Ugh, drug pricing. Water we going to do about it? We’re floating some ideas.
1. Don’t Sell Out Sickle Cell Patients
Taxpayers invested hundreds of millions of dollars into a cure for sickle cell disease. Now a drug company could make billions from the drug. — (FierceHealthcare)
2. Program Canceled ?
Americans wanted to list drug price ads on TV. Big Pharma and a federal judge said no. — (The New York Times)
3. Tea Leaves
Could a closed-door meeting with Trump aides and GOP senators hint at a path forward to slow the roll of Part D price hikes? — (The Hill)
4. Negotiation. The American Way!
The president said the U.S. should pay what other nations pay for drugs. Now the focus turns to the administration’s International Pricing Index.— (STAT & Yahoo Finance)
5. California is Not Dreamin’
AB824, legislation that would end shady, collusive pay-for-delay deals, is movin’ in real life. — (Twitter)
If this country can produce a Cheetos chicken sandwich, it can lower drug prices.
1. Biosimilar Warfare
Biosimilar drugs were posed to change the lives of patients and save the country billions. But patients like Charles Pope feel their health ‘disintegrating’ waiting for less-expensive biologics. — (Associated Press)
2. ‘Evil’
Sneaky pharma tactics are keeping lifesaving generic drugs out of reach for patients who need them most. California is taking a stand. — (Los Angeles Times)
3. The Price We’ll Pay
As we enter a period of rapid medical breakthroughs, prices are becoming totally unsustainable. — (The Hill)
4. Dirigo!
Maine is the latest state to tackle drug pricing head on. The state overwhelmingly passed a package of bills aimed at lowering costs for patients. Go Maine! — (Press Herald)
5. ? Issue Alert
Running for president? Lower drug prices. — (STAT)
What do Navy UFO sightings and drugs prices have in common? They are both out of this world!
1. Get the Job Done
So many bipartisan drug pricing proposals, so little time. Congress, get something done. And make it big. — (The New York Times)
2. Couldn’t Have Said It Better Ourselves
Whiny pharma sued to keep its high drug prices off the tele. To which HHS replied: “If the drug companies are embarrassed by their prices… they should lower them.” — (Bloomberg)
3. How Do You Fight Something You Can’t See?
By standing up to share your drug pricing story! Check out this patient video by the California Attorney General’s office, in support of legislation that would force Big Pharma’s shadowy, collusive pay-for-delay deals into the light. — (Twitter)
4. Forced to Buy Expired Insulin
This hardworking Texan living with type 1 diabetes is self-employed and forced to buy expired insulin, putting his health at grave risk. Others are caravanning to Canada to buy a drug as vital to their lives as water. — (P4AD & The Washington Post)
5. Drug Pricing Hurts Women More
And women are working to solve that issue. Listen to this podcast to learn about the efforts of I-MAK’s Priti Krishtel and Jessica Grossman of Medicines360. — (The Commonwealth Fund)
Velcro shoes for Father’s Day? Total rip off. Just like drug prices.
Welcome to the Week in Review in prescription drug pricing!
1. The Maine Event
Lawmakers in Maine moved a slate of drug pricing reforms that involve transparency, Canadian drug importation, and PBM fixes. — (The Times Record)
2. Don’t Mess With Nevada
Our drug pricing hero and Nevada state Sen. Yvanna Cancela led a first-in-nation effort on insulin pricing transparency. She’s not done yet. — (Twitter)
3. It Will Lower Drug Prices
The United States pays two to three times more than other developed nations for prescription drugs. Congress should move International Reference Pricing forward on the double. Legislation proposed by Sens. Rick Scott and Josh Hawley is a step in the right direction. — (Palm Beach Post)
4. Nice Work, Eh?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a Canadian drug importation bill to law. ?? — (AP)
5. Rethinking the Way We Pay
Sen. Bill Cassidy examines how to tackle extreme prices in medicine’s next frontier. We don’t agree with all of it, but it’s a thoughtful take on gene therapy. — (STAT)
What do FIFA and Pharma have in common? They’re both corrupt!
