations, and President Biden is ready to move forward on coronavirus relief without Republicans.
We ll start with the White House and two new actions from the Biden administration on the pandemic:
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First: using the Defense Production Act to boost tests, gloves and vaccine supplies
The Biden administration will use wartime powers to significantly increase the supply of rapid at-home and point-of-care COVID-19 tests.
The Defense Production Act (DPA) will be used to “rapidly surge” domestic testing capabilities, investing money in six suppliers to produce 61 million at-home and point-of-care tests to be available by the end of the summer, said Tim Manning, the White House COVID-19 response team supply coordinator.
Welcome to Thursday s Overnight Health Care.
Johnson & Johnson filed for emergency authorization of its vaccine. Senate Democrats are pushing forward on their coronavirus relief bill, starting with an all night vote-a-rama. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that members of the LGBTQ+ community are at greater risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms and Wisconsin s governor and GOP legislature are set up for a showdown over the state s mask mandate.
We ll start with J&J:
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Johnson & Johnson requests emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine
Some positive news on the vaccine front: Johnson & Johnson on Thursday filed an application for emergency use authorization for its single-shot coronavirus vaccine, bringing it one step closer to helping the U.S. fight the virus.