Perspectives: Doctors’ Fear Of Opioids Hurts Patients; What Is The Right Decision On Aduhelm?

Stat: Underprescribing Opioids Can Also Cause Harm 
A reporter recently asked me about what harm I may have caused as a pain management physician who prescribes opioids. As I reflected on my last 10 years in this field, my response was that the harms I may have caused were because I underprescribed these drugs, not overprescribed them. (Antje M. Barreveld, 4/12)

Also —

The Washington Post: Medicare Coverage For Costly, But Controversial, New Alzheimers Drug Will Go Only To People Enrolled In Approved Clinical Trials 
The federal government on Thursday affirmed its plan to limit coverage for a costly new medication for Alzheimer’s disease, restricting it to Medicare patients enrolled in clinical trials. Despite the Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval of the drug, Aduhelm, last June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it would limit payments for the drug to people in carefully controlled tests of the medication’s effectiveness for the progressive neurological disease. (Lenny Bernstein and Rachel Roubein, 4/7)

Bloomberg: Medicare Is Cleaning Up The FDA’s Mess On Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug 
edicare has decided once and for all not to pay for Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm unless patients are enrolled in a clinical study. The agency’s final call was unsurprising, but blessedly rational. It corrects the Food and Drug Administration’s mistake in letting Aduhelm onto the market. At the same time, it leaves room for future Alzheimer’s drugs to be covered — as long as studies show they are safe and effective. (Lisa Jarvis, 4/10)

Stat: CMS Made The Wrong Decision On Aduhelm 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued on Thursday its hotly debated final decision on whether to cover aducanumab (Aduhelm), the first FDA-approved treatment for Alzheimer’s that slows the disease’s biological progression rather than just temporarily easing its symptoms. We believe it made the wrong choice. (Dennis J. Selkoe and Jeffrey Cummings, 4/9)

Stat: Medicare Made The Right Decision To Limit Coverage Of Aduhelm
In a clash of two American health care giants, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had locked horns over Aduhelm, a controversial Alzheimer’s drug. Medicare gained the upper hand on Thursday when it released its final decision to limit coverage of the FDA-approved drug. (John N. Mafi and Catherine Sarkisian, 4/8)

The Washington Post: Medicare Was Right To Limit Coverage For Pricey New Alzheimer’s Drug 
The decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to decline to pay for an expensive new Alzheimer’s drug unless people who take it are part of a clinical trial was taken as a defeat by some advocates for Alzheimer’s patients. In fact, the decision represents a triumph for the scientific process. That process held firm, despite intense lobbying efforts both by the drug’s maker and by many of those advocates (who are understandably desperate for any new treatment). (Arthur L. Caplan, 4/10)