The Week in Review in Prescription Drug Pricing

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” –– How Americans feel when reacting to the price of prescription drugs.

1. We have been saying this all along

Drug pricing is important. Voters care. — (Forbes)

2. MEMO: Investigate the insulin cartel

Physicians asked the FTC to investigate insulin price hikes. Three companies hold a oligopoly over insulin, which has tripled in price. — (The Hill)

3. Outgunned, Outmanned, Outnumbered, (but not) Outplanned

There are more pharmaceutical lobbyists than lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This year, lobbyists are on track to break their own spending record, with more than $21 million spent. –– (NYT) 

4. States take matters into own hands

Instead of waiting for Big Brother to get the job done, state lawmakers have taken matters into their own hands –– turning drug prices into a signature local campaign issue. — (STAT) 

5. Worse for women

Women use therapeutic drugs at a higher rate than men and are more likely to be single parents, so they’re most impacted by the high costs of prescription drugs.  — (Ms. Magazine)

Straight to pumpkin carving after this.
 
Welcome to the week in review in prescription drug pricing.

1. Par-tAy around Part B reforms

The Trump administration took aim at lowering the cost of the most expensive drugs in Medicare Part B. Drug makers pushed back, but we’ve heard their tired arguments before. Let’s do this. — (AP)

2. Pharma’s worst nightmare

The drug lobby contemplates a strange future in which the left aligns with Trump to bring down drug prices. — (NYT)

3. Pharma’s sworn enemy?

Claire McCaskill has made prescription drug affordability central to her campaign as she fights for re-election. — (STAT)

4. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again

Only pharmaceutical companies set drug prices. Middlemen must be more transparent, but Pharma’s ploy to blame them is played out. — (Forbes)

5. Precision medicine raises tough questions

“Modern medicine gives us many gifts. But for many of us, those gifts are out of reach.” — (MIT Technology Review)

Direct-to-consumer drug ads: Trick or Treat? 

1. That’s On Point

• Posting the prices of drugs in TV ads won’t lower drug prices, but transparency doesn’t hurt. — (NPR) 

2. Minnesota, leading the way

• Minnesota is suing the three largest insulin manufacturers. Someone must hold the insulin cartel accountable. —  (Reuters)

3. The list price is not right

• Big Pharma argued that including the list price of drugs in TV ads could prevent patients from accessing drugs. One way to change that –– lower the list price of drugs! — (STAT) 

4. This plan sounds wicked awesome

• Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is cooking up a legislative proposal to rein in drug prices — or at least light up what’s behind rising prescription drug costs. — (CommonWealth)

5. This is why she should stay in the U.S. Senate

• Claire McCaskill highlights bipartisan achievements, including her work to bring down the prices of prescription drugs. — (YouTube) 

Kanye and two drug pricing bills made a trip to the president’s office this week. Guess which made more news?
 
Welcome to the Week in Review in Drug Pricing.
 
1. Gag clauses — ✌️out 

• “If there’s anything bipartisan, it’s lowering drug prices,” said the president after signing S.2553 and S.2554 into law. Pharmacists are now able to tell patients if their drugs are more affordable without health insurance. — (The Hill)  

2. THIS IS NOT OK

• The USMCA (new NAFTA) is extending the exclusivity period on biologics to 10 instead of seven years. This will make it more difficult for generic drugs to come to market. — (WashU Expert) 

3. Fingers crossed, cheaper insulin

• Recently a BMJ study revealed that, with cost being the greatest barrier to people with diabetes receiving their insulin, biosimilars may provide the answers. Why is USMCA making it harder to bring biosimilars to market? — (The Center for Biosimilars) 

4. Kickbacks make a comeback

• Pharmaceutical companies are paying off doctors to prescribe their patients the drugs they manufacture. Five years ago, GlaxoSmithKline was fined a few billion dollars for paying off doctors to prescribe patients specific drugs. They stopped and are starting back up again because everyone else is doing it. — (STAT) 

5. Evers coming up with a plan

• Democratic candidate for governor, Tony Evers, is making strides towards holding pharmaceutical manufacturers accountable for their wildly unregulated price hikes. — (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) 

Pumpkin spice lattes flowed. Oprah covered her own magazine. A presidential text lit up our phones. Meanwhile, in the world of drug pricing…
 
1. Get your popcorn

• It looks like Round 2 in the “Pharma thinks you owe it $4 billion” fight is set to begin, with a coalition of drug pricing allies in one corner, and Big Pharma in the other. — (Politico) 

