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☆ Euro zone grows marginally at start of 2023 after stagnation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 28 (Reuters) - The euro zone grew only marginally in the first three months of 2023 and at a rate lower than market expectations after stagnation at the end of last year, preliminary data showed on Friday. Gross domestic product in the euro zone expanded by 0.1% in the first quarter, below expectations in a Reuters poll for 0.2% growth. That compared with zero growth in the previous quarter for the current 20-nation euro zone and a quarterly decline of 0.1% for the 19 countries that were in the euro zone at that point. Among the bloc's biggest countries, Germany registered no growth after contraction in the final quarter of 2022. The European Commission is forecasting that the euro zone will expand by 0.9% this year and by 1.5% next.

☆ Amazon shoppers rally against new fee for some returns made via UPS: 'They need to learn to ship things better then'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon will begin charging for returns via UPS in some cases. "They need to learn to ship things better then," one Twitter user wrote. "They need to learn to ship things better then," one Twitter user wrote. So if they're going to charge a fee they may want to make sure their shipping partners are doing their part," one user wrote on Twitter. UPS joined Amazon in similarly responding to such comments and offering assistance as needed.

☆ Euro zone producer prices fall for fifth straight month in Feb
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 4 (Reuters) - Euro zone producer prices fell for a fifth consecutive month and by more than expected in February, almost entirely due to declining energy prices. This marks a steady deceleration from the 43.4% peak in August, when energy prices were more than twice their level a year earlier. Without volatile energy, producer prices were 0.2% higher month-on-month and up 10.2% year-on-year. Producer prices are an early signal of inflationary trends because their changes are usually transferred onto final consumers. Consumer inflation dropped by the most on record to 6.3% in March, but underlying inflation hit a new all-time high.

☆ FDA approves over-the-counter sales of lifesaving opioid overdose treatment Narcan nasal spray
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved sales without a prescription of the nasal spray Narcan to reverse opioid overdoses, a decision that promises to significantly expand access to the lifesaving treatment. The FDA's decision means people will be able to buy the 4 milligram nasal spray in supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, vending machines and online. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, in a statement, said the agency is encouraging the company to make the nasal spray available as soon as possible at an affordable price. The nasal spray must be administered as soon as an overdose is suspected. Two nasal spray devices typically come in a single package.

☆ Bitcoin is poised to blow up Africa's $86 billion banking system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +16 min

Then there's mobile money, which has been around since the early 2000s. Africa's mobile money transactions rose 39% to more than $700 billion in 2021, according to data from the GSM Association, a non-profit representing mobile network operators worldwide. That cash network was extraordinarily difficult and expensive to build, which is why there aren't a lot of direct competitors. Bitnob is SMS-based and piggybacks on the mobile money system, making it easier for people to send money directly into bank accounts and mobile money wallets in African countries. "We're able to settle into bank accounts or mobile money accounts, without the recipients having to interact with bitcoin themselves," Parah tells CNBC.

☆ Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel defends fivefold price hike of Covid vaccine during Senate grilling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Moderna plans to raise the list price of its vaccine 400% to $130 when the shots are sold on the private market as early as this fall. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel on Wednesday defended the company's plans to hike the price of its Covid shots fivefold, deflecting pressure at a Senate hearing to abandon the increase while taking barbs over his compensation. Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., questions Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, during the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing titled Taxpayers Paid Billions For It: So Why Would Moderna Consider Quadrupling the Price of the COVID Vaccine? He told the committee that the Covid vaccine market is changing substantially as the U.S. government stops buying and distributing the shots for the entire country. The Covid vaccine remains Moderna's only product on the market at the moment.

