Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Outgoing Valeant CEO To Issue Mea Culpa For 'Mistake' Of Aggressively Boosting Drug Prices
The Wall Street Journal: Valeant Was Too Aggressive In Raising Drug Prices, CEO Says
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. has made mistakes and been too aggressive in the past in dramatically boosting the price of some of its drugs, the company’s outgoing chief executive is expected to tell a Senate committee Wednesday. Valeant’s drug-price increases have overshadowed its broader work, “and so I recognize that we therefore need to work to regain the confidence of Congress, the public, doctors, and patients,” Michael Pearson, the departing CEO, says in testimony prepared for the Senate Special Committee on Aging. (Rapoport, 4/27)
The Associated Press: Valeant CEO Will Cite ‘Mistakes’ In Price-Hiking Strategy
J. Michael Pearson will issue the unusual mea culpa on Capitol Hill for the business strategy that made Valeant an industry powerhouse but also triggered a backlash against the Canadian drugmaker. “Let me state plainly that it was a mistake to pursue, and in hindsight I regret pursuing, transactions where a central premise was a planned increase in the prices of the medicines,” Pearson states in the written testimony. The comments come days before Pearson is to be replaced as Valeant CEO, and may not win much sympathy from members of the Senate Committee on Aging. The committee is investigating the dramatic price increases pushed by Valeant and several other drugmakers. (Perrone, 4/27)
For more drug pricing news, check out our new weekly feature, Prescription Drug Watch, which includes more coverage and perspectives of the issue.
