WASHINGTON, D.C. — Big Pharma’s price hikes are under the microscope of the Senate Aging Committee this week with a hearing featuring patients hurt by the skyrocketing costs of their medicines.
“This hearing in the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging Wednesday will be dedicated to the testimony of patients,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs. “Patients are sharing their stories and leading the fight to lower prescription drug prices. We are grateful Congress is listening. More importantly, millions of Americans are depending on Congress to move quickly to action.”
For patient interviews, contact [email protected].
Patient perspectives:
Among those testifying Tuesday are Pam Holt, a retired teacher from Granger, IN and Sheldon Armus, a retiree from Boynton Beach, FL. The Medicare beneficiaries rely on expensive medications to survive.
Holt needs a cancer drug priced at $250,000 per year.
“On Medicare Part D, I went into and out of the donut hole in January — paying $4,950 the first month and then $640 for Revlimid every 28 days for the rest of the year. That cost was unaffordable for me and after just one year, it sent me into debt quickly. I was entirely underwater, and I made the heartbreaking decision to refinance my house,” Holt will tell the Senate Aging Committee.
Of the blood thinner he needs, Xarelto, Armus plans to say:
“Xarelto is one of my drugs; it is a blood-thinner that prevents dangerous blood clots that can lead to heart attacks. It is a new and expensive drug with a list price of more than $450 for a 30 day supply! It is outrageous. You’ve probably heard of Xarelto because it is heavily advertised to consumers on TV. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes Xarelto, has promised to start disclosing the list price of its medications on those ads.
But that wouldn’t make a difference for patients like me. There isn’t a generic on the market I could turn to instead.”
U.S. patients and taxpayers spend more than $450 billion each year on prescription drugs, by some estimates, nearly one-fifth of all health care costs. Patent-protected brand-name drugs drive spending, making up only about 10 percent of prescriptions but accounting for three-quarters of drug spending.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Executives from seven major drug corporations will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday to explain their pricing practices and the fact that American patients and taxpayers pay more for drugs than anywhere in the world. In the lead up to the hearing, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now reviewed the pricing history of each corporation and developed questions patients want answered from the Pharma CEOs.
“We hear every day from patients suffering under the high cost of prescription drugs,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Patients deserve answers, and we need Congressional action to stop this abuse of American patients from continuing.”
U.S. patients and taxpayers spend more than $450 billion each year on prescription drugs, by some estimates, nearly one-fifth of all health care costs. Patent-protected brand-name drugs drive spending, making up only about 10 percent of prescriptions but accounting for three-quarters of drug spending.
You can read Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s full testimony for the record here. Below please find a summary of pricing practices and key questions for the Pharma CEOs.
ABBVIE INC.
About AbbVie: AbbVie’s anti-inflammatory drug Humira is the top-selling drug in the world. The drug company doubled the price from about $19,000 per year in 2012 to $38,000 per year in 2018. AbbVie secured more than 100 patents on Humira, ensuring that patent thickets will keep competition off the U.S. market. Meanwhile, the company cut the price in Europe by 80 percent for the exact same drug.
Questions:
PFIZER
About Pfizer: Pfizer’s history of price hikes is as staggering as it is long. Here’s a look at the last three years: In 2017, Pfizer raised the price of 91 drugs by 20 percent — that was nearly 10 times the rate of inflation. In mid-2018, Pfizer announced price hikes on about 100 prescription drugs. After temporary freezes, Pfizer raised the raised the price of 40 drugs in January 2019.
Questions:
SANOFI
About Sanofi: Almost 30 million Americans live with diabetes and 6 million need insulin to survive. From 2010 to 2015, Sanofi raised the price of the lifesaving diabetes drug Lantus by 168 percent.
Questions:
MERCK & CO., INC.
About Merck: Merck is no stranger to drug price increases. From January 2017 to mid-2018, Merck raised the price of Januvia by nearly 20 percent. In November 2018, the corporation raised the price on five drugs, including top-selling Gardasil and Keytruda.
Questions:
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
About Johnson & Johnson: Since 2012, Johnson & Johnson has raised the price of its blockbuster drug Xarelto by 87 percent. In January of 2019, the company raised the price on about two dozen drugs.
