Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
MS Patients Hit With 'Alarming Rise' In Cost Of Older Drugs
Bloomberg: How Much Would You Pay For An Old Drug? If You Have MS, A Fortune
Imagine Apple's first iPhone is still on sale today. Now imagine it costs many times its original price of $599, and that the price goes up every time a new, competing phone is released. That bizarro world is what the market for multiple sclerosis drugs looks like, as described in a new paper in the journal Neurology. And doctors are calling for it to change. (Tozzi, 4/24)
The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot: Multiple Sclerosis Drug Prices Rose At An ‘Alarming’ Rate: Study
There has been an “alarming rise” in the cost of multiple sclerosis treatments over the past dozen years and the cost of these drugs increased at rates well beyond the overall growth in prescription drug prices, according to a new study. (Silverman, 4/24)
The Oregonian: Drug Cost Mystery: Older Multiple Sclerosis Medicines Skyrocket Despite Competition
A group of Oregon researchers have issued what amounts to an indictment of pharmaceutical industry pricing, with a new study showing that people with multiple sclerosis have been hit with skyrocketing bills for medicines introduced long ago. Instead of competition driving prices down when superior competing drugs were introduced, costs in the U.S. went up even faster than before, according to the study conducted by researchers at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University. It was published today in the journal Neurology. (Budnick, 4/24)
The Wall Street Journal: Pharmaceutical Companies Buy Rivals’ Drugs, Then Jack Up The Prices
On Feb. 10, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. bought the rights to a pair of life-saving heart drugs. The same day, their list prices rose by 525% and 212%. Neither of the drugs, Nitropress or Isuprel, was improved as a result of costly investment in lab work and human testing, Valeant said. Nor was manufacture of the medicines shifted to an expensive new plant. The big change: the drugs’ ownership. (Rockoff and Silverman, 4/26)
In other news from the health care marketplace -
Modern Healthcare: Top-paid Healthcare CEOs See Pay Grow Faster Than Profits
Total compensation for some of the highest-paid CEOs in the healthcare industry increased faster than their companies' profits last year, a Modern Healthcare analysis of the first firms to report executive pay found. Corporations with the most richly rewarded CEOs by sector in 2014 included Community Health Systems, a Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital operator; Centene Corp., a St. Louis-based insurer; CVS Health Corp., a retail pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager based in Woonsocket, R.I., and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a New York City-based biotechnology company. (Evans, 4/25)
