Dr. Peter Bach explains how the U.S. can lower drug prices at little cost to drug discovery. — (Bloomberg)
2. Get into it
Rep. Steven Horsford reminds us lowering drug prices is one of the most bipartisan things ever. Get it done, Congress. — (Las Vegas Sun)
3. Patient voices heard
Patients who require unaffordable prescriptions to live — Revlimid and insulin — share the red tape and heartbreak. — (Al Jazeera America)
4. Yes, but
The cystic fibrosis community (including this CF mom) is rightly celebrating an exciting new drug. But at $311k/year, patients who spent their lifetimes fundraising to create new treatments are sure to be left behind. — (The Washington Post)
5. The Money Train
As Big Pharma prepares for what could be one of its most challenging years in Washington, the lobby’s minions swarm Congress to maintain their influence. — (Open Secrets)
Will Washington take a swing at lowering drug prices? Senate, House, and Administration reforms would be a home run for patients.
1.The Plot Thickens
A new report uncovered an elaborate campaign complete with celebrity cops, seven-figure ads, and a shady consulting firm — all funded by PhRMA. — (Bloomberg)
2. A Win for Patients
The House Ways & Means Committee took a significant step in the right direction by voting to advance HR 3, legislation that would lower drug prices for all Americans — regardless of insurance type. — (AP)
3. The Legacy of a Hero
America lost drug pricing hero Rep. Elijah Cummings. Now, House members are advancing a bill in his honor. — (Fierce Pharma)
4. Taxpayer drug development
Over the past decade, one in four new medicines benefitted from late-stage taxpayer-funded research, including clinical trials. Time for pharma to stop price gouging off of public science. — (British Medical Journal)
5. Big Momentum:
Patients are speaking out, and ideas and legislation are moving forward in the Senate and the House. — (P4ADN)
1. Let. Medicare. Negotiate. Already.
A sweeping Medicare negotiation bill saw hearings and markups this week. It’s moving, folks! — (Los Angeles Times)
2.Let’s Get the Job Done
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now has launched a multi-million dollar campaign to encourage lawmakers in DC to make history and lower drug prices. Patient voices will be heard! — (The Hill)
The public is demanding that Congress make lowering drug prices its top priority! — (KFF and JAMA)
5. Transparency in Action!
California passed a major drug pricing transparency bill in 2017, and the first public report stemming from that law is out. The new information is sure to inspire and inform future drug pricing reforms. — (Kaiser Health News)
If the Nats can make the NLCS without Bryce Harper, surely Washington can pass drug pricing reform by the end of the year.
1. Patients Win in California!
California became the first state in the country to ban abusive pay-for-delay deals that keep low-cost generics off the market and out of patients’ hands. — (FiercePharma)
2.Big Price Increases, Because ?♂️
The top seven best-selling drugs experienced price increases with no reasonable justification. YOLO, said Pharma in response. — (Endpoints News)
3. Patient Groups Paid Off
Some of Big Pharma’s biggest players shoveled $650 million into hundreds of nonprofits last year — including those campaigning against federal drug pricing legislation. Things that make you go hmmm. — (Bloomberg Government)
4. Raising Her Voice
P4AD advocate and drug pricing hero Sa’Ra Skipper and her little sister live with type 1 diabetes. Sa’Ra almost lost her sister after they shared their insulin supply, and now, she’s speaking out. — (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
5. Bye, Felicia
BIO’s Jim Greenwood is resigning after the 2020 election. We hope the next BIO chief will bring drug pricing solutions to the table — instead of standing in the way. — (FierceBiotech)
Slow news week.
1. Fear-mongering: Activate!
The drug lobby is throwing mounds of cash around in an attempt to convince lawmakers that drug pricing’s status quo should remain. Voters disagree! — (Wall Street Journal)
2.Four Times More
The latest investigation from Congress shows the U.S. pays an average of four times more for prescription drugs as compared to other countries — and in some cases, 67 times more. — (The Fiscal Times)
3. Black Market Insulin
Virginia patient explains the choice she was forced to make to stay alive. — (Local12)
4. Myth Busted
Pharma’s biggest talking point — lower prices will kill innovation — is debunked once again. — (STAT)
5. ?? imports?
The Trump administration announced it’s on track to release an executive order to import some prescription drugs. — (The Washington Post)
TL;DR of PhRMA’s statement on the House plan to lower drug prices? “We’re good with the high prices, thanks.” Welcome to the Week in Review.
1. Get On Board the Negotiation Train
The House has offered up a robust plan that would allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. It would lead to major savings for patients and taxpayers across America. — (AP)
2.Patients Over Party!
Trump tweeted that he likes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing plan and called for getting it done “the bipartisan way.” Congress: Please do! — (STAT)
3. PhRMA and BIO LOL
PhRMA and BIO are threatening the end of days if taxpayers negotiate. MEMO: The profit margins of drug corporations are almost three times the average of the S&P 500. Plenty of room to lower drug prices and fund innovation there. — (HealthLeaders Media)
4. Product Hops Must Stop!
A patient and an academic gave this insidious Big Pharma tactic the what for at a House Congressional hearing. What’s it all mean? — (P4AD and Regulatory Focus)
5. International Pricing Index: Let’s Make a Deal
Everybody loves the International Pricing Index! (Except for pharma, but nobody likes them.) — (NPR)
1. Let. Medicare. Negotiate.
A leaked draft of a House plan to empower the U.S. government to negotiate drug prices injects enthusiasm into the drug pricing debate and overlaps with President Trump’s plan. — (New York Times/FiercePharma)
2. Momentum Grows for Senate Finance Bill
Republican lawmakers are voicing their support to the Senate’s bipartisan effort to lower drug prices by curtailing price hikes and lowering out-of-pocket costs in Medicare. — (Press Herald)
3. Speak Out
P4AD Digital Director Samantha Reid describes what it’s like to live with the financial uncertainty illness brings. High drug prices for drugs to treat Crohn’s disease certainly don’t help! — (Twitter)
4. On the Take
The first six months of 2019 saw $4 million in pharma campaign finance donations pour into lawmakers’ coffers. See who’s got their hand in the pill cash jar. — (KFF)
5. No, really. LOWER DRUG PRICES.
The latest polling again shows the public wants Congress to make lowering drug prices a top priority. — (KFF)
Pharma just took a DNA test. Turns out they’re 100% OVERPRICED.
1. “I have nothing. But I am alive, and I can still fight.”
Patient advocate Cynthia Stockton reflects on her experience with high drug prices as lawmakers weigh a measure that would help put an end to collusive pay-for-delay deals. — (The Sacramento Bee)
2. ? ← New Pharma Poll Numbers
According to Gallup’s annual review of U.S. public opinion, pharma is the lowest-rated industry in America. That’s a new low. — (Gallup)
3. PharmaCEOs Dish Dough
Drug company CEOs are opening their pockets and spending big bucks on a small targeted group of senators. — (STAT)
