Sarah specializes in the policy and politics that affect the pharmaceutical industry. She covers the US Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service and Congress and other parts of federal and state government. Her work explores how government policies influence how drugs are developed and approved, what diseases are prioritized by scientists, and who gets access to medicines and at what cost. Sarah has covered health care since 2011. Prior to returning to the Pink Sheet in March 2020, she covered health policy at Politico for five years. She is a regular panelist on the Kaiser Health News 'What the Health' podcast. Sarah was selected for and attended a 2018 International Women’s Media Foundation reporting fellowship in Rwanda. In 2016, she attended Harvard Medical School’s media fellowship on bioethics and, in 2014, was an Association of Health Care Journalists-National Library of Medicine Fellow.
Latest from Sarah Karlin-Smith
In an unusual move, Tracy Beth Høeg, a special assistant to FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, is leading the continued negotiations on Novavax’s delayed COVID-19 vaccine approval.
Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss the most recent senior staff departures at the FDA and their impact on the agency, as well as Commissioner Martin Makary’s plans for a new approval pathway and a combined adverse event database as outlined in an interview with a podcast host.
In discussing FDA’s adverse event monitoring, Makary also seemed to falsely imply the agency did not fully investigate the myocarditis signal with COVID-19 vaccines.
Ascertaining the novelty and benefits of Makary’s new drug approval idea – along with what it would take to implement it – requires more clarity on the types of studies he envisions being used to grant and confirm “plausible mechanism’ approvals.
In discussing FDA’s adverse event monitoring, Makary also seemed to falsely imply the agency did not fully investigate the myocarditis signal with COVID-19 vaccines.
In discussing FDA’s adverse event monitoring, Makary also seemed to falsely imply the agency did not fully investigate the myocarditis signal with COVID-19 vaccines.