Allergan Doubles Down on Patent Abuse
Sixteen months ago the drug company Allergan sold the patent rights for Restasis, its popular prescription eyedrops, to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, so the tribe could fend off challenges by makers of low-cost generic drugs. This month, Allergan doubled down on this strategy of patent abuse, asking the Supreme Court to rule that the tribe's sovereign immunity blocks generic competition. A little bit of background: in September 2017 Allergan transferred patents for the eye dr
In Complementary Hearings, Senators and Representatives Vow To Tackle High Drug Prices
Yesterday, on January 29th, both houses of Congress focused on rising drug prices, responsibility for this unsustainable situation, and how to lower drug costs. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform held an all day hearing on the actions of drug companies and skyrocketing drug prices, while the Senate Finance Committee's hearing focused on the drug pricing system and took a more general view. But in both hearings, legislators attacked drug companies and PBMs (pharmacy b
States Step Forward to Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable
At Families USA's Health Action Conference 2019, there were a number of excellent panels. But one of the best was a panel on state efforts to lower prescription drug costs and promote access to affordable medicines. While the federal government has been mostly inactive, state governments have stepped up to the plate and passed a number of reforms to reduce drug prices, and 2019 looks like it will be a busy year. The panelists were State Representative Will Guzzardi from Illin
Drug Prices Take Center Stage At Families USA Conference
Skyrocketing prescription drug prices took central stage at Families USA's Health Action Conference 2019. Lawmakers, policy experts, and grassroots advocates spoke about rising drug costs, how they were harming patients, businesses, and our entire health care system, and what can be done to bring them down. The conference began with brief remarks by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). She thanked the audience for their work and said that lowering drug prices was a high priority for
Boston News Channel Digs Into PBMs, And Where the Money Is Going
The Boston 25 News Channel is conducting a month long, in-depth investigation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and the role they play in increasing drug prices. Reporter Jim Morcelli found that pharmacies are getting lower payments from the drugs they provide to people enrolled in Massachusetts's Medicaid program, even though the prices they pay for the medications have not decreased. We have previously written about how in Ohio PBMs increased drug prices and kept the diff
Secretary Alex Azar Raises Possibility of Bipartisan Cooperation on Lowering Drug Prices
Yesterday, Representative and new Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Elijah Cummings met with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to discuss bipartisan ways of working together to lower drug prices. The two agreed to work together to bring down the price of medicines, a sign that Secretary Azar is putting increased emphasis on this issue. Secretary Azar also spoke about concrete measures to reduce drug costs. In a recent speech, he sp
New Coalition Forms to Lower Drug Prices By Fighting Patent Abuse
Consumer groups, patient advocacy organizations, employers, health care providers, free market advocates, and others launched a coalition today in a new effort to lower drug prices by exposing how drug companies abuse our patent system to maintain their monopolies, stifle competition, and keep lower cost generic drugs from patients. The new Coalition Against Patent Abuse (CAPA) advocates for policies to stop the tactics drug companies use to extend their government-granted mo
How PBMs Are Hurting Independent Pharmacies in Maryland
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have a variety of negative impacts on our drug supply chain, and contribute to higher drug prices. But they also have harmful effects on other actors as well. A local newspaper in Maryland recently reported on Surinder Singal, who owns an independent pharmacy and fighting for both drug cost transparency and his livelihood because of PBMs. Mr. Singal owns an independent pharmacy in Deale, Maryland, a small town in Anne Arundel County, and he pr
PBM Spread Pricing Leads to Much Higher Medicaid Drug Prices-But States Are Taking Action
Medicaid plans are paying wildly varying prices for generic drugs in different states. In some states, such as Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, and Ohio, a bottle of the generic heartburn drug Nexium costs Medicaid $130, when that bottle of pills is available from wholesalers for only $20. And pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are responsible for this. This case is not an isolated incident. Bloomberg conducted a study of ninety best-selling generic drugs in Medicaid managed
Incoming House Democrats Promise Stronger Antitrust Oversight
The 116th Congress has been sworn in, and House Democrats have declared they intend to have serious oversight of corporate monopolies and to investigate lax enforcement of antitrust laws-a welcome sign that lawmakers intend to fight anticompetitive mergers and behavior that harms competition and consumers. Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) now chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, and he has been a strong critic of weak antitrust enforcement,
