Happy Friday! Here’s a quick media roundup featuring P4ADNow leaders and patient advocates in the news this week fighting for lower drug prices
1. In a new STAT op-ed, P4ADNow’s David Mitchell debunked one of Big Pharma’s newest lies: that the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act economically disadvantage small molecule drugs compared to biologics, which will hurt innovation, increase prices, and harm patients. “The Inflation Reduction Act actually narrows the advantage for biologics over small molecules,” David explained. “It’s time for the pharmaceutical industry to choose: Do biologics need more market incentives than small molecules, or not? If pharma wants equal incentives for all drugs, Congress should bring biologics in line with small molecules and equalize them both at no more than nine years of exemption from negotiation.”
2. Merith Basey, P4ADNow’s executive director, sat down with health and policy expert RJ Eskow on The Zero Hour and discussed the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act, the fight to push back on Big Pharma power, and the work to be done to increase competition, transparency, and equity in the drug price system. “Headlines in the summer… said ‘maybe for the first time pharma is losing its power in Washington’ – that is music to my ears!” Merith shared about the passing of the historic Inflation Reduction Act. “People are excited about these reforms. Do they go far enough? No… We will continue pushing for patients.”
3. North Carolina advocate Steven Hadfield shared his perspective with Cardinal & Pine about how the $35 monthly insulin copay cap for people on Medicare passed in the Inflation Reduction Act will benefit him this year. “I think that’s gonna be real good,” Steven said of the new insulin copays that went into place last month. “I live on budgets. I mean, I’m not making the money I used to make… [this] stuff should not be so expensive.”
Have a great weekend!