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As Claire McCaskill fought to keep her U.S. Senate seat in Missouri a year ago, she made bipartisan outrage over drug prices a defining feature of her campaign. It wasn’t enough. McCaskill lost her seat by 6 points, and Congress lost one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most unabashed critics. But McCaskill got some shots in along the way, likening drug company lobbying to a magical “fairy dust” that makes legislation disappear and telling voters in a television ad that “pharmaceutical companies are using the law to feed their greed.” (Facher, 7/23)

The drug industry’s primary trade group increased its spending on lobbying during the second quarter, as President Donald Trump’s promised efforts to lower the prices of prescription drugs stalled. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents leading drugmakers, reported spending $6.2 million in the quarter that ended June 30, a 12% increase from $5.5 million in the same period last year, according to a disclosure filed with Congress by Monday’s deadline. The group reported lobbying on several pieces of legislation that dealt with drug pricing. (Dillard, 7/22)

A dispute among Democrats over competing drug transparency bills is complicating an issue that should have been one of the least controversial parts of the congressional effort to lower health care costs. Two panels that oversee health care issues each approved measures this year to require drug companies to reveal information when they increase prices. While consumer advocates note drawbacks with both, they clearly prefer a measure (HR 2296) from the Energy and Commerce Committee by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., over a similar Ways and Means Committee bill (HR 2113). (Siddons, 7/22)

It may soon become easier for Americans to buy prescription drugs online. That presents an opportunity for upstarts but a potential body blow for some retailers. In a world where brick and mortar store traffic is in decline, businesses operating pharmacies have held up better than most. The largest pharmacy chains and grocery store operators— CVS Health , Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walmart —operate more than 20,000 stores in the U.S., generating hundreds of billions in annual sales.For store operators, the profits from selling prescription drugs are just part of the equation. (Grant, 7/19)

Bowing to industry pressure, Massachusetts lawmakers on Monday approved a compromise measure that is designed to lower prescription drug spending for the state Medicaid program, although consumer advocates maintain the diluted effort may still achieve its goals. The initial proposal from Gov. Charlie Baker sought to negotiate supplemental rebates for Medicaid and potentially cite drug makers for violating consumer protection laws for failing to cooperate, a step that generated significant interest from other states seeking solutions to high drug costs. But the final version contains language that notably softens the original approach. (Silverman, 7/23)

Another small victory on the transparency front — and possibly the cost-containment front — is the compromise crafted on dealing with the most expensive drugs purchased by the state for its MassHealth clients. The final effort isn’t all it might have been — lobbying by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council saw to that. But it does enough to make a gubernatorial veto pointless. (7/22)

Three weeks into the fiscal year, legislative leaders on Sunday filed a compromise state budget proposal that plows nearly $270 million more into public school spending, increases funding to the University of Massachusetts without freezing tuition, and spends hundreds of millions more dollars than either the House or Senate initially proposed. The $43.1 billion proposal, which lawmakers expect to pass and send to Governor Charlie Baker on Monday, also includes compromise language aimed at curbing the cost of prescription drugs in the state Medicaid program — a time-consuming debate during lawmakers’ weeks-long negotiations. (Stout and McCluskey, 7/21)

Frustrated by repeated revelations about middlemen in Ohio’s Medicaid drug-supply chain, legislative leaders agreed on a plan Tuesday to add transparency while slashing the authority of private managed care companies and the pharmacy benefit managers they hire. The agreement giving the state unprecedented control over how prescription drugs get to Ohio’s poor, blind and disabled — approved by a conference committee as part of the new two-year budget — directs the Department of Medicaid to cut out the managed care plans and contract directly with a single pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, to administer the drug benefits. (Candisky, 7/16)

On Monday, Massachusetts legislators passed steps designed to reduce spending on the most costly drugs covered by MassHealth, the state Medicaid program. Gov. Charlie Baker is reviewing the plan, a spokesman for his office said. It included much of what the Republican governor initially proposed in January to curb drug costs that he says have nearly doubled since 2012. (Bebinger, 7/22)

Louisiana's new subscription model for getting hepatitis C treatment to Medicaid patients and prisoners was the focus of a gathering Monday to see whether such an idea can be mirrored in other states. “It was important to have a laser-focus on this issue and keep trying," Louisiana Health Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee said during the meeting at the Brookings Institution on Louisiana's nearly three-year path toward what's been dubbed a "Netflix-style" model for hepatitis C treatment. (Crisp, 7/22)

Following a two-year inquiry, the European Ombudsman has recommended the European Medicines Agency take several steps to ensure that private talks with drug makers about marketing applications do not influence approval decisions. At issue are pre-submission discussions that occur between companies and the regulator, which Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly probed over concerns such talks run the risk of creating a perception of bias or that companies may somehow exert pressure on agency officials to view applications favorably. (Silverman, 7/22)