The hills are alive with the sound of drug pricing reform.
Welcome to the Week in Review in Prescription Drug Pricing!
1. Laboratories for lower drug prices
- States aren’t waiting around for the federal government to act on drug prices. Maryland wants a board to hold Big Pharma accountable. — (The Baltimore Sun)
2. Close the Big Pharma Tax Loophole
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced legislation to prohibit pharmaceutical corporations from claiming tax deductions for direct-to-consumer advertising expenses. Big Pharma spent $6 billion on direct-to-consumer ads in 2016 alone. — (STAT News)
3. Azar on the move
- HHS chief Alex Azar is on the move on Capitol Hill, stumping for lower drug prices, especially in Medicare Part B. — (The Washington Post)
4. Pfizer Pflops
- Pfizer hiked the prices on 41 prescription drugs this week, in blatant disregard for the financial health and wellbeing of all Americans. It’s not OK. — (P4AD)
5. ✈️✈️✈️
- Are the executives at Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis doing a lot of “innovating” on their private airplanes? — (Twitter)