- The US government has reinstated funding to EcoHealth Alliance, the agency that collaborated on bat research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.
- Krguman on how Pharma avoids paying income taxes. Answer: tax people, not corporations
- Food Stamps: “We find the fastest-growing groups of the adult caseload suffer from low employment levels and poor health outcomes.”
- Top 20 hospitals and their CEOs racked up huge pandemic profits.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Congress: Why Don’t Consumers Benefit from Drug Rebates?
When you pick up a prescription at the drugstore you don’t always pay cash, you often pay an insurance copay. Occasionally if you’re picking up a generic drug it may be free with no cost sharing, although that is far less common than it once was. My wife and I use a program called GoodRx. One time I went to CVS to pick up my dog’s medication and the pharmacy tech informed me that CVS had a special program for veterinary medications. The discounted price would be $54 as I recall. I pulled out a GoodRx coupon and asked if the coupon was good. He said it was. My new price was around $15. How is that possible?
Friday Links
- Over-the-counter birth control decision is a small step in the right direction – many more steps are needed.
- At $3.5 million for a one-time dose, Hemgenix (which cures hemophilia) is now the most expensive drug in the world.
- Gender bias in academia? A lot less than you might think.
- Michael Drummond on high US drug prices: “My hope as a European is that US never gets its health system in order.”
- British babies born with DNA from three people.
FDA Panel Backs OTC Birth Control
An advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted to recommend Opill be sold over the counter (OTC) without a prescription. Opill is a hormonal contraceptive pill first approved in 1970. Advisory committees are panels of outside medical experts who advise the FDA on matters related to the specific area they were appointed to. There are numerous advisory panels. In the latest vote, one panel advises on over-the-counter medications. Another panel advises on reproductive health. The combined panel was composed of 17 experts in a 2-day hearing.