Take a break from baking sourdough, churning butter, and screaming into the void. Read the Week in Review in Drug Pricing!
1. On the Double:Give Taxpayers A Say
Taxpayers are mega-funders for Moderna’s research into a COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most promising options on the table. We applaud the investment in development, but taxpayers must have a final say in any resulting drug price. – (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
2. COVID-19 Did Not Make High Drug Prices Go Away
Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Braun of Indiana point out that drug prices are still high, and COVID-19 will only make the problem worse for hard-working Americans. There is still time for Congress to act via the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. — (The Washington Examiner)
3. We Shouldn’t Pay Twice
The House this week introduced a $3 trillion COVID-19 relief package. But lawmakers missed the mark on drug pricing reform when they appropriated billions more for drug development without including reasonable pricing guidelines. Congressional relief packages need stronger guardrails to protect taxpayers from pandemic profiteering. — (Bloomberg Law)
4. Transparency Triumphs in Minnesota!
On Tuesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bipartisan bill that requires pharmaceutical companies to report and explain significant drug price increases to the state or face a daily $10k fine. Patients applaud state legislators and the governor for fighting for all Minnesotans! — (Star Tribune)
5. Maryland Governor Bows to Big Pharma with Veto
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan vetoed a measure to provide funding for the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board, an entity lawmakers created in 2019 to assess drug price increases and make drug prices more affordable for state and local governments. We expect more from the governor and call on the state’s legislature to right his wrong at the first opportunity. — (Maryland Matters)
We’re not sure if X Æ A-12 is the name of a child or a new prescription drug, but we can tell you the latest in this week’s drug pricing news. Welcome to the Week in Review!
1. Pharma Sees Dollar Signs Ahead
Gilead Sciences, maker of the experimental COVID-19 drug remdesivir, spent a company record-setting $2.45 million lobbying Washington in the first quarter of the year. As the lobbying money flowed, a provision in Congress’ COVID relief bill that required taxpayer-funded drugs to be affordable hit the cutting room floor. Coincidence? We think not. — (NPR)
2. Pandemic Price Hike: Called Out
Two House representatives called out drug company Jaguar Health this week after it hiked the price of the anti-diarrheal drug Mytesi by 220 percent. Jaguar Health had been seeking government approval for Mytesi to be prescribed for COVID-19 patients. Hmmmm. — (Reuters)
3. People Before Profit
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) announced that a fair list price for remdesivir could be as high as $4,500 per patient, which could result in billions of dollars in profit for Gilead Sciences from a publicly funded drug. Any pricing strategy for remdesivir must be transparent to taxpayers and ensure the drug is affordable for everyone. — (Business Insider)
4. It All Adds Up
Rheumatoid arthritis patients have been slammed with steady price increases for biologic medications, resulting in fewer savings for patients from the closure of the Medicare donut hole than anticipated, a new analysis found. Researchers from Vanderbilt University are calling for out-of-pocket maximums and limits on yearly cost increases to help patients afford their prescription drugs. We couldn’t agree more. — (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
5. Be on the ? Out For COVID-19 Vaccine Monopolies
Public funds are the backbone of pharmaceutical research – especially when it comes to vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. As taxpayers, we must remain vigilant and demand these products come to market at an affordable price for all patients. — (Business Insider)
Just Amash up of this week’s drug pricing news! Welcome to the Week In Review.
1. Memo to Pharma: A Pandemic is NOT a Pay Day
Patients For Affordable Drugs scrutinized Johnson & Johnson’s promise to offer a “not-for-profit” COVID-19 vaccine and found that offer to be more than a little misleading. P4AD will continue to hold pharmaceutical corporations to account as the pandemic — and vaccines and treatments to curtail it – unfold. – (P4AD)
2. The People Want Drug Pricing Reform
A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of adults in the U.S. have reported increases in the costs of prescription drugs since 2017, and one-third of U.S. adults consider a candidate’s position on lowering drug costs a top issue at the ballot box. As members of Congress work to navigate COVID-19, they would be well advised to keep pushing for federal drug pricing reforms. — (Gallup)
3. Minnesota Momentum
After an April victory for insulin affordability for Minnesotans, state lawmakers moved forward a separate bipartisan drug pricing plan that would require increased transparency measures to prevent unjustifiable price hikes. — (St. James Plaindealer)
4. Priced too High
The new cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta is a game-changer for patients with the life-shortening genetic disease. However, drug pricing watchdog ICER found the monopoly drugmaker, Vertex, gave the medication an unfair price tag that burdens patients and families with millions of dollars in lifetime costs. Drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them. — (STAT & ICER)
5. Let’s Stay the Course and Lower Drug Prices
We all want a vaccine to protect us from COVID-19. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that, in the midst of this pandemic, existing drugs will make up our first line of defense against the novel coronavirus. It’s one of numerous reasons we *must* prioritize lowering drug prices. — (Medpage Today)
1. Decades of disinterest
A pot of government gold – and the prospect for no-strings-attached profits – is fueling pharma’s interest in vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 after *decades* of disinterest in treating infectious disease. Read the second blog in our series on taxpayer funding for COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development. — (P4AD)
2. ? Cries for reform will grow louder ?
