Author's posts
Why Does Insulin Cost So Much? Big Pharma Isn’t the Only Player Driving Prices
Big Pharma may be moving on from squeezing diabetes patients on insulin prices, but it’s the arbitrators that jack up prices for those who can least afford them.
‘We Ain’t Gonna Get It’: Why Bernie Sanders Says His ‘Medicare for All’ Dream Must Wait
As he takes the reins of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, the independent from Vermont and implacable champion of “Medicare for All” maps out his strategy for negotiating with Republicans — and Big Pharma.
Decisions by CVS and Optum Panicked Thousands of Their Sickest Patients
Pharmacy closures by two of the biggest home infusion companies point to grave shortages and dangers for patients who require IV nutrition to survive.
Patients needing home IV nutrition fear dangerous shortages
Pharmacy closures and layoffs by two large home infusion companies spark fears for those who require parenteral nutrition.
A Technicality Could Keep RSV Shots From Kids in Need
The Vaccines for Children program, which buys more than half the pediatric vaccines in the U.S., may not cover the RSV shot for babies because it’s not technically a vaccine.
FDA Experts Are Still Puzzled Over Who Should Get Which Covid Shots and When
A single booster seems to prevent death and hospitalization in most people, but protection from the current vaccines wanes within months. FDA experts say they need to know more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide the best long-term strategy.
Pfizer’s Covid Cash Powers a ‘Marketing Machine’ on the Hunt for New Supernovas
While sales of its covid vaccines are falling, Pfizer plans to triple the price of the shots and use its bonanza from government contracts to buy and develop new blockbusters.
$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug
Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. It’s sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals — which may pay nearly as little for the drug — charging so much more to administer it?
Pharma-Funded FDA Gets Drugs Out Faster, But Some Work Only ‘Marginally’ and Most Are Pricey
Since pharmaceutical companies started funding their FDA drug applications 30 years ago, the agency’s reviews have gone much faster — perhaps too fast.
Big Pharma Went All In to Kill Drug Pricing Negotiations
For more than a century, the drug industry has issued dire warnings of plunging innovation whenever regulation reared its head. In general, the threat hasn’t materialized.
