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
FDA employees are concerned that while the budget authority total proposed for fiscal year 2026 meets the user free appropriations' triggers, the FDA could have trouble meeting allocation triggers without cuts to non-review work.
HHS Secretary Kennedy's new ACIP appointments include multiple members of anti-vaccine groups and people who have spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
Cell and gene therapy developers may not have to contend with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s animosity like the traditional pharma industry, but his disinterest in distinguishing between the good and bad actors in the space could backfire.
Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss CBER Director Vinay Prasad’s expectation to stay out of routine application decisions, despite the agency’s top-down leadership approach, and the extent of proposed FDA budget cuts.
FDA regulation was painted as an obstacle to US dominance in the cell and gene therapy space even as panelists at an agency event praised the Office of Therapeutic Products' track record under Nicole Verdun.
The remarks from the new CBER director suggest Prasad will not be involved in most product-specific decisions.