☆ Watch live: Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel testifies before Senate on Covid vaccine price hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Moderna's CEO, Stephane Bancel, is testifying Wednesday before the Senate health committee on pricing of the company's Covid-19 vaccine. The Boston biotech company plans to charge $130 per dose once the vaccination program moves to the private market as early as this fall. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chair of the health committee, slammed Moderna in a letter to Bancel in January, calling the price hike "outrageous." Learn more and register today: http://bit.ly/3DUNbRoAfter Sanders sent the letter, Moderna said it will create an assistance program to keep the vaccine free for people who are uninsured or underinsured. People who have Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance should still receive the shot at no cost, but Sanders said the price increase "will cost taxpayers billions of dollars."

☆ Abortion pill mifepristone ruling in Texas case could hinge on 1873 Comstock Act
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A federal judge in Texas may try to invoke an obscure 19th-century law called the Comstock Act to roll back mail delivery of the abortion pill mifepristone. His rationale could hinge in part on the Comstock Act. The anti-abortion group's attorneys argued that the Comstock Act and other laws ban mail delivery of mifepristone. The Comstock Act has not been enforced in decades, said Rachel Rebouche, an expert on reproductive health law at Temple University. Congress passed the Comstock Act in 1873 after an anti-vice crusader named Anthony Comstock successfully lobbied lawmakers to declare "obscene" materials as not mailable.

☆ Potentially deadly fungus Candida auris is spreading at an 'alarming rate,' CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A fungus that is often resistant to drugs has spread at an "alarming rate" through health-care facilities in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Candida auris is an emerging fungus that is serious and potentially fatal for hospitalized patients, particularly those with multiple medical problems. California, the mid-Atlantic region, the Midwest, Texas and Florida had growing transmission during that time, according to the CDC. The fungus has spread most in long-term care hospitals for people who have serious medical conditions and need ongoing treatment, according to the CDC. A 2021 CDC report found that mortality in two outbreaks of the fungus that was resistant to echinocandins was 30% over 30 days.

☆ Biden signs legislation to declassify certain intelligence on Covid pandemic origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden on Monday signed legislation requiring the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information on any possible links between a lab in China and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines now has 90 days to declassify all information on possible links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of Covid. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also concluded that the pandemic likely began with a lab incident in Wuhan, China, the agency's director Christopher Wray told Fox News. The pandemic began three years ago in Wuhan, China, though it's still unknown how Covid spread to people. The intelligence community was divided in a 2021 report ordered by Biden that reviewed information on the pandemic's origins.

☆ U.S. judge in Texas will soon rule on the abortion pill mifepristone. Here's what could happen
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine wants Judge Kacsmaryk to nullify the FDA's medical approval of mifepristone, which would effectively ban the abortion pill across the US. Senate Judiciary Committee | YouTubeA Texas judge will soon issue a pivotal ruling in a closely watched case challenging the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. It's also possible that Kacsmaryk could order the agency to impose tighter restrictions on access to mifepristone but stop short of completely halting sales. Abortion rights groups and legal experts expect the judge will rule against the FDA in some form. Possible injunctionIf Kacsmaryk issues an order to withdraw mifepristone from the market, there are several ways such a ruling could be drafted.

☆ Senate Democrats urge Walmart, Costco, Albertsons and Kroger to sell abortion pill mifepristone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Erin Hooley | Tribune News Service | Getty ImagesSenate Democrats called on Walmart , Costco , Albertsons and Kroger to sell the prescription abortion pill mifepristone and clearly let customers know how to get it at their pharmacies. The companies have not publicly stated yet whether they plan to sell mifepristone at their pharmacies. The 17 senators told Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran and Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen that they are frustrated the companies have not yet publicly indicated whether they will sell mifepristone. Major retailers in the U.S. have been thrust in the middle of the nation's deep divisions over abortion as they weigh whether to sell mifepristone. Walgreens has come under fire after it told the GOP attorneys general that it would not sell mifepristone in their states.

☆ Citing 'death threats,' Texas judge asked attorneys to keep news of hearing on legality of abortion pill quiet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine wants Judge Kacsmaryk to nullify the FDA's medical approval of mifepristone, which would effectively ban the abortion pill across the US. But Kacsmaryk asked the attorneys to not to publicize the hearing, citing security concerns. Those present at the Friday conference call included lawyers from the Justice Department, the abortion pill maker Danco Laboratories, and a group that opposes abortion called the Alliance Defending Freedom. A group of physicians who oppose abortion called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine asked Kacsmaryk in November to order the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The abortion pill has become the central flashpoint in the legal battle over access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade last June.

