Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Contrary To Popular Opinion, Americans Actually Get A Pretty Sweet Deal Out Of High Drug Spending
The Washington Post: There’s A High Cost To Making Drugs More Affordable For Americans
Americans’ outrage about prescription-drug prices is odd, in a way. Drugs account for less than 10 percent of the nation’s overall health-care spending, and while the price of some medicines has spiked, overall spending on prescription drugs has grown more slowly than broader health-care expenditures. In 2017, the increase didn’t even keep up with inflation. Yet polls show that pharmaceutical companies are one of the most hated private-sector industries, below the rest of the health-care industry — and below even lawyers. That’s why it has been such fertile territory for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who in April introduced a bill to control prescription drug prices, and last week tweeted that, once in the White House, he would “lower the outrageously high price of prescription drugs.” The idea has proven so popular that even Republicans, including Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), are getting into the act. (Megan McArdle, 5/7)
Stat: More Signal, Less Noise About Industry Payments To Doctors
How much drug companies pay doctors for meals, giving talks, and serving on corporate boards was once as opaque as how these companies now price prescription drugs. That changed several years ago with the creation of the Open Payments program, which makes this information publicly available. In an unsuspecting twist, this transparency program, which was meant to bolster trust, has actually decreased patients’ trust in their physicians, even those who have never taken a nickel from pharmaceutical companies. (Genevieve P. Kanter, 5/7)
Bloomberg: Mylan's Faceplant Is A Cautionary Tale For Allergan
Drugmakers Mylan NV and Allergan Inc. reported first-quarter earnings Tuesday, and their results had something in common: they both got panned by investors. Mylan’s sales missed Wall Street targets and the company offered no update on a strategic review that’s been in progress since August. Its shares plunged 19 percent to their lowest point since 2012. Allergan’s quarter was saved by its blockbuster Botox, which helped the company raise its full-year guidance. But otherwise, sluggish growth and questions about the company’s static strategy saw the firm’s shares fall 5 percent on top of a 23 percent decline over the last 7 months. (Max Nisen, 5/7)
Forbes: Drug Prices Should Reflect Efficacy
People use a variety of heuristics to discern what might constitute an appropriate price for a medical treatment, but these can--and often do--lead people to reach confounding or irrational perspectives. I fear that this irrationality may ultimately hinder the development of new drugs or treatments, and that promise benefits that go beyond the patient. I have observed such contradictions in the work I have done with a group that would like the U.S. government to take steps to increases the supply of kidneys available for transplant called the Organ Reform Group And Network. (Ike Brannon, 4/30)
The Florida Times-Union: Remove Barriers To Lower Drug Prices
Florida is ground zero for issues that affect senior citizens. High on that list is the cost of prescription drugs, an issue that even affects those covered by Medicare. (5/7)
