Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharma Companies Have Infiltrated Process That Determines How Their Drugs Are Covered By Taxpayers
NPR/Center For Public Integrity: Drugmakers Exert Influence On Medicaid's Preferences
Eight months pregnant, the drug sales representative wore a wire for the FBI around her bulging belly as she recorded conversations with colleagues at a conference in Chicago. Her code name? Pampers. Her company, drugmaker Warner Chilcott, was using payments and perks to get doctors to prescribe its drugs. Then its sales representatives gave nurses hot tips about what kind of symptoms would get Medicaid to pay for the drugs. The representatives also violated privacy laws by going through patient files and kept fax machines in their cars to fill out the paperwork meant for doctors. (Whyte, Yerardi, Kodjak, 7/18)
Stat: FDA’s Gottlieb Slams Drug Makers For Stalling Release Of Biosimilars
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Wednesday accused drug makers who manufacture pricey biologic medicines of using “unacceptable” anti-competitive tactics to keep competitors off the market, costing Americans billions. The tactics — some of which Gottlieb will refer to as a “toxin” — have prevented other drug makers from launching biosimilar medicines, highly similar versions of the same drugs. (Mershon, 7/18)
Bloomberg: Trump Administration Reviewing Proposal To Curb Drug Rebates
White House staff are reviewing a proposal to curb kickback protections that allow drugmakers to offer insurers and pharmacy-benefit managers rebates widely blamed for keeping drug prices high. The Office of Management and Budget was sent a proposed regulation late Wednesday that would make changes to federal safe harbor protections that have allowed rebates. The agency must review all regulations before they’re released publicly. (Edney, 7/18)
The Hill: Senate Panel To Vote Next Week On Banning 'Gag Clauses' In Pharmacy Contracts
The Senate health committee will vote next week on a bill that would ban "gag clauses" that prohibit pharmacies from telling customers they can save money on a drug if they pay with cash instead of insurance. Such clauses are sometimes inserted into contracts pharmacies have with insurers or pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen that manage pharmacy benefits for insurance companies and employers. (Hellmann, 7/18)
Stat: Lawmakers Reject Bids To Incentivize Development Of New Antibiotics
A House committee on Wednesday moved forward with a bill that will not include any incentive for drug companies to develop new antibiotics, despite efforts by lobbyists and lawmakers to insert such provisions into the legislation. Drug companies and public health advocates had hoped that some sort of incentive for companies to develop new antibiotics would be included in a bipartisan, must-pass bill that’s been working its way through the legislative process since the beginning of the year. (Swetlitz, 7/18)
CNN: Valsartan Recall: 4 Things Patients Should Know
Several common drugs that contain valsartan, used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure, were recalled in the United States on Friday due to an "impurity" in the drug that poses a potential cancer risk. That impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine or NDMA, is classified as a probable human carcinogen, based on results from lab tests. (Howard, 7/19)
