What We're Reading: FDA to Fight Drug Shortages; Most Americans Support Roe v Wade; Ore. Medical Marijuana Oversight Lax

FDA Forms Task Force to Fight Drug Shortages

Gallup Poll Finds Continued Support for Roe v Wade

Oregon Concedes Lax Oversight in Medical Marijuana Program

The FDA is planning a task force to find ways to combat drug shortages. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told the Associated Press he will ask Congress for the authority to allow it to intervene, saying he knows what changes are needed in the FDA’s powers, regulations, and drug reimbursement policies. The FDA generally can’t act until drugmakers tell the agency that shortages are imminent or that it will stop making a drug. Most shortages involve low-profit generic pills and injections that are hospital workhorses, including injected painkillers, old cancer drugs, and saline solution needed to give IV medicines.A new Gallup poll finds nearly two-thirds of Americans support Roe v Wade 64% to 28%. By party, results were split, with 81% of Democrats supporting the landmark Supreme Court abortion ruling, compared to 41% percent of Republicans. Separately, Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said she will oppose Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court over concerns that he would undercut the Affordable Care Act as well as Roe v Wade. Baldwin said she is also concerned about protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, The Hill reported.The agency overseeing Oregon's legal medical marijuana industry conceded in a report it has not provided effective oversight of growers and others in the industry, The New York Times reported, resulting in opportunities for weed to be diverted to the black market. The review showed there were more than 20,000 grow sites, but only 58 inspections were conducted last year. The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program has too few inspectors, while the tracking of growers and the pot they produce has been inadequate and inaccurate, the report concluded.