Ohio takes aim at gag clauses. A patient yells into the void. And the federal government doses shame. Welcome to the Week in Review in drug pricing!
1. Ohio takes another step toward PBM transparency
In Ohio, a House committee recommended passage of HB 479, which would crack down on PBM opacity by banning “gag rules” that stop pharmacists from telling their customers about cheaper options for obtaining their medicines. And that’s a step in the right direction. — (The Columbus Dispatch)
2. Shouting into the void
P4AD helped 40-year-old CF patient Lora Moser, who raised $750,000 to fund the research behind Orkambi, a drug she can no longer afford, tell the Vertex CEO what she thinks. Will he hear her? The effort follows the May 3 release of an Institute For Clinical and Economic Review analysis, which says Vertex’s cystic fibrosis drugs are overpriced by hundreds of thousands of dollars. We at P4AD hope we can convince Vertex to lower the prices of its charity-funded drugs so patients like Lora never have to go without. — (Inside Health Policy)
3. Dose of shame
Would requiring prices in drug ads do any good? Is it legal? — (NYT)
4. Called out
The FDA calls out drug makers delaying generics. Which is great… but there is this obvious legislative solution floating around that would be really easy to get behind, too, so… — (USA Today)
5. Cancer drug spending doubled in 5 years
And there’s no end in sight! — (NBC)