| Dem wants FDA to help end the EpiPen shortage. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday called on federal health officials to help end the shortage of EpiPen and other epinephrine auto-injectors. In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, Blumenthal said the agency should work with manufacturers and distributors to eliminate the shortages. He asked for FDA to detail the steps it has taken to alleviate the shortage, when it became aware of a problem, and why it didn't publish a notice on its website until May 9. "FDA has attributed the scarcity to manufacturing problems, but has done little to address the emergency or indicate when the critical medication will be available," Blumenthal wrote. Blumenthal has been a past critic of Mylan, the EpiPen manufacturer. When Mylan increased the price from about $50 to $600, Blumenthal was one of the senators who signed onto a letter criticizing the drug's affordability and accessibility. He also criticized the company's $465 million settlement with the Department of Justice over claims it was overcharging Medicaid for the device. Click here for more background on the EpiPen shortage. Top Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee are asking Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) to hold a hearing on the maternal mortality crisis in the U.S. "As the Committee with broad jurisdiction over public health and women's health issues, we have a responsibility to understand why more women die from pregnancy-related complications in the United States than in any other developed country and what we should be doing to combat this crisis," the ranking members of the full committee and the health subcommittee, Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.) Gene Green (Texas), wrote. "We urge the Committee to hold a hearing as soon as possible to begin considering proposals to reverse this unconscionable trend and help save the lives of American women." Why it matters: As The Hill wrote last month, a bipartisan bill that would address maternal mortality rates in the U.S. has been stuck in the Energy & Commerce Committee for about a year for no clear reason. When asked when the committee would take action, Walden said he wasn't sure, and that it had been tied up with the opioid crisis. Also today. A group of Senate Democrats is demanding answers from AT&T and Novartis after it was revealed the two companies paid large sums of money to President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent letters to the companies on Monday raising questions about whether the payments were appropriate. Both companies have apologized for the consulting contracts. Read more here. | 
