Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Wall Street Stumbles On News Of Drug Companies' Cost Woes
The Associated Press: Wall St. Closes Lower As Drug-Price Scrutiny Intensifies
Stocks on Wall Street skidded Thursday as drug companies and banks absorbed large losses. Drugmakers faced scrutiny over price increases, while banks fell as investors worried about the stability of Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions. (9/29)
Kaiser Health News: The Need To Replace EpiPens Regularly Adds To Concerns About Cost
As controversy about the pricing of EpiPens reverberates from Capitol Hill to school districts across the country, one recurring complaint from consumers is that the high cost is magnified because the drug expires quickly, forcing users to regularly bear the cost of replacing the medicine that saves lives in the event of a severe allergic reaction. So what exactly determines its longevity? It turns out storage and distribution can play as important a role in the drug’s shelf life as the chemical compounds. (Rodriguez, 9/30)
Georgia Health News: Pencils, Pens And EpiPens: How A Medical Device Became Standard In Hundreds Of Georgia Schools
Georgia’s Emergency Epinephrine Act was introduced by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome), backed by Harris’ advocacy group, and signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal in 2013. That same year, Mylan’s political action committee donated $1,000 to Hufstetler and an equal amount to Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, among its numerous other political donations. Harris said Mylan has not donated to FAKA.Although the Georgia law does not require that schools stock EpiPens for emergency use, it encourages this and authorizes a physician, advanced practice nurse or physician assistant to write a prescription in the name of a public or private school. Some states mandate that schools carry epinephrine. (Fite, 9/29)
Morning Consult: Burwell Calls For HHS To Negotiate Drug Prices
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Thursday said the federal government should be able to negotiate drug prices for high-cost and specialty drugs. “One of the most important tools that we could gain would be an ability to negotiate,” Burwell said at the Atlantic’s Washington Ideas Forum. Burwell’s comments came in response to a question about the outrage over EpiPen pricing. The uproar may have been avoided if Medicare and Medicaid could negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies such as Mylan Pharmaceuticals, she said. (McIntire, 9/29)
And KHN looks at how FDA's fast-track review voucher is being misused from its original purpose —
Kaiser Health News: A Golden Ticket That Fast-Tracks A Drug Through The FDA
Drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics won a big victory when its $300,000 muscular dystrophy drug was recently approved, but the company had other reasons to celebrate, too. They were also awarded the drug world’s equivalent of a Willy Wonka golden ticket. The ticket, known as a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher, is part of a program created by Congress in 2007 to encourage the development of drugs for tropical diseases and later expanded to rare pediatric disorders. (Tribble, 9/30)
