STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Medicare and Alzheimer’s drugs, estrogen patch shortages, and more

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so familiar routine of deadlines, online meetings, and phone calls has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So to give it a nudge in a better direction, we are brewing another cuppa stimulation. Our choice today is Earl Grey, an old standby. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest to start you on your journey, which we hope is meaningful and productive. Best of luck, and do keep in touch. … People on Medicare are not getting the recently approved Alzheimer’s medications nearly as much as federal officials anticipated, STAT reports. Uptake for the drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, has been so muted that Medicare is not forecasting significant spending on them in 2026 or 2027, which is a dramatic shift from two years ago, when the agency projected it would spend billions of dollars annually on Leqembi alone. The lower-than-expected spending lines up with the challenges that the Alzheimer’s drugs have faced since their approvals. The intravenous medications are not easy to administer and require a lot of imaging; the population of eligible patients is limited; and the drugs continue to have little meaningful benefits while carrying a risk of severe side effects like brain bleeding. While doctors and patients report difficulties getting certain doses of estrogen patches, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet included any on its list of drug shortages, NBC News tells us. The agency removed the black box warning from hormone replacement therapies late last year, and recently, the most insured type, the estrogen patch, has been in short supply amid a boom in the therapy’s popularity. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a professional organization for pharmacists, includes 14 brands or dosages of estrogen patches in it