☆ Veterans' Health will cover Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi for some patients
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Alzheimer's drug Leqembi is seen in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on January 20, 2023. The Veterans' Health Administration will cover Eisai and Biogen 's Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi for some patients, the companies announced on Monday. In a statement, Eisai said veterans in the early stages of the disease who meet VHA criteria are eligible for coverage of Leqembi. The VHA is the largest health system in the country, providing care for veterans at nearly 1,300 facilities nationwide. Nearly 168,000 veterans had Alzheimer's disease in 2022, according to federal estimates.

☆ Judge shares date of abortion pill hearing after media outlets criticize him for secrecy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A federal judge in Texas publicly disclosed that he scheduled a hearing in a case seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, after media outlets criticized him for attempting to keep the proceedings secret until the last minute. The hearing will take place in Amarillo, Texas. Media outlets filed a letter on Monday urging Kacsmaryk to disclose the date of the hearing immediately. The outlets included NBCUniversal News Group, of which CNBC is a part, The Washington Post, ProPublica, the Texas Press Association and Gannett, among others. They argued that the way the FDA approved mifepristone violated federal law.

☆ North Carolina lawmakers intervene to defend abortion pill restrictions in case testing FDA power
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

North Carolina has divided government. Stein told North Carolina lawmakers the FDA determined that restrictions like those in North Carolina unduly burden patients' access to a safe and effective drug. A federal judge on Friday allowed North Carolina lawmakers to defend restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, after the state attorney general declined to do so. The abortion pill has become the central flashpoint in the battle over abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Democratic attorneys general have asked a federal judge in Washington state to declare the remaining FDA restrictions on mifepristone unconstitutional.

☆ California will not renew $54 million contract with Walgreens over abortion pill policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

California will not renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens over the drug store chain's decision not to sell the abortion pill in some states due to legal restrictions. Walgreens said it will sell the abortion pill, mifepristone, in any state where it is "legally permissible to do so." Republican attorneys general in 21 states warned Walgreens in February that selling or distributing the abortion pill in their states would violate local laws. Walgreens is also not selling the abortion pill in states like Alaska, Kansas or Montana where abortion is protected as a right under the states' constitutions. The drug store will also not sell mifepristone in Iowa, where the state Supreme Court last year overturned state constitutional protections for abortion.

☆ Eli Lilly Alzheimer's treatment solanezumab failed to slow disease progression
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Eli Lilly on Wednesday said it will halt development of its Alzheimer's treatment candidate solanezumab after the antibody failed to slow disease progression. The study enrolled more than 1,000 seniors who had normal memory and thinking function, but showed signs of brain plaque that is associated with Alzheimer's. Lilly said it did not have that data because donanemab cleared brain plaque quickly in many patients. "We remain confident in the of potential donanemab as a new treatment for people with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease," Skovronsky said. The FDA approved Eisai's and Biogen's early Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi on an expedited basis in January.

☆ Euro zone economic growth trimmed to zero q/q at end of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters) - The euro zone failed to register any growth quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2022, European statistics agency said on Tuesday, slightly revising down both its GDP and employment growth numbers, although the latter remained strong. Euro zone economic growth was 0.0% in the fourth quarter compared with the third and 1.8% from a year earlier, Eurostat said in a statement. The revisions still confirmed that the euro zone narrowly avoided the technical recession that had previously been expected. Eurostat also revised down the figure for employment growth in the euro zone to 0.3% quarter-on-quarter from a previously reported 0.4%. Strong employment growth highlights how tight the labour market is and signals a problem for the ECB in its fight to bring inflation back to 2% from double digit territory last autumn.

