Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Behind The Scenes, Three Key Figures Help Shape The Democrats' Strategy On Reducing Drug Prices
Stat: The Policy Experts Shaping Democrats’ Drug-Pricing Approach
There’s a cadre of health policy experts — two professors, a lobbyist, all former policy advisers to Democratic administrations — advising Nancy Pelosi on how best to lower prescription drug prices, a chief party priority. The group, which includes the likes of Harvard professor Richard Frank, has been working closely with Wendell Primus, a Capitol Hill veteran and the senior adviser on budget and health policy issues to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Primus and the rest of his group are widely seen as taking a left-of-center but pragmatic approach to the policy issue, and are even working with the Trump administration in hopes of brokering a bipartisan deal. (Facher, 4/15)
Stat: Supreme Court Rejects Allergan Bid To Use Mohawk Tribe To Shield Patents
In a blow to Allergan (AGN), the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed its effort to shield patents on a best-selling drug from a review board by transferring them to a Native American tribe. The court left intact a ruling last July by a federal appeals court that upheld the ability of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board to decide whether a half-dozen patents for the Restasis eye treatment were valid. Allergan had argued that, under federal law, the sovereign status of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe meant that the patents were immune from review by the patent board. (Silverman, 4/15)
Meanwhile, PolitiFact and Kaiser Health News team up to truth-squad health care claims made by politicians and policymakers leading up to the 2020 election —
Kaiser Health News: Mulvaney: Trump Brought Down Drug Prices For The First Time In 50 Years
President Donald Trump announced last month that the GOP will become “the party of health care,” and news reports suggest he intends to make it a top issue in his reelection campaign.This fact check was produced in partnership with Politifact. So when Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, touted the administration’s work on prescription drug prices — a hot-button issue that has drawn scrutiny from across the political spectrum, and one that voters say should be a top priority — we were intrigued. (Luthra, 4/15)
