Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Is The Patient Harm Argument Against Importing Foreign Drugs Pharma's Boogeyman?
The Washington Post: Bernie Sanders Takes Another Swing At Big Pharma With Bill To Allow Drug Imports
Opening a new front in the war against big pharma, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and a slew of Democratic colleagues introduced a bill Tuesday to allow commercial importation of drugs from Canada. The appeal is obvious; through cheap imported drugs, the United States would be able to take advantage of the government levers and regulation that other countries have used to bring down pharmaceutical prices. It's a far more politically palatable way to attack the problem of soaring drug prices than opening up an even more contentious fight over whether the U.S. government should meddle directly in pricing — and it has had wide popular and bipartisan support, including from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. (Johnson, 2/28)
Stat: To Import Or Not To Import? Lawmakers Push Another Bill To Combat High Drug Prices
Agroup of lawmakers is introducing yet another bill that would allow Americans to import prescription medicines from Canada. And in a bid to quell long-standing criticism of the notion, the latest effort includes several provisions designed to address concerns that medicines bought from online pharmacies in other countries may not be safe. Known as the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, the bill would instruct the US Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations allowing wholesalers, licensed US pharmacies, and individuals to import prescription drugs from licensed Canadian sellers. And the drugs would have to be made at facilities inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration. (Silverman, 2/28)
Stat: Orphan Drug Sales Will Outpace All Other Meds
As payers continue to foot the bill for orphan drugs, sales of these rare disease treatments are forecast to grow 11 percent over the next five years — to $209 billion. And this is more than twice the expected increase in sales of all other prescription medicines, according to a new analysis. By 2022, orphan drugs are predicted to account for more than 21 percent of worldwide brand-name prescription drug sales, up from 6 percent in 2000. Last year, sales of orphan drugs, which are used to treat rare diseases for patient populations numbering less than 200,000, climbed more than 12 percent, to $114 billion. By comparison, sales of other brand-name drugs rose 2.4 percent, to $578 billion. (Silverman, 2/28)
Related KHN Special Report: The Orphan Drug Machine
The Associated Press: Drugmakers Pledge Restraint, But Prices Will Still Soar
Several big drugmakers are trying to quell the furor over high drug prices by revealing more information about their pricing and even pledging to keep a lid on increases. No one should expect to be paying less for medicine anytime soon, experts say, though the drugmakers' response to public pressure may help slow the rise in prices for some drugs. (Johnson, 2/27)
ProPublica/Consumer Reports: Big Pharma Quietly Enlists Leading Professors To Justify $1,000-A-Day Drugs
Over the last three years, pharmaceutical companies have mounted a public relations blitz to tout new cures for the hepatitis C virus and persuade insurers, including government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, to cover the costs. That isn’t an easy sell, because the price of the treatments ranges from $40,000 to $94,000—or, because the treatments take three months, as much as $1,000 per day. To persuade payers and the public, the industry has deployed a potent new ally, a company whose marquee figures are leading economists and healthcare experts at the nation’s top universities. The company, Precision Health Economics, consults for three leading makers of new hepatitis C treatments: Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and AbbVie. (Waldman, 2/23)
Bloomberg: Drug Benefit Managers Need More Oversight, Pharmacists Say
Middlemen who manage drug benefits for employers and insurers should be under greater government oversight of their pricing and billing practices to make health care cheaper, an independent pharmacists’ group said. President Donald Trump’s plans to lower prescription drug costs will only succeed if greater transparency is imposed on pharmacy benefit managers, the group said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price that was released Monday. PBMs include CVS Health Corp., which also operates retail pharmacies, and Express Scripts Holding Co. (Hopkins, 2/27)
Bloomberg: Sworn To Secrecy, Drugstores Stay Silent As Customers Overpay
[Eric] Pusey’s contracts with drug-benefit managers at his Medicap Pharmacy in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, bar him from volunteering the fact that for many cheap, generic medicines, co-pays sometimes are more expensive than if patients simply pay out of pocket and bypass insurance. The extra money -- what the industry calls a clawback -- ends up with the benefit companies. Pusey tells customers only if they ask. ... Clawbacks, which can be as little as $2 a prescription or as much as $30, may boost profits by hundreds of millions for benefit managers and have prompted at least 16 lawsuits since October. The legal cases as well dozens of receipts obtained by Bloomberg and interviews with more than a dozen pharmacists and industry consultants show the growing importance of the clawbacks. (Hopkins, 2/24)
Kaiser Health News: Instead Of Trashing A $600 EpiPen, Some Patients Get A Refill
The concern over soaring prescription drug prices continues to dominate headlines, attracting scrutiny from Capitol Hill and President Donald Trump, who said during a January press conference that the industry was “getting away with murder.” But some doctors — frustrated by what they see as unreasonable price tags and political stagnation — are coming up with do-it-yourself solutions. Their efforts to bring down costs for their patients highlight the arbitrary and often needlessly exorbitant prices of drugs in the U.S., they say. (Luthra, 3/1)
Stat: Pharma Urges FDA To Delay Rule On Policing Off-Label Marketing
In a fit of anger, drug makers are urging the Food and Drug Administration to delay a final rule giving the agency greater leeway to police off-label marketing over concerns it would harm public health by “chilling valuable scientific speech,” according to a recently filed petition. The rule, which was issued last month, says drug makers must update product labeling if there is evidence indicating a company intended its medicine to be used off-label, or for an unapproved use. Doctors are free to prescribe drugs for any purpose, while court rulings determined drug companies can make statements about off-label uses only if the information provided is truthful and not misleading. (Silverman, 2/24)
Stat: Top Pharma Lobbyist Will Be 'Opportunistic' Pushing Value-Based Change
The drug industry is going all-in on its push to shift the conversation about drug prices to one about value, and its top lobbyist said the industry would be opportunistic in the coming months in finding legislative and administrative avenues to advance policies in pursuit of that goal. The industry, represented here by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, has some specific changes in mind that it says would free them to enter into more value-based contracts with health insurers. The group’s argument: Biopharmaceutical companies develop breakthrough medications that save lives, and they can be the answer to the problem of health care costs, rather than the cause. (Scott, 2/23)
The Wall Street Journal: Perrigo To Sell Multiple-Sclerosis Drug Royalties For Up To $2.85 Billion
Pharmaceutical company Perrigo Co., under pressure from an investor to focus on over-the-counter drugs, reached a deal worth up to $2.85 billion to sell royalties from its multiple-sclerosis drug Tysabri to pharmaceutical investor Royalty Pharma. Dublin-based Perrigo also disclosed on Monday plans to eliminate about 750 positions and said it’s reviewing its active pharmaceutical-ingredients business and continuing an “enhanced review” of the prescription-pharmaceuticals unit. (Armental, 2/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Valeant’s Revenue Falls 13%
Drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said its revenue fell 13% in the fourth quarter, hurt by the performance of the stomach-drug business it tried to sell late last year as well as lower drug prices. Valeant’s shares, which have shed 79% of their value in the past 12 months, lost another 4.3% in premarket trading. (Jamerson, 2/28)
