Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Finance Committee Pressed To Look At Cost Of New Alzheimer's Drug
Stat: Senators Call On Congress To Examine Expensive New Alzheimer’s Drug
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) want Congress to take a deeper look at how Biogen’s controversial and pricey new Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, will affect the Medicare program, they wrote in a letter Wednesday. The bipartisan duo is pressing the Senate Finance Committee to take on “the vexing new questions and challenges that approval raises for the Medicare program and other health programs” the panel oversees, they wrote. (Florko, 6/23)
Stat: FDA’s Woodcock Is Just ‘Not That Concerned’ About The Aduhelm Criticism
The Food and Drug Administration has been without a permanent commissioner for six months. The agency is facing a barrage of criticisms over its approval of an as-yet-unproven Alzheimer’s drug. And now critics are calling for the ouster of the acting commissioner. But speaking to that acting FDA Commissioner, longtime agency vet Janet Woodcock, you’d think everything is peachy. (Florko, 6/24)
The Boston Globe: State’s Second-Largest Health Insurer Slams Biogen For Costly Alzheimer’s Drug
The state’s second-biggest health insurer is threatening to limit or not cover Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug, accusing the Cambridge biotech of putting “excessive corporate profits” ahead of patients by charging $56,000 a year for the controversial treatment. Michael Sherman, chief medical officer for Point32Health, the insurance company formed by the recent merger of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, said Biogen should cut the cost of the drug called Aduhelm by a factor of roughly 10, to $5,400, given the medicine’s questionable benefits and potential risks. (Saltzman, 6/23)
Stat: Crucial Question On Alzheimer's Drug: When Should Patients Stop Taking It?
For families and physicians grappling with the historic approval this month of the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, there’s no shortage of unanswered questions. But a critical one has largely been overlooked: Once patients start taking the medication, how will they know when it’s time to stop? (Molteni, 6/24)
