By CECI CONNOLLY and BOBBY CLARK We are all are anxiously awaiting the approval and delivery of a cure to the novel coronavirus – or better yet, a vaccine. Amid the race to develop a safe and effective vaccine, some may be inclined to give drug companies a pass on their well-established bad behavior related… Read More »
After the late Rep. Elijah Cummings launched a drug pricing probe of some of the industry’s largest players last January, six pharmaceutical execs are set to head to Washington next week for hearings at the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Current and former executives from Celgene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Teva, Amgen, Mallinckrodt and Novartis will testify next Wednesday… Read More »
The 340B drug discount program has been a source of controversy, with the pharmaceutical industry claiming that it’s one of the main drivers of rising healthcare spending. But a study from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission challenges that assertion, finding that its effect on cost sharing for patients is minimal. For hospitals participating in 340B,… Read More »
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, December 10, 2019. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images The House of Representatives on Thursday passed Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s drug pricing legislation, a sweeping bill that will allow the U.S. government to negotiate lower prices on the costliest drugs each year. The legislation, which passed the House 230… Read More »
For decades, Jacobus Pharmaceuticals gave away the unapproved drug amifampridine to patients with a rare neuromuscular disorder called LEMS. Then, Catalyst Pharma licensed certain rights to the drug, scored an FDA nod, and priced the med at $ 375,000 a year. An outcry ensued. But now, the FDA may have given patients a workaround. Jacobus… Read More »
HHS Secretary Alex Azar The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing to lower the list price of prescription drugs by correcting what it calls the perverse incentive to increase list prices to get higher rebates. The rebates are passed on to health plans, which use them to lower the price of premiums. But… Read More »