Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Outgoing Valeant CEO Tells Senators That Drug Price Boost Was 'A Mistake'
USA Today: Senate Told Valeant Drug Price Hikes Hurt Patients
Berna Heyman told a Senate committee Wednesday that her annual co-payment for a lifesaving drug needed to treat an ailment known as Wilson disease stayed below $700, a manageable cost, until 2013. That's when Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX), an embattled Canada-based drugmaker, raised the price on Heyman's medication, said the retired Virginia librarian. By 2014, her projected co-pay topped $10,000 a year, with her health insurer paying more than $260,000, she said. (McCoy, 4/27)
The Hill: Senate Dem Takes On Drugmaker: ‘It’s Time To Slaughter Some Hogs’
A leading Senate Democrat is vowing to take on prescription drug price-gouging amid a deepening congressional probe into embattled drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals. “Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. It’s time to slaughter some hogs,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, the top Democrat of the Senate Aging Committee, said Wednesday. McCaskill’s remarks were the opening salvo of a high-drama hearing on Wednesday, which features three current or former executives from Valeant. (Ferris, 4/27)
Forbes: Valeant Pharmaceuticals And Bill Ackman Have Their Day In Washington
Neither Pearson, Schiller and Ackman were were able to produce convincing answers as to how Valeant’s business model could work without price hikes. Ackman, who has invested roughly $4 billion in Valeant, said he was unaware of the extent of the company’s drug prices, even when a friend described the company’s prices for Cuprimine, a cure of Wilson’s disease. Meanwhile, CEO Pearson was unable to name a single instance in the U.S. where Valeant did not raise prices after acquiring a drug, and he noted instances where the company could only justify a deal with sharp price increases. (Gara, 4/27)
STAT: Valeant May Have A New Chief Executive, But Its Future Remains Dim
Now that Michael Pearson, the outgoing Valeant Pharmaceuticals chief executive, has issued a mea culpa about his decision to raise drug prices sky high, where does the drug maker go from here? The prognosis is not healthy — at least as far as some Wall Street wags are concerned. (Silverman, 4/27)
