Latest KFF Health News Stories
Drugmakers Manipulate Orphan Drug Rules To Create Prized Monopolies
Drugmakers have brought almost 450 orphan drugs to market and collected rich incentives but nearly a third of those products aren’t new or were repurposed multiple times, an investigation shows.
Follow the twists and turns of the orphan drug industry over the past three decades.
Interactive: How Orphan Drugs Win The ‘Monopoly’ Game
Check out all the drugs the FDA has approved to treat rare diseases. You can search by brand name, or by disease, and see familiar names that were first sold on the mass market or all the drugs that won FDA approval to treat more than one rare disease.
Video: Former U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman Shares Deep Concerns About Orphan Drugs
The former Congressman championed the Orphan Drug Act decades ago but now he fears it’s being manipulated to make money.
Video Highlights: Obama’s Farewell: I’ll Support ‘Demonstrably Better’ ACA Replacement
President Barack Obama recounted his health care accomplishments in his farewell address to the nation Tuesday night.
A Peer Recovery Coach Walks The Frontlines Of The Opioid Epidemic
Charlie Oen was addicted to heroin as a teenager. At 25, he’s now clean and a peer counselor in Lima, Ohio, where he tries to help people who started using drugs before he was born.
Millones de personas buscan medicamentos más baratos fuera de EE.UU.
Por los altos precios de los medicamentos, millones de personas, en general respetuosas de la ley, han reaccionado cometiendo un acto ilegal: comprándolos fuera de los Estados Unidos.
Medicare Pays For A Kidney Transplant, But Not The Drugs To Keep It Viable
The federal government pays for kidney transplants. But the program only pays for essential anti-rejection drugs for three years. Many people can’t afford them and can end up losing the kidney.
Alleged Scheme To Fix Generic Drug Prices Started At Dinners And ‘Girls Nights Out’
Investigators claim drugmaker employees met in secret at restaurants, golf outings and at “Girls Night Out” to raise generic drug prices.
Faced With Unaffordable Drug Prices, Tens Of Millions Buy Medicine Outside U.S.
Eight percent of those polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation say they have purchased medications outside of the U.S. to save money.
In Colorado, A Low-Price Drug Cocktail Will Tamp Down Cost Of Death With Dignity
Advocates want alternatives to drugmaker’s pricey pills for those who choose to die in Colorado and elsewhere.
Los ganadores y los perdedores del 21st Century Cures Act
El 21st Century Cures Act que firmó el presidente Barack Obama el martes 13 de diciembre es un éxito legislativo para la industria farmacéutica. Qué podría pasar con los servicios de medicina preventiva.
Grab Bag Of Goodies In 21st Century Cures Act
A breakdown of winners — and a few losers — in the sprawling Cures Act approved by the House.
Enfermos… ¿y en bancarrota? Consumidores gastarán más en drogas en 2017
En 2017, muchos más planes de salud en los mercados de seguros requerirán que los consumidores paguen una sustancial parte del costo de los medicamentos más caros, dicen, para disuadir a pacientes muy enfermos de elegir sus planes.
Need Pricey Drugs From An Obamacare Plan? You’ll Shoulder More Of The Cost
A Kaiser Health News analysis finds that the portion of federal marketplace plans requiring people to pay a third or more of the cost of specialty drugs have jumped from 37 to 63 percent since 2014.
Tighter Prescribing Rules: An Anti-Abuse Strategy That Could Hurt Patients In Pain
Responding to a national epidemic, many state Medicaid programs are making the coverage rules for these opioid-based medicines tougher so that physicians will think twice before prescribing them. But some worry that legitimate pain patients could suffer.
A Frenzy Of Lobbying On 21st Century Cures
Three lobbyists for every member of Congress in a push to pass a bill that increases research funding and speeds up approvals.
Long-Stalled FDA Reform Sits On Senate’s Lame-Duck Calendar
The legislation would give federal officials more flexibility in evaluating the effectiveness and safety of drugs and devices and add billions of dollars to NIH funding. But critics say it could endanger patients’ safety and doesn’t do enough to stop spiraling drug prices.
After Colorado, ‘Right To Die’ Movement Eyes New Battlegrounds
Colorado’s approval of a ballot measure sets the stage for efforts in other states.
California’s Drug Price Initiative: Will Voters ‘Send A Signal To Washington’?
Despite heavy opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and skepticism from policy experts, many voters see Proposition 61 as a way to protest the nation’s mounting drug prices.
