Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Investigation: Drug Companies Secretly Paid PBMs To Not Restrict Opioids
The New York Times: Drugmakers Paid PBMs Not To Restrict Opioid Prescriptions
In 2017, the drug industry middleman Express Scripts announced that it was taking decisive steps to curb abuse of the prescription painkillers that had fueled America’s overdose crisis. The company said it was “putting the brakes on the opioid epidemic” by making it harder to get potentially dangerous amounts of the drugs. The announcement, which came after pressure from federal health regulators, was followed by similar declarations from the other two companies that control access to prescription drugs for most Americans. (Hamby, 12/17)
ProPublica: How Opioid Giant Endo Escaped A $7 Billion Federal Penalty
This spring, the Justice Department announced a major victory against a drug firm that manufactured billions of opioid painkillers. Endo Health Solutions, the agency said, would face $1.5 billion in fines and forfeitures and plead guilty to a corporate criminal charge. Prosecutors said the massive fine would hold accountable a suburban Philadelphia company that profited by “misrepresenting the safety of their opioid products and using reckless marketing tactics to increase sales.” (Fernandez and McCoy, 12/17)
In related PBM news —
Stat: PBM Reform, Telehealth Extension, Doctor Pay In Federal Spending Deal
After two years of haggling, Congress has nearly reached a deal to rein in the drug-industry middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers. Lawmakers agreed to extend telehealth flexibilities, fund public health programs, and enact these major PBM changes as part of a government funding package they are planning to pass before the end of the year, according to four health care industry sources and two congressional aides. The language of the government funding package has not been publicly released, and could still change. (Zhang, 12/16)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: To Save Small Drugstores, Missouri’s Hawley Again Joins Forces With A Massachusetts Liberal
If this keeps up, people are going to talk. Once again, the unlikely coupling of U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren appears atop yet another piece of legislation. Hawley, a Missouri conservative Republican, and Warren, a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, introduced legislation that aims to prevent pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) from owning pharmacies and driving up prescription drug costs for their own benefit. (Holleman, 12/16)
Bloomberg: CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth Shares Drop On Trump 'Middleman' Comment
Shares of pharmacy benefit managers fell Monday after President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to “knock out” drug-industry middlemen, a sign the sector isn’t likely to see relief from political scrutiny during his administration. CVS Health Corp. shares fell as much as 4.3%, UnitedHealth Group Inc. dropped as much as 3.9%, and Cigna Group shares dropped as much as 2.6% after the comments. The companies own the largest prescription drug middlemen, businesses that have been blamed by both Republicans and Democrats for driving up the cost of medicine. (Tozzi, 12/16)
Modern Healthcare: Where Incoming FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson Stands On PBMs, Big Tech
President-elect Donald Trump's selection last week of Andrew Ferguson to head the Federal Trade Commission could set the stage for a more hands-off approach to regulation and consumer protection, while maintaining the agency’s opposition to Big Tech's consolidation. Ferguson, who has served as an FTC commissioner since March, has been vocal on a number of issues, advocating for stronger enforcement actions against pharmacy benefit managers, citing their impact on drug prices, while opposing a ban on noncompete agreements. (Dubinsky, 12/16)