The old way Big Pharma conducts itself isn’t going to fly in our new pandemic paradigm. The public is watching, and if pharma hoards intellectual property and profits at the expense of public health, ensuing cries for reform will be deafening. — (Bloomberg Law)
3. Pandemic price gouging
A drug maker tripled the price of a pill as it pursued the medication’s use for coronavirus patients – and it’s not an isolated instance. Pharma, we’ve got our ? on you. — (Axios)
4. Follow the money
The author of “PHARMA: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America,” discusses how drug industry lobbyists successfully blocked proposed measures in the recent $8.3 billion COVID-19 relief package that would have allowed the government to ensure fair prices for COVID-19 drugs. If pharma’s recent, and distant, sordid past has taught us anything, it’s that we can expect more of this. — (The Hill)
5. Without lower drug prices, expect more stories like this
A Kansas dad of four and aircraft mechanic was laid off just before the coronavirus struck and is about to lose his health insurance. He fears he’ll be forced to choose between feeding his children and buying his insulin. No one should have to make that choice. — (CBS)
Hey there all you cool cats and kittens, hope you are staying healthy at home! Welcome to the Week in Review in prescription drug pricing.
1. COVID-19: Follow the Money
Patients For Affordable Drugs dug into the massive taxpayer contributions toward COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. The findings? The real heroes of COVID-19 aren’t corner office executives, but the doctors and nurses, grocery store workers, and U.S. taxpayers whose tax dollars will drive the discovery of life-saving vaccines and treatments. — (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
2. Victory in Minnesota
Drug pricing and Insulin-for-All advocates in Minnesota are celebrating a win after the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act was officially signed into law. The hard-won reform provides relief to those in urgent need and struggling to afford their insulin. — (Star Tribune)
3. Taxpayers Deserve a Say
A new NIH-led public-private partnership to accelerate COVID-19 treatments and vaccines is a welcome development — but it fails to address future pricing of those drugs. Since taxpayers are investing extraordinary amounts toward the development of COVID-19 drugs, they deserve a say when the time comes to set a price. — (NIH)
4. Members of Congress Call For Drug Pricing Action
As the pandemic’s economic fallout continues to devastate Americans financially and COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are under development, members of Congress are calling for action to address skyrocketing drug costs and ensure that COVID-19 drugs are affordable for all Americans. — (Here & Here)
5. States Taking Charge
States around the country continued to lead the way by passing sweeping drug price reforms ranging from insulin copay caps to PBM crackdowns, all within the last month. Even during a crisis, states are getting the job done. — (STAT)
With promising news on the horizon, we cannot stress this enough – stay home and save lives!
1. Taxpayers deserve a good deal
In the race to find COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, taxpayers are investing in research to get the job done. Drug corporations shouldn’t be allowed to set prices on products taxpayers helped to research and develop — they must partner with the US government to set fair and affordable prices for everyone. — (Inside Health Policy)
2. Patients make it happen ?
After patients penned a letter calling on insulin manufacturers to lower the price of insulin during the COVID-19 crisis, Eli Lilly announced they would offer a program that allows people with diabetes to purchase their insulin products for $35 a month. It’s a win for patients, but we still need action to *lower list prices for ALL.* — (CNBC)
3. Drug Pricing Reform NOW
From Maine to Nebraska, Americans are calling on Congress to take action and lower the cost of prescription drugs by passing the Prescription Drug Pricing Reform Act. — (Bangor Daily News) and (Lincoln Journal Star)
1. #DemandLowerListPrices
As COVID-19 severely threatens the diabetes community’s health and finances, more than 60 people with diabetes and Patients For Affordable Drugs penned an open letter demanding lower list prices on insulin. — (P4AD)
2. Preparation + Opportunity
The global pandemic has put a lot of Congressional goals on the backburner this spring. But with millions of Americans facing pay cuts and layoffs, it’s more urgent than ever to address exorbitant drug prices, and Congress still has a great opportunity to act come fall. — (STAT)
3. Put a Cap On It
Following the lead of several other states, Washington approved a bill that would limit out-of-pocket costs for insulin to $100 for a 30-day supply. While the Big 3 insulin manufacturers should drop the price for all people with diabetes, this is a start. — (The Seattle Times)
1. “Drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them”
P4AD founder and cancer patient, David Mitchell, writes about how the growing crisis around COVID-19 brings into stark view America’s broken drug pricing system. — (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
2. Taxpayers left to foot the bill
Facing a wave of public criticism and accusations of profiteering, drug maker Gilead backpedalled its request for orphan drug designation for a potential coronavirus drug that would have blocked competition, allowed tax breaks, and boosted their profits. — (The New York Times)
3. Prices Slashed
Rising Pharmaceuticals, makers of the touted potential coronavirus drug, chloroquine, rolled back a price hike from the beginning of the year. It goes to show price gouging happens all the time, and must be curbed all the time, pandemic or no pandemic. — (STAT)
4. Drug prices continue to soar
A new study revealed that brand drug prices have increased three times faster than the rate of inflation even when you factor in discounts they give to insurers. More than ever, we need drug pricing reform. — (WESA)
5. Buying policies to put profits over patients
Kaiser Health News dug into FEC filings and found that Senators working to advance pro-Pharma proposals were the recipients of hefty campaign donations from pharmaceutical manufacturer-associated PACs. — (Kaiser Health News)