Questions:
BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB CO.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb: Over the last eight years, Bristol-Myers Squibb has spent over$25 million in lobbying expenditures and $1.75 million in campaign contributions, according to Open Secrets. The company raised the price of its blockbuster drug Eliquis by 6 percentin January 2019. Last year alone, U.S. patients paid Bristol-Myers Squibb $3.8 billion for Eliquis, a 30 percent year-over-year increase.
Questions:
ASTRAZENECA
About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca has a history of charging cancer patients high prices. Here are three examples: Imfinzi costs $180,000 per year for lung cancer, Lynparza costs around $15,000 for 112 pills for ovarian cancer, and Iressa costs $8,000 for 30 pills for lung cancer. And before AstraZeneca faced a generic competitor for its high cholesterol drug, Crestor, the company raised prices multiple times, including by about 15 percent right before a generic competitor came to market.
Questions:
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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers can take a stand today on one of the most important issues facing residents — rising prescription drug prices. A Utah House committee will hold a hearing on legislation that would allow importation of wholesale prescription drugs from Canada, introducing lower drug prices at Utah pharmacies. The bill would help Utah patients avoid making the difficult decision to afford their life-saving drugs or skip doses. On behalf of more than 1,000 patients in Utah engaged in efforts to lower prescription drug prices, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, a bipartisan national patient organization, strongly endorsed HB 267.
“We applaud the state of Utah for HB 267 — a pioneering approach to reducing the cost of prescription drugs,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Canadians pay on average 30 percent less than Americans for the same prescription drugs. Since Big Pharma insists on gouging Americans, we should all be able to import safe bargains from abroad.”
Testifying at the Utah House hearing today in favor of HB 267 is Meg Jackson-Drage, 50, of Magna, Utah. Jackson-Drage relies on the Pfizer medication Lyrica to alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia. She is forced to pay $550 a month — even for a lower dose of the medication than what she needs — due to do the drug’s skyrocketing cost. According to Senate documents Pfizer increased the price of Lyrica by 145 percent from 2009 to 2015, with an increase of 19.3 percent in 2017 alone.
“This bill will not only bring relief to thousands of Utahns like me who have struggled to afford their drugs, but it will also reduce a massive financial expense on Utah taxpayers and patients,” Jackson-Drage said.
The Utah bill would:
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is a bipartisan national patient organization focused exclusively on policies to lower drug prices. To maintain its independence, the group does not accept donations from organizations that profit from the development and distribution of prescription drugs.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Big Pharma is at it again. On Wednesday, the drug lobby will roll out its objections to the proposed HHS Part B Demonstration. During a media briefing at its Washington headquarters, PhRMA is sure to pull out all the tired scare tactics: “socialized medicine,” ‘‘reducing access,” “interference in the doctor/patient relationship,” “rationing,” and other well-worn claims from its playbook.
Here are three questions for PhRMA and a fact check ahead of the media briefing:
3 Questions for PhRMA
FACT CHECK: PhRMA’s False Claims About the Medicare Part B
MYTH #1: The Part B demonstration will restrict access to lifesaving drugs.
FACTS:
MYTH #2: The Part B demonstration will establish drug prices that are impossibly low — damaging drug companies and hurting our health system.
FACTS:
MYTH #3: The demonstration will result in worse care for patients. The government should not replace a market-based system with government price setting.
FACTS:
MYTH #4: Americans do not support the Part B proposed changes.
FACTS:
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WASHINGTON D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a nearly $1 million campaign in support of the Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal to lower drug prices in Medicare Part B. Under the proposal, Medicare would pay only 26 percent more than other wealthy countries for drugs administered by physicians or in hospital settings — that’s compared to the 80 percent more it pays today. But Big Pharma is attacking the proposal because the changes could actually rein in outrageous drug prices. Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s campaign will include digital advertisements, patient fly-ins, polling, and videos featuring patients who stand to access more affordable drugs under the proposal.
“American patients pay far more than people in other countries for prescription drugs, and it’s just plain wrong,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Out-of-control drug prices force hard working Americans to choose between groceries and their medications. HHS has a promising plan to use an International Pricing Index to bring U.S. drug prices more in line with drug prices in other wealthy countries. We’re standing up in support of this change because America’s prescription drug pricing system is broken, and patients need change now.”
The nationwide ads on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google will urge Americans to contact their senators and representatives in support of the HHS Part B demonstration (examples below).
