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
Filing in the Whole Women’s Health mifepristone case defends the FDA’s 2023 decision on the abortion pill safety program, but experts warn it does not necessarily signal the Trump Administration position in other mifepristone cases attempting to restrict medication abortion access.
The disruption of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting schedule adds fuel to concerns about potential alterations of the vaccine schedule raised by former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss industry worries about delays in the FDA’s work since the Trump Administration took office, as well as the chaotic return of staff to a White Oak headquarters that cannot handle them.
Multiple sources, including former Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, told the Pink Sheet that industry is quietly complaining about FDA work delays and they expect the problem will worsen.
Industry likely wants Grace Graham to take the FDA’s top policy and legislative role, but she may be passed over for someone more tied to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interests.
Industry likely wants Grace Graham to take the FDA’s top policy and legislative role, but she may be passed over for someone more tied to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interests.