1. Common Sense in the Commonwealth
This week, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched an ad campaign in support of plans from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and the state Senate to tackle high drug prices. — (The Boston Globe)
2. Oh, Come On
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now submitted a letter to the FTC to request an investigation into suspected biologic and PBM antitrust behavior keeping lower-priced biosimilars out of patients’ reach. — (Axios)
3. Big Pharma on the Stand
The DOJ wants a jury trial for Mallinckrodt, the company at the heart of a 97,000 percent price spike for a gel mainly used to treat infant seizures. — (CNN)
4. David Update
David Mitchell, our founder, who lives with multiple myeloma, recorded a video message this week with an update on his cancer. — (Twitter)
5. How Do You Lower Drug Prices?
GOP senators have asked PhRMA how they should lower drug prices. We have predicted PhRMA’s Magic 8 Ball answer: “Better not tell you now.” — (The Hill)
Quick message to PhRMA: We’re gonna ride til we can’t no more.
1. PrEP-ing for a Fight
The latest wave of HIV activists are challenging drug maker Gilead to make HIV prevention medication affordable for all who need it. — (NPR)
2. Cliff’s Notes
Drug pricing is cloaked in secrecy. This video breaks down the supply chain and the price hikes along each step of the way. — (The Wall Street Journal)
3. Better Than Mountains and Craft Beer
Colorado is the first state to place a price cap on out-of-control insulin prices. — (CBS)
4. Seniors Hurt the Most
A recent study found that cancer drug prices for seniors are on the rise, nearly doubling in some cases. — (JAMA)
5. Chart Pack!
The federal government negotiating for the most expensive medications in Medicare Part D? Yes, please. — (P4AD)
We have all the drug pricing news that’s fit to summarize. Welcome to the Week in Review in prescription drug pricing!
1. Almost Isn’t Good Enough
In an effort to reduce the public scrutiny around exorbitant insulin prices, Eli Lilly has began sales of its “half-priced” generic version of Humalog. It’s still not enough. — (CBS News)
2. Too. Much.
Novartis is charging more than $2 million for a gene therapy it can’t take full credit for. — (CNN)
3. Taken Hostage
Hackers aren’t the only hostage-takers in Baltimore. The self-insured city had filed an antitrust suit against a Johnson&Johnson subsidiary, accusing the drug maker of thwarting generic competition for an expensive cancer drug. — (The Baltimore Sun)
4. First in the Nation
Spunky Maryland’s new drug pricing affordability board will be enacted July 1. We expect more reforms to come from states this year. — (AP)
5. It’s Personal
P4AD founder David Mitchell spoke with Houston Public Media about the importance of addressing the rising costs of prescription drugs. — (Houston Public Media)
Former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt summed up the insulin crisis in eight numbers:
3 6 21 39 275 4,000 – 6,000 30 million
Read it all here, and welcome to the Week in Review in prescription drug pricing!
1. The Price is Not Right
A coalition of attorneys general from more than 40 states is suing generic drug makers for price collusion in one of the biggest alleged industry-wide price fixing schemes in U.S history. — (CBS 60 Minutes)
2. #GlaxoSmithLies
GlaxoSmithKline has relied on a handful of abusive tactics to keep profit margins high while raising prices. In return, patients with asthma who need blockbusters like Advair are in dire straits. — (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
3. You Get a Yacht!
Health care CEOs made $2.6 billion last year. The highest salary went to a pharma executive. — (Axios)
4. All the Excuses
Research and development is often the go-to defense when pharma is questioned on mile-high prices, but a new study says it is nothing but spin. — (The Fiscal Times)
5. It Has to End
We need legislation to stop deals for delay and patent thickets, AbbVie’s monopolistic bread and butter. — (STAT)