2. XOXO, Gossip Girl…

• Who’s funding the secret group trying to keep drug prices high? No one knows, but they want to stay in the dark and criticize people in the light. Classic Dan Humphrey move.  — (STAT)

3. It’s cheaper for this patient to go to the ER than to buy an EpiPen

• Melissa LeClaire, a young mom to two girls, cannot afford to pay the $500 cost of her much-needed EpiPen, so instead, she takes her chances and pays a $200 emergency room copay. — (P4AD NOW)  

4. Hello, Texas. Hello, Florida

• Republican Congressman Francis Rooney is trying to lower drug prices. Republican Congressman Pete Sessions is not. — (Politico and McClatchy)  

5. The drug industry loves a good hurdle to generic entry

• Scott Gottlieb tells them to get over it. — (STAT) 

Does anyone have space in their brains this week for drug pricing news? If so, we’ve got you covered:

1. Big Pharma bailout?

• Not this week. Is Big Pharma’s deep-pocketed influence wilting? *Cue sarcastic violins.* — (The Hill)  

2. We’ll take it!

• Congress passed two laws that stop drug supply chain middlemen from banning pharmacists from telling customers when it’s cheaper to pay for prescriptions with cash over insurance. Now let’s keep the momentum going. — (Washington Examiner)

3. Undercover nurses

• AstraZeneca is the latest drug company accused of hiring nurses to peddle its best-selling drugs. Just last week a lawsuit accused pharma giant AbbVie of using a stealth team of nurses to peddle its blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug, Humira. — (Reuters)

4.  “His words underpin the mentality of an entire industry.”

• A doctor ruminates on Drug Corp. CEO Nirmal Mulye’s claim that it is a moral obligation to sell prescription drugs for the highest dollar amount possible. — (Forbes)

5. Who’s going to tell him?

• Bob Hugin, New Jersey’s Republican Senate candidate, is using his nearly 20-year experience in the drug industry as part of his highlight reel during his senatorial race… but he probably shouldn’t. — (NYT)

A greedy drug company CEO incites a mass cringe. States keep pushing for change. And a Big Pharma CEO’s political ads play fast and loose with the facts.

Welcome to the week in review in prescription drug pricing! 

1. We guess ‘morality’ means different things to different people

A CEO expresses his belief that it is a “moral requirement” to charge patients high prices for a drug from the 1950s. I’m sorry, what? — (CNN) 

2. No one believes in the system

Alex Azar isn’t counting on pharma to rein in drug costs. He’s taking action. Same here.— (Business Insider) 

3. Anybody out there remember submitting a 340B comment?

Some patients who sent comments opposing 340B don’t remember sending the comments at all. Half of the thousands of comments were sent anonymously. Hmm… — (Kaiser Health News)

4. Big Pharma: kicking and screaming to keep prices high

States like Maryland, Nevada, and California have been trying to pass laws that will challenge high drug prices, as they have become a huge financial strain on state budgets. — (Fierce Healthcare) 

5.  Fact Check!

As the New Jersey senate race between Bob Hugin and Bob Menendez heats up, a reporter puts ad claims under the microscope. — (STAT) 

Crazy rich drug companies. DIY hospital drugs. A California Congresswoman in Big Pharma’s pocket.

Welcome to the week in review in prescription drug pricing.

1. Crazy Rich Drug Companies

These families banded together to raise money for research into a new medication for cystinosis. But then they were priced out of the resulting drug. — (The Daily Beast) 

2. August brought hot temps and high drug prices…

A new analysis by Wells Fargo showed drug corporations raised prices on 60 drugs in August. The median hike? 9.9 percent. Seven drugs saw a 100 percent gouge. #becausetheycan — (Axios)

3. We oppose the re-election of California Congresswoman Anna Eshoo

In California, a mom with multiple sclerosis can’t afford her medications. When a congresswoman does the industry’s bidding, Californians and Americans are harmed. — (P4AD Now)

4. Hospital drugs DIY

Fed up with shortages and rising costs, a not-for-profit organization is working to produce 14 generic drugs in hopes that the hospitals will pass on that savings to patients. — (Forbes) 

5.  Presidential tweets will not lower drug prices

While some manufacturers said that they are not planning on raising the prices of their drugs, others are unphased by the president’s tweets. Idea: Let Medicare negotiate. — (Forbes)