According to a recent poll, voters support the HHS proposal to lower drug prices by a
71-point margin (80 percent support vs. 9 percent oppose). Majorities from both parties agree that Democrats and Republicans in Congress should support the proposal.
Importantly, Americans find Big Pharma’s claim that the proposed reforms would hinder patient access to be wrong. Eight in 10 voters believe the proposal will result in better careor have no impact on the care they receive. That’s bolstered by the fact that nine out of 10 big pharmaceutical companies actually spend more on advertising and marketing than on research and development, according to the Washington Post. There is no evidence the proposed Part B changes would impact patient access to drugs unless drug corporations withhold drugs from patients.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now recently released a petition signed by more than 1,500 patient advocates urging the administration to move forward with the proposal to lower drug prices in Medicare Part B. The letter was accompanied by a video featuring Ruth Rinehart, a patient with primary immune deficiency from Florida, and Mike Gaffney, a resident of Washington State who lives with a rare form of multiple myeloma called POEMS syndrome. In the video, the patients speak directly about what the Part B changes would mean for them.
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WASHINGTON, DC –– By a 71-point margin, voters support the Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal to lower drug prices in Medicare Part B by implementing an International Pricing Index (80 percent support vs. 9 percent oppose). Majorities from both parties believe Democrats and Republicans in Congress should support the proposal that would lower prices for infused drugs administered in physician offices and hospitals.Importantly, 8 in 10 voters believe the proposal will result in better care or have no impact on the care they receive. Click here to read the poll.
Support for the proposed Medicare Part B reforms are widely popular.
Voters say drug prices are too high and both Congress and the President should do more to lower them.
“Voters in this country are clamoring for reforms to lower drug prices and they want officials in Washington to take action to bring prices more in line with other wealthy nations,” said David Mitchell, a Medicare beneficiary, cancer patient, and the Founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs NOW. “This proposal will lower list prices and out-of-pocket costs for patients.”
75 percent of voters support—and 50 percent strongly support—the element of the proposal that will change the way doctors are paid to administer the drugs from a percentage to a fixed fee, thereby eliminating the incentive to prescribe more expensive drugs.
The telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted by GS Strategy Group from December 11-13, 2018. 50 percent of the interviews were completed via cell phone. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Big Pharma spends millions to kill proposed reforms in Medicare Part B, it’s important to keep in mind why: The proposal will lower drug prices and reduce patient out-of-pocket costs. Under the draft proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services, prices for expensive infused drugs administered in physician offices and hospitals would be brought more in line with what people in other wealthy nations pay. Read a snapshot of what patients, legislators, and experts are saying about the potential reform.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT MEDICARE PART B REFORMS
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN): “Tennesseans often struggle to afford prescription drugs, and this proposal appears to put patients and taxpayers first.” [WSJ, 10/25/18]
Avik Roy: “The administration unveiled a new proposal to substantially reduce the price of certain costly drugs administered under Medicare.” [Forbes, 11/26/18]
Bloomberg News: “Trump’s plan is a refreshing change: an idea for lowering drug prices that might actually work.” [Editorial Board, 10/26/18]
Ruth Rinehart, Primary Immune Deficiency Patient: “As a patient who is reliant on the services of Medicare Part B and continues to the pay the price for drugs for which Medicare cannot negotiate, I am strongly in favor of the Trump Administration’s proposal to lower Part B drug prices.” [Tampa, FL, 12/18/18]
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): “The administration has taken a proposal that we had suggested in Medicare Part B … we speak about market basket reference pricing. Taking a market basket of pricing paid by developed economies — Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and Japan — and the United States pays some multiple. The administration has put out a rule to do this in Medicare Part B where ultimately the American consumer will pay 1.26 times that market basket average. There are ways to get at this.” [STAT, 11/30/18]
Professor Rachel Sachs: “Of all the drug pricing proposals the Trump administration has introduced so far – and there have been many – this is by far the most ambitious.” [Health Affairs, 10/26/18]
Paul Kleutgen, cancer patient and former pharmaceutical executive: “The International Pricing Index Model for Medicare is a bold step to lower prices and out-of-pocket costs for people taking some of the most expensive drugs out there. That’s why the groups that profit from the current system are trying to stop it.” [St. James, NC, 12/18/18]
