Content about Barack Obama

WASHINGTON — More than 1.3 million emergency room visits in 2010 were related to abuse of prescription drugs, and the problem has become widespread enough that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies it as an epidemic. In response, curbing abuse of prescription drugs has become a cornerstone of the Obama administration's drug policy.

WASHINGTON — Generic makers heralded the fiscal year 2014 budget proposed last week by the Obama administration for its embrace of generic drugs, but were critical of its provisions on patent settlements and rebates.

 ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has announced that Nancy-Ann DeParle, former deputy chief of staff for policy for President Barack Obama, will be the keynote speaker at the NACDS Chain Members and Political Action Committee (NACDS-PAC) breakfast, which will be held on April 22 during the NACDS Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Fla.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — First Lady Michelle Obama paid a special visit to a local Walmart Neighborhood Market store on Thursday to praise the efforts of the retail giant on its initiatives to put healthier, more affordable items on its shelves and thus, into the shopping carts of its millions of customers.

Three years ago, the First Lady created the "Let’s Move" healthy food initiative and the following year Walmart unveiled five broad commitments that aligned with her vision for ending childhood obesity within a generation.

NEW YORK — President Obama has re-nominated Marilyn Tavenner as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to published reports.

The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, noted that Tavenner had received an endorsement from House majority leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who had worked with her when she was in charge of the Medicaid program in his state. Still, she could face a tougher time in the Senate.

The Obama administration’s ambitious overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system weathered some significant challenges in 2012 and came through relatively unscathed.


The first major test came in June, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while still ruling that the law’s provision requiring individuals to obtain health insurance was unconstitutional.


What saved the ACA was the court’s decision that the government’s mandate to purchase health insurance qualified as a tax. 


NEW YORK — Americans woke up Wednesday morning to the news that Barack Obama had won a second term as president of the United States. Some people may be happy about that, others unhappy and others neutral — but win or lose, the results of Tuesday's election affect everyone, including those in the retail pharmacy industry.

Is America really ready to turn back the clock on healthcare reform?

That question will be one of many confronting voters when they stand in the voting booth Nov. 6 and choose between President Obama — effectively endorsing his sweeping, if incomplete, overhaul of the nation’s vastly expensive and semi-dysfunctional health system — or his equally determined rival, Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has sworn he’ll begin working to kill the Obama-era health reforms on his first day in office if elected president.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration is creating a new task force to support the development of new drugs for bacterial infections, the agency said Monday.

The FDA said the Antibacterial Drug Development Task Force would assist in developing and revising guidance related to development of antibiotics, as required by the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now Title of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act, which president Barack Obama signed into law on July 9.

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama's re-election bid got a dose of support from the cofounder of one of the country's largest retailers, according to published reports.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, former Costco Wholesale CEO and cofounder Jim Sinegal said Obama "understands what the private sector needs to succeed," The Seattle Times quoted the co-founder of Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco as saying.

Is the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act “the most important pharmaceutical legislation since the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act?”

The generic drug industry’s chief spokesman and top lobbyist says so, at any rate. Ralph Neas, president and CEO of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, called the newly enacted Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act “a remarkable achievement for patients, industry and the FDA.”