☆ Japan's real wages drop at fastest pace since 2014 as hot inflation takes toll
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

TOKYO, March 7 (Reuters) - Japan's real wages fell the most in nearly nine years in January, official data showed, as four-decade-high inflation squeezed the purchasing power of consumers and undercut efforts by policymakers to revive a COVID-ravaged economy. read moreInflation-adjusted real wages, a barometer of households' purchasing power, fell by 4.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest decrease since May 2014, labour ministry data showed on Tuesday. The fall in real wages comes as major Japanese firms including Toyota, Nintendo and Fast Retailing pay heed to policymakers' calls and union demands by announcing plans for historic pay rises. The feeble nominal growth in wages in January was well short of the 5.1% consumer inflation rate used to calculate pay in real terms. Currently, Japan's core consumer inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices but includes oil products, is running at 4.2%, the fastest pace since 1981.

☆ Florida state lawmakers introduce bill that would ban abortion after six weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The legislation, introduced in Florida's House and Senate, would make performing an abortion after six weeks a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Florida state lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation that would ban abortion after six weeks, when many women don't know they are pregnant, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies and cases of rape and incest. The governor did not mention the legislation during his address, but said "we are proud to be pro-life in the state of Florida." The legislation introduced Tuesday also requires the abortion pill, mifepristone, to be dispensed by a physician to the patient during an in-person appointment. The legislation bans abortion pills from being sent by mail in the state through the U.S.

☆ Republican states say the FDA doesn't have the authority to override state abortion pill bans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Boxes of the medication Mifepristone used to induce a medical abortion are prepared for patients at Planned Parenthood health center in Birmingham, Alabama, March 14, 2022. The Food and Drug Administration's power to approve drugs does not override state bans on the abortion pill, a coalition of Republican attorneys general told a federal judge this week. The company has asked the court to overturn West Virginia's abortion ban, arguing that it conflicts with how the FDA regulates mifepristone under federal law. The GOP attorneys general said West Virginia's law does not completely ban the abortion pill. "A State's police power does not extend to functionally banning an article of interstate commerce — the Constitution leaves that to Congress," the company's lawyers wrote.

☆ California governor says state won't do business with Walgreens over position on abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gavin Newsom on Monday said the state would no longer do business with Walgreens , after the drugstore chain told 21 Republican attorneys general that it would not sell the abortion pill in their states. Newsom said on Twitter that the state is "done" doing business with Walgreens. Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for the governor, said California is reviewing all relationships between Walgreens and the state. Walgreens plans to become certified to sell mifepristone where it is legal to do so under state and federal law, the company has said. In February, 21 Republican attorneys general warned Walgreens against mailing mifepristone in their states.

☆ FDA will review Eisai and Biogen's Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi with decision on full approval expected in early July
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Food and Drug Administration will make a decision on whether to fully approve Eisai and Biogen 's Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi by July 6, the companies announced Monday. It is administered intravenously twice a month and slowed the progression of early Alzheimer's disease by 27% in clinical trials. Although the FDA approved Leqembi on an expedited basis in January, access to the treatment is virtually nonexistent right now. Learn more and register today: http://bit.ly/3DUNbRoThe Alzheimer's Association called on CMS in December to provide unrestricted coverage of treatments like Leqembi. "As defined in statute, to provide coverage nationally, CMS is required to examine whether a medication is reasonable and necessary," the agency said in its statement.

☆ FDA advisors recommend GSK's RSV vaccine for older adults, but flag potential safety risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ten of the FDA advisors said the safety data on GSK's vaccine was adequate, while two said it was not. The panel reached a similar conclusion in a narrow 7 to 4 vote Tuesday on Pfizer's application to clear its RSV vaccine. While the advisors erred toward recommending approval, they also raised concern over a possible link to Guillain-Barre syndrome. Both companies have asked the FDA to approve their RSV shot for adults ages 60 and older. The FDA said the cases are possibly related to either GSK's RSV vaccine or the flu shot that was administered with it.

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