Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Lawmakers Eye Drug Price Measures, Drugmakers And Insurers Point Blame At Each Other For Rising Costs
Bloomberg: In Washington’s Drug Price Fight, Plenty Of Blame To Go Around
Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins on Nov. 8, most of the players are betting that something will get done on the cost of prescription drugs. They’re laying defensive and offensive groundwork for when new laws are drawn up by a Congress that has spent the last year holding hearings on the issue. A prime example is a new ad out Wednesday from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the Washington lobby group, making the case that high list prices don’t represent what drugmakers really get and that middlemen take a big cut. (Edney and Langreth, 10/27)
The Fiscal Times: Bernie Sanders Takes On Big Pharma As California Eyes Drug Price Limits
The California Drug Price Relief Act, or Proposition 61, would limit the price that any state agency or health care program pays for prescription drugs to what the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs pays for the same pharmaceuticals. Congress prohibits Medicare and most other agencies from negotiating prescription drug prices, with the notable exception of the VA, a behemoth of an agency which purchases drugs for an estimated 6.6 million patients. Federal law insures that VA medical facilities across the country obtain a discount of at least 24 percent off prescription drugs list prices, and in many cases officials obtain much larger rebates. If Proposition 61 were approved, the VA price list would apply when the state directly purchases drugs, as it does for its prison system, or when it is deemed the “ultimate payer” for drugs provided to certain state health care programs, including Medicaid.The stakes couldn’t be higher for the two sides. (Pianin, 10/26)
Modern Healthcare: Feds Probing Express Scripts' Relationships With Drugmakers, Specialty Pharmacies
Federal investigators are looking into Express Scripts' dealings with pharma companies, charitable foundations and specialty pharmacies. The nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager on Tuesday revealed it received a civil investigative demand in August from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York asking for information about the firm's relationships with drug makers and prescription drug plan clients and how payments to and from both work. (Livingston, 10/26)
And in other pharmaceutical news —
Stat: FDA Issues Guidelines For Female Libido Pills After Learning Some Hard Lessons
After a two-year wait, the US Food and Drug Administration finally issued new guidance for companies that want to develop drugs to bolster female libidos. But the details suggest the agency has belatedly learned some hard-fought lessons following complaints that the controversial Addyi pill did not warrant approval last year. The 15-page draft guidance, which was released Tuesday, offers a typical how-to for companies, but also points to certain steps that Sprout Pharmaceuticals did not follow as part of its Addyi marketing application to the FDA. (Silverman, 10/26)
Stat: Pfizer Fined Again For Violating Environmental Law At Puerto Rico Plant
For the second time in recent years, Pfizer has been fined by federal authorities for violating the Clean Air Act at a manufacturing plant in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. In this latest instance, the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday fined the drug maker $190,000 failing to disclose information about hazardous chemicals that were used at the plant, which makes various pharmaceutical ingredients and finished medicines. (Silverman, 10/26)
