Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Bipartisan Senate Drug Pricing Bill Even Got Trump's Thumbs Up. So Why Is It On Life Support?
The Washington Post: Trump’s Support For Bipartisan Senate Drug Pricing Bill May Not Be Enough To Push It Into Law
A Senate bill to control prescription drug prices seemed to have everything it needed: bipartisan backing, President Trump’s endorsement and broad public support. But its status on legislative life support reveals the perils of tackling one of the nation’s most hot-button topics just months before a presidential election. Even though Trump has said he supports the measure, he has stopped far short of trying to ensure its passage. Complicating matters further, the top Senate Republican and Democrat have yet to embrace the legislation, though for opposite reasons. (Abutaleb and Werner, 2/18)
Reuters: Unregulated Sales Of Insulin Common On Craigslist
Unregulated and deeply discounted sales of insulin are common on Craigslist, a new study finds. During a two-week period, researchers turned up 327 ads from private parties selling insulin at a fraction of the retail price, according to a report in JAMA Internal Medicine. "The take home message from this study is that patients (with diabetes) should not have to go to Craigslist to find affordable insulin," said coauthor, Dr. Jennifer Goldstein of ChristianaCare Hospitalist Partners in Newark, Delaware and The Value Institute at Christiana Care. (Carroll, 2/17)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Marietta Sues Drug Company Over Medicine That Went From $40 To $39,000
The city of Marietta has filed a class action lawsuit against a drug company after the price of a decades-old medicine went from $40 a vial to more than $39,000. The city, which covers health care costs for employees and their families, says it has already spent more than $2 million on the drug for a single patient. (Lutz, 2/17)
Stat: After A New Version Of An Old Drug Gets Orphan Status, The Price Skyrockets
For years, hospitals and clinics have used an injectable medicine called dehydrated alcohol to treat such maladies as chronic pain or to prevent infections in patients who must receive nutrients intravenously. Yet after a small company won a monopoly to sell its version for use with a specific heart procedure, the cost for a pack of 10 vials is about to spike from about $1,300 to nearly $10,000. Not surprisingly, the sudden jump in price has outraged medical facilities, which now expect to pay untold millions of dollars more each year for a medication that has been available for decades. (Silverman, 2/12)
Stat: Consumer Groups And Unions Try Again To Block AbbVie-Allergan Merger
A coalition of consumer groups and unions hopes to convince the Federal Trade Commission to alter the terms of AbbVie’s (ABBV) proposed $63 billion acquisition of Allergan (AGN) by arguing the deal — as currently conceived — would thwart competition and unfairly maintain higher drug prices for consumers. In a letter to the agency Tuesday, the coalition contends that allowing Allergan to divest an experimental medicine for treating Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to AstraZeneca (AZN) would fail to ensure the market for such medicines would be fully competitive. The companies last month proposed to divest the drug, brazikumab, and one other in a bid to satisfy regulatory concerns about the acquisition. (Silverman, 2/18)
CNN: Drugmakers Could Be Hit By The Coronavirus. India Is Especially Vulnerable
Drugmakers in India are bracing for potential disruption from the coronavirus. If they're hit, the impact could be felt around the world. Indian pharmaceutical companies, which produce 20% of the world's drugs supply by volume, are warning that the outbreak threatens to disrupt the supply of raw materials from China. The drugmakers say they have enough supplies on hand to continue production for now. But their operations could be endangered if the coronavirus continues to cause disruption in China. (McSweeney, 2/19)
WBUR: Utah Funds Public Employees Traveling To Mexico, Canada To Save Money On Costly Prescription Drugs
The Pharmacy Tourism Program, a part of the Utah Public Employees Health Program (PEHP), allows certain members with high-cost medicines to fill their prescription in Vancouver, Canada, and Tijuana, Mexico, where medication comes at a much lower cost. The initiative even pays for members’ flights. (O'Dowd, 2/14)
Reuters: 'Cancer Does Not Wait': Children's Medicine Shortage Stokes Anger In Mexico
Hermes Soto, who turned 5 on Monday, will not be celebrating his birthday with friends. Instead, he is bracing for his 15th chemotherapy session to tackle a rare but aggressive form of cancer that threatens to kill him. For his mother, Esperanza Paz, the ordeal is compounded by fears of another round of shortages in the supply of the life-saving vincristine drug needed to treat the soft-tissue cancer in her son's forearm. (Oré, 2/17)
Modern Healthcare: OIG: Some Pharmacies Misusing Medicare Part D Eligibility Data
Lack of CMS monitoring allowed some pharmacies to use beneficiaries' Medicare Part D eligibility information for inappropriate reasons, including for marketing purposes, HHS' Office of Inspector General said Friday. Pharmacy providers in question were taking advantage of "gaps" in a system to verify Part D eligibility, according to the OIG report. (Cohen, 2/14)
Stat: A Longtime Health Care Investor Recalls The Insulin Bong, Praises Discipline In Valuations, And Looks To South America
Les Funtleyder is a longtime health care investor who started his professional investing career just over two decades ago. Today, he is a health care portfolio manager at E Squared Capital Management in New York. He’s also an author of the book called “Health Care Investing.” He was in Boston recently to give a guest lecture at Tufts University and he stopped by STAT’s offices for a chat about the current and future state of health care investing. (Feuerstein, Garde and Robbins, 2/14)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Bill Seeks Lower Drug Prices By Focusing On Middlemen
In an effort to attack high drug prices, Georgia lawmakers are focusing on powerful middlemen who negotiate on behalf of insurance companies.State Sen. Dean Burke, R-Bainbridge, has introduced a bill that aims to shed light on prices that pharmacy benefits managers negotiate with pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies, and to ensure that patients are able to get the drugs when they need them. The legislation is Senate Bill 313. (Hart, 2/16)
