Latest News | Nov 27, 2023

ICYMI: P4ADNow Advocates Speak Out – Share Personal Experiences With High Drug Prices, Highlight Big Pharma Abuses, and Celebrate Relief To Come from Medicare Negotiations

Wishing everyone a restful and restorative Thanksgiving break! Here’s a roundup featuring P4AD patient advocates at the virtual CMS Listening Sessions for the Medicare Negotiation Program 

Despite the presence of pharma talking points saturating the sessions, we want to express our deepest thanks to all P4AD patient advocates, whose stories illuminate the urgency and impact of Medicare negotiations. It’s undeniable that the success of the historic drug price reforms within the Inflation Reduction Act is due to the power and dedication of these patient advocates speaking out in direct opposition to pharma interests.

Have a great holiday! 

Image

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1. Deflating Big Pharma Lies

 2.  Patients Need Competition To Lower Prices

 3.  Insulin Affordability Crisis

BONUS: P4AD’s David Mitchell was one of several co-authors on this new paper in Nature that examines the ways that universities and academic medical centers, which receive large amounts of funding from taxpayers, can better ensure medicines including novel gene therapies are priced to maximize public health and lessen the burden that high drug prices impose on patients and society.

Have a great weekend! 

Happy Veterans Day to our nation’s heroes and their families.
 
In the spirit of the Medicare negotiation listening sessions, a reminder that the Department of Veteran Affairs has been negotiating drug prices since 1993.

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1. CMS Listening Sessions Continue

 2.  Momentum To Curb Patent Abuses

BONUS: For our bilingual readers – shout out to our very own Jesse Aguirre for his op ed published in El Planeta yesterday in Spanish on how Patient stories have the potential to overturn the status quo of Big Pharma. Bravo!

Have a great weekend! 

On November 1st, Ady Barkan, co-founder of Be A Hero, widely-known advocate in the fight for health justice, and who got his start in health advocacy at UAEM, died of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at 39 years old. When he was diagnosed in 2016, Ady chose to leverage his own powerful patient story to persuade policymakers to prioritize people over profit. He will be sorely missed but his impact and legacy to help transform the US healthcare system will continue.

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1. P4ADNow Urges Senate Leadership To Pass Competition Bills

 2.  P4AD Patient Advocates At CMS Listening Sessions

3.  Medicare Negotiations Will Bring Relief To Patients

4.  On The Horizon: Sickle Cell Disease Gene Therapy

Have a great weekend! 

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1. A New Chapter For Patients On Medicare

 2.  Medicare Negotiations Are Crucial For Patients

3. Big Pharma Puts Profits Over Patients

BONUS PHOTO: Check out our long time P4AD patient advocates Sue, Lisa, Judy, and a shout-out to Pamela who met with their respective senators on Capitol Hill to share their experiences with high drug prices and what competition would represent to them! Way to go ladies!

Have a great weekend! 

Quick note to readers: This was Audrey’s last week (in review) at P4AD! She’s been honored to be in your inbox for the last couple years. We’ll be excited to announce P4AD’s incoming communications and media director very soon and we’ll see you here next week as usual. 

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1. Enrolling In Medicare? The Inflation Reduction Act Will Bring Savings

 2.  Patients Depend On Patent & Regulatory Reforms

3. Addressing Launch Prices Of Gene Therapies

PRICE GOUGING ALERT: This week we learned Pfizer plans to set the U.S. price for its COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid at nearly $1,400. That’s more than double what the government currently pays and far more than what it costs to make. Outrageous. 

Have a great weekend! 

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  Senators Celebrate Drug Price Reforms With Patients 

 2.  Medicare Negotiation: A Monumental Step For Patients

3. Momentum For Reforming Our Patent And Regulatory Systems

Have a great weekend! 

Image

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  A Big Win For Medicare Negotiation 

 2.  Push For Competition To Lower Drug Prices

3. Patients Need Affordable Vaccines

Have a great weekend!