Dr. Peter Bach: “The proposed Part B payment model has multiple strong elements. It is an evaluation, if it works well it can be expanded, but if it doesn’t it can be sunset….It acknowledges that if the US does not have the political will to determine how much taxpayers should be paying for drugs, the US can still piggyback on the negotiations of other countries that have a strong tradition of fiscal responsibility with regards to health care and pharmaceutical costs.” [12/17/18]
Santa Rosa Press Democrat: “The Trump Administration wants to bring down those Medicare drug prices, keeping them more in line with prices charged abroad. A similar plan floated by the Obama Administration drew fierce opposition and was shelved.” [Editorial Board, 11/24/18]
Dr. Vincent Rajkumar: “Yes this may reduce Part B prices if it survives the onslaught of comments and lobbying that is sure to come from @PhRMA.” [Twitter, 10/27/18]
Mike Gaffney, cancer patient:“It is deeply frustrating to me that Medicare does not have the ability to negotiate, meaning that we pay 80% more than other wealthy countries like ours. That is why I am supportive of the Trump Administration’s plan to lower Medicare Part B drug prices for drugs like the infusion I received for a year and a half.” [Olympia, WA, 12/18/18]
Dr. Aaron Kesselheim: “The IPIM would likely lower prices in the U.S. because many other countries evaluate the value a new drug provides as part of a process of negotiating a price with the manufacturer.” [12/17/18]
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Big Pharma is opening its wallet and pulling out the same old scare tactics to block a proposal that would lower drug prices in Medicare Part B. Under a draft proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicare would pay only 26 percent more than other wealthy countries for drugs administered by physicians or in hospital settings instead of the 80 percent more it pays today. But before public comments have been filed, special interest groups and drug company lobbyists are mounting an effort to kill the proposed reforms. A Big Pharma front group is bankrolling a $1 million ad campaign to falsely smear proposed Part B changes. The claims in the ads are lies — pure and simple. Patients For Affordable Drugs NOW will be sending letters to radio stations requesting that they cease airing these misleading ads immediately.
BIG PHARMA SPENDING TO KILL A MEDICARE PART B CHANGE
Radio ads: A Pharma-funded front group secretly bought $998,884 in radio ads across the country. The ads encourage residents to call Senators and tell them to oppose the Part B proposal. See a list of the ad rates and stations running the spot here and here, and listen to the ad here.
Digital Ads: The drug industry’s lobbying arm, PhRMA, is blanketing Washington health publications in an attempt to mislead policymakers and the public. Click here to view the PhRMA-sponsored ads.
New Web Pages: PhRMA’s misleading campaign includes a raft of blogs packed with inaccurate information that suggests patient care would be under threat if drug prices are lowered in the Medicare program.
AstroTurf Tactics: A coalition of hundreds of so-called patient advocacy groups entangled with Big Pharma interests sent a misleading letter to Congressional leadership. Read the letter here.
MYTH vs FACT
Blog posts and advertisements by Big Pharma contain a multitude of falsehoods, misleading statements, and outright lies. Here are a few:
Big Pharma Myth: Changes to Medicare Part B “threaten patient access to treatment options and care.”
Fact: As an organization that represents patients who are kept alive by Part B drugs, we are outraged that Big Pharma claims the proposal would hinder patient access. Under this proposal, Medicare would pay only 26 percent more than other wealthy countries, down from the current average of 80 percent more. This move would increase access to lifesaving drugs by bringing U.S. prices more in line with other wealthy nations. There is no evidence this proposed Part B demonstration would impact patient access to drugs unless drug corporations withhold drugs from patients.
Big Pharma Myth: The system works fine just the way it is and the government should not “replace a market-based system with government price setting.”
Fact: The system is broken. Doctors who administer Medicare Part B drugs are incentivized to choose higher-priced medications because they benefit from the reimbursement structure in the Medicare program. Patients are forgoing medication because they cannot afford the drugs. Medicare already sets the prices for these drugs –– it is the average sales price plus 6 percent, which is 80 percent higher than what people pay in other wealthy nations.
Big Pharma Myth: The Part B demonstration will “weaken incentives for the development of new treatments for serious, life-threatening diseases.”
Fact: Nine out of 10 big pharmaceutical companies spend more on advertising and marketing than on research. Taxpayers foot the bill for basic science that leads to new drugs through the $37 billion spent by the National Institutes of Health. According to HHS, the proposed Medicare changes could reduce drug company R&D spending by less than one percent. We can have both innovation and lower prescription drug prices.
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