Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Co. CEO Martin Shkreli Arrested On Securities Fraud Charges
Bloomberg: Shkreli, CEO Reviled For Drug Price Gouging, Arrested On Securities Fraud Charges
A boyish drug company entrepreneur, who rocketed to infamy by jacking up the price of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750, was arrested by federal agents at his Manhattan home early Thursday morning on securities fraud related to a firm he founded. Martin Shkreli, 32, ignited a firestorm over drug prices in September and became a symbol of defiant greed. (Smythe and Geiger, 12/17)
USA Today: Report: CEO Criticized For Gouging Drug Prices Arrested
Martin Shkreli, a drug company entrepreneur previously criticized for raising the price of life-saving drugs such as those used to fight HIV and cancer, was arrested early Thursday in New York on securities fraud, according to media reports. (Bomey and Hjelmgaard, 12/17)
Politico Pro: Big Pharma Gets Data For Discounts
Attention patients! The side effects of your discounted drugs may include drowsiness, nausea — and a loss of privacy. Drug companies are increasingly offering price discounts and subsidies to patients in exchange for their medical data. The details of that exchange can be easy to miss: They're in the fine print. (Tahir, 12/17)
STAT: Rebates From Generic Drugs Would Have Saved Medicaid $1.4B, Report Finds
A new report finds that Medicaid could have saved $1.4 billion over the past decade if companies were required to offer rebates whenever prices for best-selling generic drugs exceeded the inflation rate. (Silverman, 12/17)
The Baltimore Sun: Industry Funds 6 Times The Clinical Trials Than Feds Do, Research Shows
The drug and device industry now funds six times more clinical trials than the federal government, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers. That means companies with financial interests in the studies now have more control over what doctors and patients learn about new treatments. Clinical trials test new therapies on humans for safety and effectiveness before they are approved for wide use. (Cohn, 12/16)
And CVS issues its 2016 earnings forecast -
The Associated Press: CVS Health Hikes Low End Of 2016 Forecast Range, Dividend
CVS Health hiked its dividend, tightened its 2016 earnings forecast and repeated its message of patience, as the nation’s second largest drugstore chain laid out its growth expectations on Wednesday. Acquisitions and other business gains will help boost revenue next year, but it will take a few months for some of that to trickle down to the bottom line. (Murphy, 12/16)
