Out With Trump, In With Biden: How Will That Affect Prescription Drugs?
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments and pricing stories from the past week in KHN's Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
The Washington Post:
Fact-Checking Trump’s Farewell Address
President Trump’s farewell address was essentially a mini-version of one of his campaign rallies — minus the cheers and applause. Since Trump’s campaign rallies were a rich source of false or misleading claims, the president brought out some of his favorite golden oldies, many of which are on our list of Bottomless Pinocchios. Here’s a quick guide to what was wrong or exaggerated. (Kessler and Rizzo, 1/19)
WENY News:
5 Ways Biden Plans To Reset Health Care After Trump
Strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Restore abortion protections. Lower drug prices. President-elect Joe Biden has a long list of health care promises -- many of which center on reversing policies enacted by the Trump administration over the past four years. However, it will take the President-elect's health officials time to address all of the measures, particularly as battling the coronavirus pandemic remains the top immediate priority. Some items would be easy to undo, but others involve regulations and waivers that can't simply be voided. And some would need approval from Congress, which would be a challenge because Biden can't afford to lose a single Democrat in the Senate -- and few in the House, after his party lost seats in the chamber. (Luhby, Kelly and Cole, 1/19)
Tampa Bay Times:
Trump And DeSantis Want Florida To Import Prescription Drugs. Does Biden?
Joe Biden and Donald Trump didn’t agree on much, but they did on this: Floridians should be able to import prescription drugs from foreign countries. Trump, the Republican outgoing president, made driving down the cost of prescription drugs a key campaign promise in Florida, which is home to about 4.5 million seniors. Biden, the Democrat who beat Trump by some seven million votes, made a similar pledge during the 2020 campaign. (Wilson, 1/14)
In other prescription drug news —
USA Today:
With America's Attention On COVID-19, Drugmakers Are Quietly Raising US Prescription Prices
With most Americans focused on COVID-19 vaccines, pharmaceutical companies are quietly raising the list prices of name-brand prescription drugs at a torrid pace. January is typically when increases hit the U.S. market. Already, more price hikes by drugmakers have been recorded in less than half a month (813) this year than for all of January 2020 (737), according to research by Ohio nonprofit 46brooklyn.That two-week 2021 total also is approaching the record for a full January during the past decade, 895, set in 2018. (Rowland, 1/17)
The Detroit News:
McLaren Health Agrees To Record $7.75M Penalty Following Drug Probe
McLaren Health Care Corp. agreed Tuesday to pay a record $7.75 million penalty to settle a federal investigation into officials distributing opioids and other drugs without prescriptions, the largest amount in U.S. history involving allegations of drug diversion. The penalty settles a years-long investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration into whether officials at the Grand Blanc-based health system violated federal drug laws by illegally distributing powerful pain medication central to the nation's opioid crisis. (Snell, 1/19)
