How Big is the Big Pharma Lobby?
Written: October 12, 2017 Edited: September 30, 2021 At a political rally in Kentucky in 2017, President Donald Trump said drug prices were “outrageous”. The next day, according to Kaiser Health News, the pharmaceutical industry donated more money to political campaigns than any other day of the year. Eight pharma political action committees made 137 contributions […]
When Have We Seen Enough Drug Ads on TV?
I believe Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, is doing a good job of trying to improve our broken healthcare system. The move to allow states to seek a Federal waiver to implement Medicaid in ways tailored to their needs has a lot of potential. Some states have already shown they can reduce […]
Drug Pricing Transparency
Last March, I quoted the new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Alex Azar, as saying, “Change is possible, change is necessary, and change is coming.” I hope so. Change is desperately needed. It remains to be seen if the federal government can make the changes needed and make them fast enough. The biggest barrier […]
Hospitals Attack High Drug Prices
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, a Medical Group with more than 1,600 physicians and advanced practice clinicians at about 180 clinics. Generic drugs account for 85% of the drugs Intermountain’s hospitals and clinics administer. The generic drugs account for one-third of Intermountain’s cost. As is the case for all healthcare providers, the […]
Drug Makers Putting Profit Before The Elderly
The Medpage Today staff reported this week on a CNN investigation of Nuedexta, a drug approved for PseudoBulbar Affect (PBA). The investigation found PBA is being marketed aggressively to the elderly as a therapy for dementia. Even though independent studies indicate PBA is only rarely associated with dementia, Avanir, the drug’s manufacturer, has spent millions of dollars promoting […]
