Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
This Caustic Crusader With A Knack For Making Enemies Has Especially Harsh Words For Pharma
Stat: Armed With Data, And Twitter, This Doc Takes On The Medical Establishment
Dr. Vinay Prasad is a professional scold: He takes to Twitter each day to critique this cancer drug as ineffective, or blast that one as overpriced, or dismiss the clinical trial of another as completely irrelevant. So it’s a bit of a surprise to catch him at the bedside of an elderly man with lymphoma, laughing gently with his patient as he inquires about his day — and painstakingly explains a potent drug’s unpleasant side effects. (Keshavan, 9/15)
Chicago Tribune: Insurers Cutting Back On Drug Coupons Amid Concerns Over Consumer Costs
With many drug prices rising, consumers often pull out coupons or discount cards from drugmakers to save money when they buy medications at pharmacies. But some insurers, including in Illinois, are limiting how those discounts may be applied amid concerns they’re driving up health care costs for everyone. Curbing the coupons could mean more money out of consumers’ pockets in the short term, but in the long run could also help hold down drug prices and health care costs, say critics of the cards and coupons. (Schencker, 9/14)
Stat: Brand-Name Drug Prices Are Still Rising, Just Not As Fast As Before
Prescription drug prices may be rising, but a new analysis suggests just not as fast as before. Price hikes for brand-name drugs in this year’s second quarter were 7.1 percent. This obviously exceeds inflation and may have crimped some wallets, but this is below the 9.7 percent hikes that occurred in the same period a year earlier, according to SSR Research, which tracks the pharmaceutical industry. (Silverman, 9/19)
Stat: Streamlined FDA Reviews Fail To Catch Harmful Glitches In Health Software
The Food and Drug Administration carefully polices many categories of drugs and devices. But when it comes to software, the agency’s oversight is scanty at best — something that a new study finds is resulting in failure to detect dangerous glitches in software-enabled medical equipment. The study comes amid ongoing debate over the FDA’s role in reviewing the booming number of software-enabled products in health care. (Ross, 9/12)
Reuters: Drug Industry On Tenterhooks As Maryland Price-Gouging Law Nears
As U.S. consumer outrage grows over prescription drug prices, state authorities and patient advocates in Maryland are preparing to enforce the nation's first law designed to punish drugmaker price-gouging. The state Attorney General's office said it will field complaints and investigate "unconscionable increases" in essential generic medicines when the closely watched law takes effect Oct. 1. (Beasley, 9/15)
Stat: What It's Like To Be A Hollywood Director Making An Ad For Pfizer
If Pfizer’s latest ad looks to you like a visual effects-heavy Hollywood film, it’s by design. The beaming couples and natural landscapes typical of pharma ads have been replaced by dreamlike scenes of a giant sailing ship, a launching rocket, and twin-sized beds flapping their wings through the clouds. And no, Pfizer (PFE) wouldn’t disclose the ad’s budget. It’s the handiwork of Hollywood veteran Robert Stromberg, who won Academy Awards for art direction in “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland,” and more recently directed the fantasy film “Maleficent.” (Robbins, 9/15)
Bloomberg: FDA Clears Biotech Drug Copycats, But Buying Them Isn’t So Easy
In 2016, Roche Holding AG sold $3 billion worth of its blockbuster biotechnology drug Avastin. Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved what’s expected to be a less-expensive version. Patients and insurers won’t be able to start counting the savings any time soon. Of seven so-called biosimilar drugs the FDA has cleared since the first approval of one of the drugs in 2015, only three are available for sale. The rest are tied up in legal disputes that can block the cheaper versions for years. (Koons, Edney and Decker, 9/18)
Stat: Pricing Wars Flare In Ireland As Government Battles With Two Drug Makers
The latest flare-up over prescription drug pricing is taking place in Ireland, where two drug makers are at war with the government for refusing to provide coverage for a pair of medicines. In one instance, CSL Behring (CSL) announced plans to end a compassionate use program later this month for its Respeeza treatment for people with an inherited form of emphysema. The move had previously been signaled if government coverage was not provided, but was formalized after Ireland’s Health Service Executive last month decided the drug is not cost effective. (Silverman, 9/18)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Issue 2 Fact Check: Are All Of The VA's Prices Public Record?
Despite claims from supporters of Issue 2, drug prices from the Department of Veterans Administration are not entirely a matter of public record, according to the department. One of the main arguments over Issue 2, an Ohio initiative on the November ballot seeking to lower the price the state pays for pharmaceuticals to no more than the VA pays, is whether the VA's pricing is publicly available. (Richardson, 9/18)
Kaiser Health News: Without Price Breaks, Rural Hospitals Struggle To Stock Costly, Lifesaving Drugs
Hospital pharmacist Mandy Langston remembers when Lulabelle Berry arrived at Stone County Medical Center’s emergency department last year. Berry couldn’t talk. Her face was drooping on one side. Her eyes couldn’t focus.“She was basically unresponsive,” Langston recalls. (Tribble, 9/18)
Reuters: Doctors Who Take Pharmaceutical Money Use Twitter To Hype Drugs
Some cancer doctors use Twitter to promote drugs manufactured by companies that pay them, but they almost never disclose their conflicts of interest on the social media platform, a new study shows. “This is a big problem,” said senior author Dr. Vinay Prasad, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. “Doctors are directly telling patients about their views on drugs, and financial conflict plays a role. But they’re not telling patients they have a conflict.” (Cohen, 9/11)
The New York Times: Why Are Drug Prices So High? We’re Curious, Too
This much is clear: The public is angry about the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. Surveys have shown that high drug prices rank near the top of consumers’ health care concerns, and politicians in both parties — including President Trump — have vowed to do something about it. What’s not as clear is exactly why prices have been rising, and who is to blame. (Thomas and Ornstein, 9/17)
