‘Tis the season — for drug corporations to spend tax windfalls buying back billions in stock while refusing to lower drug prices.
Welcome to the Week in Review in Prescription Drug Pricing!
1. AstroTurf: Activate!
- Big Pharma is whipping its hundreds of pharma front groups into a fury to try to stop a good idea from *even becoming a federal proposal.* Why? Because the Medicare Part B International Pricing Index demo project would actually lower drug prices. — (AJMC)
2. CEO carolers: “All I want for Christmas are my company’s own shares”
- Big Pharma CEOs could use their massive tax windfalls to lower drug prices. They are buying back billions of dollars in shares instead to enrich themselves at the expense of patients. — (Axios)
3. Now streaming
- You need a weekend drug pricing documentary in your life. So watch the new film, “DRUG$: The Price We Pay.” — (KALW & L.A. Times)
4. In honor of Alec Smith
- Minneapolis resident Alec Smith died in 2017 after rationing insulin he could not afford. Lawmakers in Minnesota, where nearly a half million people live with diabetes, are ready to fight for a bill that would push back on insulin price gouging. Legislation named for Alec failed to pass last session. — (Star Tribune)
5. THAWED: That laughable Pfizer price hike freeze
- Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D.-Wis, demanded transparency from Pfizer and accused the pharma giant of playing political games in her latest letter to CEO Ian Read. The drug corporation is expected to raise prices on 41 drugs in January following empty promises of a price hike freeze. — (FiercePharma)