Drug prices crush seniors with rationed pill stashes. Sen. Claire McCaskill sends the Sunshine Act to CrossFit classes. And dry eye patent rental gives judges whiplash.
Welcome to the week in review in prescription drug prices!
1. Skimping not saving
Seniors aren’t filling prescriptions as often, and they’re being crushed by drug prices nonetheless. — (Associated Press)
2. Will the Sunshine Act hit the gym?
Sen. Claire McCaskill wants to strengthen the Sunshine Act. Now, a federal database launched in 2014 reports payments drug and device makers make to physicians. The lawmaker’s bill would additionally require drug makers to report payments made to patient advocacy groups and professional societies. Sounds good to us! — (STAT)
3. Resurrection
The CREATES Act is back from the dead — again, maybe. The long-stalled measure with wide bipartisan support would bring generic drugs to market faster and lower drug prices. Sadly, it’s being used in a weird, complex game of donut hole dodgeball. — (STAT)
4. Remember the time…
Remember that one time Allergan tried to skirt patent law by selling its patents on the dry eye drug Restasis to an American Indian tribe? In case you forgot, here’s where the case stands and a brief history of the company’s nefarious moves. — (Bloomberg)
5. Hike one, Hike two
Bayer Pharmaceutical just hiked the list prices of two cancer drugs more than $1,000 per month. It’s the second price increase for the two drugs in six months. Those private CEO flights and steak dinners don’t pay for themselves. — (Washington Post)
Pharma drinks from both sides of the trough. The little-known trick Medicare beneficiaries can use to save cash. And a CVS insider blows the whistle on a major alleged rip-off.
Welcome to the week in review in prescription drug pricing!
1. Both sides of the trough
As taxpayers we all pay for research into new drugs at the National Institutes of Health. Then we all pay again when we buy the drugs. — (NYT)
2. (Don’t) gag me
Medicare beneficiaries might score a better deal for prescriptions if they ask for the cash price — but they have to know to ask. — (NPR)
3. Doing just fine
Those health care CEOs. Just fine. — (AP)
4. Let Gottlieb be your guide
The commish furnishes guidance to make it easier for generics to enter the drug market. But we still need Congress to pass CREATES. — (FierceHealthcare)
5. We will watch this suit carefully!
If CVS whistleblower claims are true, it explains why PBMs prefer secrecy. — (WKYC3)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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)
A stormy turn in the drug pricing world and a Rose Garden speech by the president that could have used more thorns.
Welcome to the Week in Review in Drug Pricing!
1. Novartis should have used $1.2 million to repay cancer patients’ debt instead of paying a Trump attorney for special access.
The pharmaceutical giant paid $1.2 million to a Trump attorney. Here’s a better idea: repay patients who take Gleevec, a Novartis drug that rose in price from $26,000 in 2001 to $140,000 in 2017, an increase of nearly 440 percent. “My out of pocket for that drug with Medicare Part D insurance has come to, so far, $60,000 and has cut deeply into my retirement money, which is incredibly devastating and scary…I’m going to be in the poor house a lot sooner than I thought,” patient advocate Joan Tramontano told us. Watch Joan talk about the impact of Novartis’ price hikes on her life. — (STAT)
2. President Trump’s plans to lower drug prices don’t include direct Medicare negotiation
And that’s a shame, though there are positive steps toward transparency in the 50-point plan released Friday. — (AP)
3. Will the Administration’s proposals make a difference for patients?
David Mitchell, a cancer patient, and the president of Patients For Affordable Drugs, weighed in on PBS NewsHour. “We got a bunch of singles and we got a couple of whiffs. There are some things in this set of proposals that will save money for some people, especially people on Medicare who are using very high-cost drugs. But the president promised that he would lower list prices. And if you look at the proposal, the shortest part is about lowering list prices, and we really have to get at list prices set by the drug companies if we’re going to drive down prices overall.” — (PBS NewsHour)
4. The impact of a 100,000 percent drug price hike on a small town
After the price of a prescription drug for infants experiencing seizures soared 100,000 percent, the mayor of an Illinois town went looking for answers. — (60 Minutes)
5. Drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them
We tend to agree. — (STAT)
In New York, a panel makes a play to lower the cost of a charity-funded Vertex drug. Big Pharma’s shirt buttons pop off after it gorges itself on prescription drug price increases. And there’s this great new way to treat cancer that’s so expensive, the system can’t figure out how to pay for it.
Welcome to the Week in Review!
1. Not having it
In the first test of a new law designed to lower drug prices, a New York panel said NOPE to Vertex Pharmaceutical’s $272,000 price tag for Orkambi. The state is demanding a rebate on the high-priced cystic fibrosis drug. If negotiations on the rebate fail, New York will attempt to get an explanation into the drug price. — (STAT)
2. Big Pharma’s Q1 profit haul soars, despite big talk on lowering drug prices
People are suffering as the industry makes its killing, despite big talk that prices will come down. — (Axios)
3. The million dollar cancer treatment no one knows how to pay for
And that’s a big problem for cancer patients who only want to stay alive. A lower list price would mean greater access. — (MSN)
4. The forever burden
A patient with Crohn’s describes the trifecta of taxes — on her emotions, her time and wallet — as she comes to terms with the fact she needs a med worth tens of thousands of dollars a year, for life, to feel fully human. — (Philly Enquirer)
5. Pro or con?
Patients rely on co-pay assistance, but so do pharmaceutical corporations, to extract maximum profits from patients, consumers and taxpayers, a cost we all bear. This deep dive is worth your time. — (USA Today)
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. See you next week!
Happy Sunday! Big Pharma pours more money into lobbying than ever before. Scrappy Illinois legislators have come out swinging with a bill to stop price gouging aptly named, PHARMABRO. The president is expected to talk about drug prices — but will list prices come down? And I know this isn’t technically a drug pricing item but can we PLEASE talk about the nurse anesthetist who came in second in the Boston Marathon?
1. PhRMA gets desperate
2. Trump to talk drug prices
3. Scrappin’ in Springfield
4. A first-of-its-kind
5. It’s a crime in our books
6. I know this isn’t a drug pricing story…but…
A patient speaks in Connecticut. Big Pharma helps itself to the spoils of a tax windfall. And one drug company CEO makes a strong play to be the next Martin Shkreli.
1. A cancer patient speaks
2. Profits over patients
3. Ohio takes aim at PBMs
4. For cancer patients, less bang for their buck
5. Gouger Alert! Vertex CEO took home $78.5 million in 2017
The week in drug pricing has been marked with dormant dashboards, broken promises and bloated CEO salaries.
So, let’s get to it.
1. Dormant drug dashboards
2. “We were forced to file for bankruptcy to afford my insulin.”
3. Piles of gold skimmed off the backs of the sick and dying.
4. Kickback schemes at Novartis?
5. The Vertex CEO said a few things he might regret.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. See you next week!