As Adderall Shortage Continues, ADHD Drug Prices Soar
The ongoing ADHD drug shortage has placed financial pressure on families, forcing some to scrimp to pay for treatment. Meanwhile, Stat reports on how pharma companies keep drug prices high and competition low.
USA Today:
ADHD Drug Prices Rise As Adderall Shortage Leaves Patients Scrimping To Fill Prescriptions
Amid a nationwide ADHD drug shortage, patients are paying significantly more for medication to help them direct their focus at school, work and home. The shortage has placed financial pressure on families, forcing them to search for alternatives. Often, the only options they can find are expensive brand-name drugs. The upward trend can be seen in the prices retail community pharmacies pay for several popular ADHD drugs, which a USA TODAY analysis found have outpaced inflation – and in some cases doubled or tripled in price – since Adderall fell into short supply starting in October 2022. (Garzella, 12/21)
Stat:
How Pharma Companies Keep Drug Prices High And Competition Low
To ring the register, a pharmaceutical company may create a patent thicket, which involves filing dozens of patents that, in some cases, add little value to their medicines but extend precious monopolies. And one crucial, but little-known tool for making this happen is something called a terminal disclaimer. (Silverman, 12/21)
Stat:
FDA Approves AstraZeneca, Ionis Treatment For Rare Nerve Disease
The Food and Drug Administration approved a novel medicine for a rare and devastating nerve disease Thursday, clearing a treatment that promises to be more convenient than available therapies. (Garde, 12/21)
Reuters:
Jazz Pharmaceuticals' PTSD Drug Fails In Mid-Stage Trial
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ.O) said on Thursday its post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) drug failed to meet the main goal in a mid-stage study. Shares of the company fell as much as 4% in after-market trading. The drugmaker said it does not anticipate moving forward with additional development of the drug called JZP150. (12/21)
KFF Health News and CBS News:
‘AGGA’ Inventor Testifies His Dental Device Was Not Meant For TMJ Or Sleep Apnea
A Tennessee dentist who has been sued by multiple TMJ and sleep apnea patients over an unproven dental device he invented has said under oath that he never taught dentists to use the device for those ailments — contradicting video footage of him telling dentists how to use it. Steve Galella, the inventor of the Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance, or “AGGA,” has said in court depositions that his device had been used on about 10,000 patients, and that he trained many dentists to use the AGGA in classes around the U.S. and overseas. (Kelman and Werner, 12/22)
In global news —
Los Angeles Times:
Some Mexican Pharmacies Are Selling Full Bottles Of Adderall. But It's Actually Meth
As a shortage of Adderall stretches into its second year, millions of patients are still struggling to fill their prescriptions in U.S. pharmacies. But in Mexico, some pharmacies are selling the pricey orange pills over the counter, in sealed bottles bearing the names and logos of well-known pharmaceutical companies. One problem: They’re not real. Some are counterfeits made of methamphetamine, while others contain appetite suppressants, acetaminophen or caffeine. (Blakinger, Sheets, and Mejia, 12/21)
Reuters:
Exclusive: India Probe Into Bribery Claim In Toxic Syrup Tests Nears Completion
India is close to finishing an investigation into a "comprehensive and exhaustive" complaint that a state drug regulator, in return for a bribe, helped switch samples of cough syrups linked to the deaths of children in Gambia before the samples were tested in India, the investigator told Reuters. While the World Health Organization (WHO) linked the syrups made by India's Maiden Pharmaceuticals to the deaths of 70 children in the African country last year, India's government says tests at an Indian government laboratory showed the syrups were not toxic. Maiden has said it had not "done anything wrong". (Das, 12/21)
